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Jay's RV-7 Builder Log

2-5-2012 Dynon Skyview ADAHRS related issues

http://dynonavionics.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1319946223

http://dynonavionics.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1324727864

http://dynonavionics.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1323568527

http://dynonavionics.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1322687378

2-1-2012 Tru-Trak Auto Pilot

Tru-Trak Digi Flight II VSGV system has 3 solid state gyros inside of main unit, it can operate as a standalone unit without GPS connect to it. 

The follow infomations are from Lucus at Tru-Track ----

1. The Auto Pilot direction information comes from GPS, it is a ground track. The bank angle is done by AHRS inside auto pilot.

2. The auto pilot has 3 solid state gyros.

3. If GPS data is not available, depending on which version of your digiflight II is,  if it's older unit, it's using magnitometer as heading source, if it's newer unit, it does not have a magnitometer, it will go into bank angle mode, using the internal solid state gyro, you can control bank-left-and-right upto 30 degrees.

3. Tru-Trak auto pilot solid sate gyros are not affected by ferrus material surrounding the gyros, the accuracy will not be affected by adjacent ferrus material.

2-1-2012 Dynon Skyviw AHRS problems

This statement was from Dynon Forum:

"Be sure you have the updated 3.2.2 software on both displays.  The software updates do not sync and needs to be loaded on each display.  I noticed a similar issue when I was updating my dual SkyViews.  After screen 1 was updated, screen 2 was not locking in on heading and was scrolling approx 45 degrees on either side of actual heading.  After I updated both displays, my problem went away. YMMV.....
-Mike Kraus
RV-10 flying"

Could this be my problem? 

1-31-2012 Dynon SkyView AHRS problems

Dynon EFIS compass calibration, it requires local magnetic inclination and intensity as part of the magnetic compass calibration.

http://www.dynonavionics.com/docs/maginfo.html

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomagmodels/IGRFWMM.jsp

1-24-2012

Up to today, I still have oil leak out of oil cooler lower fitting

this is the good link discussing about this issue

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=17857

11-7-2011 Forward push-rod rubbing F-705 hole

This may be the problem I have... see

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/archive/index.php?t-54390.html

http://www.704ch.com/2011/03/forward-elevator-push-rod.html

11-3-2011

Talked to Ken at Van's factory, he confirmed the Airplane tie down hole should be tapped with 3/8" -- 16, don't use a size smaller to tap the aluminium (on this case), Jerry confirmed the same thing. The tie down eye bolts are 3/8", factory pre-drilled a 5/16" hole with the bracket attached to wing spar (the oppisite side of torque tube bell crank, using the same bolts). The eye bolt will touch the skin, the skin hole can be enlarged per Jerry's advise, or tap a little shallower, so the end of the eye bolt will stop before it go through the hole. I didn't figure this out until the first hole tapped.

I asked Ken about the water/oil accumulated at the bottom of the rudder, he said, some guy drilled a drain hole at the bottom of the rudder. Himself, he drilled several 1/4" size hole on the bottom of fuselage, underneath each bulkhead, he parks his plane at a grass strip, condensation is heavy, see water on the floor all the time. He drilled 1/4" hole to prevent the debris plug up the hole.

11-1-2011

Skyview moving map failed last night, Transponder went with it. There was no fucntion for GPS map range (ring) setting, it frooze at 800 miles range, Mike at the factory confirmed that the problem has caused the range setting to go one way, to confirm that, he asked me to change the Barameter setting with the same knob, and the barameter only goes upward no matter turning the knob Clockwise or Counter clockwise. According to Mike, it's a known problem with Dynon, some component has pinched the ribbon cable.

Both of my Displays were pull out and send to factory today for warrenty repair. Will arrive Friday. Aircraft is down from now on.

10-30-2011

Phase I flight test has completed. I flew the airplane back to Torrance Airport today.

10-13-2011

Talked to Lycoming today about my Cylinder #2 oil leak, Tech support Brian Costello 360-403-9867 gave me excellent support, will follow up with him to get the problem solved. Email him the pictures at  bcostello@lycoming.com

10-12-2011

Worked on Governor oil leak issue, one of the mounting washer was installed in the wrong place, J installed on the outside Van's bracket (should be inside), which cause un-even torque. The torque for 4 base nuts should be set for 100-140 inch pound.

After removed the gavernor from Engine, I found scratches on the engine side, there are two deep scratches from one of the oil path to a stud, this might be the reason cause the oil leak. I use very tiny amount of RTV wiped over the scratches then immediately put the new gasket on then install the Governor. The end result still leak, but it is very minimum, no concern for phase I flight test. I'll solve the issue after bring the plane back to Torrance. 

Van's aircarft and Aircraft Spruce sell the gasket, A/S part number: 72053

10-9-2011

I have logged in 21 hours of flight time so far (17 hours Tach time). The Engine has been broken-in already, the oil consumption has been dropped to 9.9 hours per Quart (Tach time), it's time to switch to Aeroshell 100W Plus oil.

These are the problems I have found so far with the airplane

1. Propeller governer oil leak, it has been leaking since the beginning of the flight, tightened the nut didn't stop the leak, there are two nuts holding the cable bracket, the lower nut has the leak. Note: The governer runs with 400 PSI pressure.

2. Horizontal hose holding two two exhaust pipe separated (happened first flight).

3. Right tailwheel control cable pin spread open, a few pound of pulling will lost the right turn control (at 10 hours).

4. Canopy latch pops loose during touch down.

5. Right fuel tank sump leaks.

6. Oil cooler oil leaks (at 21 hours), at the lower 90 degree elbow.

7. Cylinder #2 oil sip out of the right side of the Cylinder (adjacent to Cylinder #4 ), oil is dripping down to the front side of crank case (at 15 hours).

8. Exhaust gas got in the cockpit every time when reduce the speed for patten entry.

9. Vertical hose holding the right exhaust pipe separated from the mount (found at 21 hours).

10. Exhuast pipe over heating the low cowling (at 5 hours).

11. Engine fuel pump leaks oil, the nut toward the front of the engine (found at 21 hours), I have tightened the nut, I compared the torque to other nuts, this one was loose.

12. Oil filler tube leaks oil (at 18 hours).

9-28-2011 (fuel flow exceed 20 gal per hour)

When cruising at 4500 feet with 25" x 2500 RPM and mixture rich to keep CHT < 400*F.

The fuel flow gauge in Dynon Skyview needs to be calibrated by a K-factor, see instruction in Dynon D-120 installation guide page 5-14 (note: this instruction is not in Skyview system installation guide)

http://www.dynonavionics.com/downloads/Install_Guides/EMS-D120_Installation_Guide.pdf

Record how much fuel is calculated by Skyview and divided by the amount of fuel which was actually used in flight, get the result (close to 1.0) then multiply by FT-60 Red Cube tranducer K-value of 68000....

It may take a few flights to get the average K-factor calculated.

9-28-2011 (Fuel leaks out of Carburetor)

Consulted with Van's tech support, the fuel leaks out of the bottom of Carburetor may be caused by one of the two reasons -------

1. May have a leaking primer solednoid --- the easiest way to find out is, remove the air filter and the fiber glass bowl, look up the Carburetor from the bottom of the airplane, turn on the fuel boost pump, if primer solenoid has leaks, the fuel will drip down to the bottom of Carburetor. It only take 15 seconds for the gravity to pull the fuel down from the Cylinder to in-take manifold and then to Carburetor.

Per Van's --- it's better to connect the fuel source to Primer solenoid port 2 and connect port 1 to Cylinders. Reason is, the movement of the piston in the solenoid works better with the higher pressure applies to port 2 (pressure from the boost pump). There are two O-ring seals in the solenoid, one on each port, the O-ring seats better with port 2 under higher pressure work at the inlet.

2. The throttle control will activate the accelerate pump in the Carburetor, each pump of the throttle control knob will squirt approximitary a tea spoon of fuel into the carburetor, the excessive fuel will then drips down to the filter bowl if didn't start the Engine right away. Van's Suggest to drill a couple of drain holes in the filter bowl to let the fuel out out of the bowl. Sounds a little scary to have fuel traps in the fiber Glass bowl. 

9-4-2011 First flight take place, phase one flight test started.

8-30-2011 (Airworthiness Certificate)

Got Airworthiness certificate from John Shablow today, the airplane is now legal to fly.

7-28-2011 (Transponder check out)

7-26-2011 (Pitot Static check out)

1. Pitot static checked by Affordable Avionics at Chino Airport (by Jim).

2. Obtained Mode-S transponder octal code from FAA --- 50546201 (via http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/) then converted to Hexadecimal code --- A2CC81 (via http://www.trig-avionics.com/) (Skyview only understand the hexadecimal format).

2. Talked to Mike at Dynon about GNS 430-Position source set to GPS 1 in serial port configuration, some how Dynon Skyview failed to decode the map information from GNS-430, I had to configure the position source to either GPS3 or GPS4 in order for it to work (it used to work with GPS1), Mike asked me to check SV-ARINC-429 module, make sure ARINC-429 GPS1 is not being used. Mike said, when in the SKYVIEW Nav mode, will have a choice for the GPS sources. Mike doesn't know if confugured ARINC-429 with GPS1 would be in conflict with Serial port GPS1 set for GNS-430.

3. Mike said, Skyview Ver 3.1.1 firmware is available and ready for download, Dynon senior design Engineer is confident that the new firmware will fix the backup Battery problem.

7-23-2011 (LSE monitoring meter)

I designed and fabricated this meter to monitor Light Speed ignition system.

I Use 9V Alkaline Battery for power source, the current drain measured 0.28mA, assuming the battery capacity is 560mAH, it will run 2000 hours continuously (83 days) .

This meter doesn't like to share the power supply ground to meter ground, the power source can not be grounded to the airframe, using the internal battery is the only choice.

7-19-2011 (4 hours) Light speed Ignition monitoring setup

Wired RPM/M.P./Igntion timing monitoring for Light Speed Plasma III ignition. Picked up these analog singals from plasma III output connector (DB-15) pin 2 -- RPM, Pin 3 -- M.P. and Pin 4 -- Igntion timing, connected these wires to a panel mount volt meter (via a rotary switch). check the output with engine running @ 1000RPM and 14 inch manifold pressure. Both RPM and M.P. matched Skyview display and the igntion timing fires @ 37 degree before TDC (top dead center), the result is pretty satisfactory.

7-17-2011 (8 hours) --- Setup EFIS to measure Fuel tank level

1. I lift the tail up and rest on a tri-pot, level the airplane to level flight attitude. The Resistive fuel sending unit puts out 30-240 ohm. I drained the fuel tank then add two gallons of fuel each time, followed through  Skyview fuel calibration procedures.

(I collect the fuel from the left tank and dump to the right tank to set the fuel level, I later collect the fuel from the bottom drain valve, the valve was tight, I made a special tool to turn the valve evenly without putting the stress to the fuel tank skin).

2. I temperately installed GPS Antennas on top of the Instrument panel, to check for possible RF interference (EMI) from Dynon EFIS system, ( The Advanced EFIS wouldn't work with ANT on top of it -- per Jerry S.). Dynon system doesn't have any problem, all three GPSs seemed function normally with Skyview running.

3. For some reason the Skyview doesn't receive data from GNS-430, but the data/sentenance count looks ok. I changed Skyview serial port #4 position source for GNS-430 from GPS1 to GPS3, then the map popped up on Skyveiw, GPS4 also worked. Will call Dynon tomorrow to find out why.

4. I spoke to Steve Monday -- another Steve, he doesn't know why, he kind of blamed on Approach Fast Stack  (AFS) cabling system, but I know AFS has no problem, problem is some where else, Steve at Dynon technical support doesn't know the answer. A couple days later, I talked to Mike (more senior), he said, make sure ARINC doesn't use the same position source, he said he is not a pilot, he think it may have a conflict.

I took the picture of oil leak came down from the Carburetor to the AirBox/Air filter, the oil looked greenish, my best guess is, it's the un-burn fuel and oil from Cylinder 1 and 2, it traveled from the valve guide and make its way down to intake manifold and down to Carburetor due to the flooding from defective (not closed) primer solinoid valve.

7-16-2011 ( 3 hours) --- Checks Antennas and radios

1. SL-40, squelch level parameter set to 50, it takes 3uV to open the receiver, measured RF power with Bird watt meter, forward power = 12W,  reflected = 0.4 watt. Effective Receiver sensitivity drops 10db with Dynon Skyview on.

2. GNS-430 takes 1.0uV RF input level to open the Receiver. Tx forward power measured = 11Watt, reflected power = 0.4 watt, Effective receiver sensitivity with Dynon Skyview on drops 15 db, without Skyview drops 11db. 

7-15-2011 (8 hours)

1. I Pro-Sealed the left fuel tank near the connector/fitting on the wing root due to mild fuel leak.

2. Repair cracked right wing tip fiber glass.

3. Re-do the brake line connector (in the cockpit) both pilot and co-pilot side, sealed them properly with prematax compound (bought from Pep Boy's). 

7-14-2011 (TruTrak Auto Pilot)

Called TruTrak for Auto pilot serial port questions (1-866-TRUTRAK).

TruTrak uses the following input ports to get flight data (flight plan, approach, GPS....)

                      ARINC A (pin 13) ---> GNS 430 (Pin 46)                      

                      ARINC B (pin 15) ---> GNS 430 (pin 47)

                      RS-232  (pin 17) ---> via toggle switch to select either GNS 430 or 496 for serial data.

TruTrak uses ARINC for primary data source, if ARINC data from GNS-430 fails, then will look for the data coming from RS-232 Port.

Both GNS-430 and 496 RS-232 serial ports must be configured to 9600 baud in order for TruTrak to talk, Tru-Trak can only set for one baud rate at a time. If 496 set to 4800, then TruTrak won't be able to communicate with it. Because GNS-430 doesn't have the choice for 4800 Baud, the minimum speed is 9600. GNS-430 and 496 must set to the same baud rate in order for TruTrak to communicate to both of them.

TruTrak will accept NMEA or Aviation NMEA, as long as it has correct baud rate.

7-13-2011

1. I configured Dynon Skyview for Light Speed Engineering electronic igntion, set SV-EMS-220 engine module Pin-35 to two pulses per vevolution, the RPM (Tach) shows normal during the engine test. The RPM drop test was a little higher on Slick mag, but was tested @ 1000 RPM, I will confirm that again when running 1700 RPM during Engine runup.

2. Garmin Com radio SL-40 receiver was continuously blowing the squelch, the noise was coming Skyview. I followed the SL-40 installation manual page 12 (Post installation check out), tightened the Rx squelch by changing the setting from 28 to 50, I'll verify the Rx sensitivity next time. (I calibrated the factory setting from 5.0uV to 0.5uV a couple months ago).

3. I Installed the Ethernet cable between two Skyview Displays, using cross over cable per Dynon's instruction. Verified the Skyview function -- ok.

4. Investigated the Engine Mixer control cable, per Jerry's instruction, it's a common issue for RV-7, the control cable traveling distance is 1/8" too short, can not turn Mixer to full lean for Engine cut off. But I still see some plays in the control cable, I wonder if straightening the cable where it feed through the white brakcet would get an extra 1/8" to shut down the engine. I will study and compare a little more with other RV'er before modifiy it. It's not an urgent concern at this stage.

7-12-2011

1. Engine cylinder 1 and 2 weren't firing (two front ones) during engine run on the ground, Cylinder 1 and 2 exhuast pipes were cold compare to cylinder 3 and 4, and the Eingine ran very rough. Mixer seemed to have no control. Had to turn the ignition switch off to shut down the engine (it has fouled the spark plug).

Re-Checked Light Speed Engineering electronic ignition system, verified 180 degree phase different between 1,2 and 3,4 Cylinders -- ok, set Hall Effect module to TDC (top dead center)  per LSE installation manual -- Engine still run rough afterward.

Removed primer solinoid from fuel system, terminated the input port on the solinoid and blocked the port on Gaslector (port on the top, where primer connector was removed) -- The engine problem solved. The Primer solinoid has been contaminated by dirty fuel (is Primer solinoid before the gaslator screen filter?)

2. Hook up SV-EMS-220 engine module Pin 32 to Slick maganito with 50K ohm resistor in line, check RPM oK.

Hoop up SV-EMS-220 engine module Pin 35 to Light Speed Engineering electronic ignition (direct connection without resistor -- per Dynon), the RPM reads double, will call LSE for answer.

Garmin SL-40 audio out to audio panel has no control of the audio level, will call Garmin tomorrow (Garmin direct line: 1-800-525-6726 X3991).

Dynon Ethernet network cable, is it a stright ethernet cable or cross over cable? (The answer is cross over cable).

7-11-2011

Connect and configure the elevator trim for Skyview -- SV-EMS-220 pin 4, go through the setup procedure --- worked.

Connect Pitot heat status indication line to Skyview SV-EMS-220 pin 9, configured the Skyview --- worked.

7-9/10-2011

Went to Cedar Hill near Dallas Ft. Worth for RV-7 training with CFI Alex Dominics, logged 5.5 hours and signed off. These are the tips from the training....

1. Best glid: 10 degree of flaps @ 87-90 mph (about 80 kts), not a mile higher than 90mph, apply full flaps when make the runway. If w/o flaps, the descent will be very fast.

2. Pattern airspeed:    100-110 mph downwind, with two seconds of flaps.

                                  100mph base, apply full flaps.

                                  100mph final until make the runway than cut power and flare.

3. Don't flare at 6 inches, flare at 2-3 feet, wait till reach 3-point attitude then letting the plane down to the ground. Stick all the way back, lock on the belly when airplane quit flying, this will keep the tailwheel heavy on the ground to prevent the Weathervane due to cross wind.

4. RV-7 OIl pressure:

    65-70 PSI when start the engine.

    90-91 PSI during climb, anything above 90 may blow the gasket out.

5. Short field take off:

    hold brake

    full throttle

    let go brake ---> stick forward ---> stick back for 3 point lift off.

6. When landing, must have some speed (power) to get into ground effect due to constant speed prop, at least 90mph.

7. lost the flaps --- approach with a little higher speed (105mph).

8. Don't get too slow during the pattern turn from downwind to base, keep it at 110-125mph, and avoid large bank angle.

9 Run up ---> 1700 RPM to check magnitos.

10. 2400RPM before cut power down to land, Alex doesn't push the constant propeller control all the way forward, reason is, the governor will try to catch 2400 rpm, so it will flatten out the prop pitch by itself, same result like push the prop control all the way forward (the counter weight doesn't have enough inertia, it will relax the prop and flattern the pitch).

7-6-2011

Received a phone call from Mike at Dynon, about the ARINC LED flashing issue, they aware of this problem, he suggest to disconect the battery for now until software Ver 3.1.1 comes out. Right now they have Ver. 3.1 available for download, they thought Ver. 3.1 suppose to fix the problem but the result was not. Some customers still have the same problem.

The Dynon backup battery has caused Catastrophic failure for some customers, keep the battery disconnected until further notice.

Seems like the backup battery has caused internal RAM failures in Skyview. Dynon is working on the new operating system to resolve the problem and working with vendor about this issue, hope new Ver. 3.1.1 will cure the problem. The new software should be available within a week or two from today. Will be posted on Dynon web when available. Sign up the email with Dynon to recieve the update.

7-5-2011

1. According to Dynon Technical Support (Tel: 425-402-0433), when turning the Skyview off, if Dynon Backup battery is connected, the skyview display will have a line says "will time out in 30 seconds", this only happens on the ground. If the airplane is flying in the Air, for any reason that Skyview loses the DC power, the system will automaticlly switch to Backup battery (Skyview knows whether you are flying or not).

2. I noticed a couple of times, when the RV-7 battery voltage is low, the Skyview display will drop in and out (cycling), I talked to Steve at Dynon, he said, the Skyview system won't operate below 10.0 Volt, but when it sees the volt goes up again (for example -- Skyview is in OFF state) then it will try to turn on again.

3. Call Falcon insurance, talked to Harvest and Terry Harris, upgrade RV-7 N28JY insurance from Liability to Full converage, effective today.

 7-4-2011 Working on Instrument & Avionics Panel

 

 

 

4-6-2011 (Panel)

Installed the panel in the cockpit, using nut plate for each screw, will be able to remove the panel for service if needed.

 

 

 

 

 

3-12-2011 (Instrument & Avionics)

Power up Dynon System, configuring the data base and check for radio functions

Check the specifications for GNS-430 Com/GPS, SL-40 Com and GTX-340 Audio panel.

 

 

GNS-430,

1. The Rx sensitivity is around 1.0 uV, I haven't figured out how to set the squelch level yet, the sensitivity is better than .5uV.

 

2. Tx power:  118.150Mhz  = 11.5W

                     123.150Mhz  = 12 0W

                     130.150Mhz  = 11.7W

 

3. Naviagation Receiver

 

 

SL-40

Rx sensitivity 0.4uV, squelch level factory set it to 5.0uV, I adjusted down to 0.5uV, Tx power: 15 Watt terminated to IFR test monitor.

 

Rx Frequency between 118-130Mhz --- OK

Tx power between 118-130Mhz --- 15Watt.  (130 Mhz @ 12 Watt)

 

Audo Panel

Marker Beacon Antenna is not connected.

 

Dynon Skyview

 

SV-D1000 (10" display) 

SV-D700 (7" display) 

SV-ADAHRS-200 

SV-ADAHRS-201 

SV-EMS-220 Engine module 

ARINC module

 

Current drain:

 

Radio Master Switch Off = 4.8 Amp (4.0 Amp @ Midtronics amp meter)

Radio Master Switch ON & Dynon ON = 7.2 Amp 

Radio Master Switch ON, Dynon ON & Keyed GNS-430 (@123.150Myz) = 11.2 Amp (@ Midtronics Amp meter)

Panel light draw = 0.6 Amp.

Nav light (Whellen) draw =

MR16 landing light current draw =

 

Note:

1. Auto pilot On/Off switch --- Switch and Breaker in one assembly.

2. Wires not connected:

    A. Three audio wires come out of SV-D1000 (on the pilot side)

        They are: Audio output right

                 : Audio output left

                 : Ground

        Three audio wires come out of SV-D700 (on the co-pilot side)

                 : Audio output right

                 : Audio output left

                 : Ground

 

    B. Five pairs of audio input/output come out of Garmin Audio panel (on the pilot side, a little close to

        the center)

                   ---- Unswitched (2 audio wires plus ground shield)

                   ---- Music         (2 audio wires plus ground shield, labeled with medical tape)

                   ---- Music Gain (2 audio wires plus ground shield) (connect to POT?)

                   ---- Swap          (2 audio wires plus ground shield)

                   ---- Speaker      (2 audio wires plus ground shield)

 

   C. Pitot heat status wire has been connected to SV-EMS-220 Engine module Pin 9. It's only a status line,

       either grounded (Heated Pitot off) or Open (Heated Pitot on)

 

   D. Auto PIlot 2 wires:  For Roll Axle servo reversal (Jumper wire)

 

 

Pin layout of Molex connectors

 

J1

Pin #	Function
1
2
3
4
5
6

 

 

 

 

J3

 

 

J4

 

 

J5

 

 

J6

 

 

J7

 

 

J8

 

J9 Wing tip landing lights/Nav lights

 

 

     

 

 

What's in Dynon Data base ?

 

Product: SV-D1000/SV-D700

Version: 2.6.0.715

Rcs: 23459, Built on Oct 27, 2010

Opengl: 2.1.8543 Releases

INIT Sensor characterization ... ok

INIT Magvar model (2010) ... ok

Starting local flight system ...

Loading data base ...

      Reg - 02- north America HIRES

      Dynon Av Data (10/21/10 -- 11/17/10): FAA

      World wide Terrain -- Low Res

      Dynon ob data (09/23/10 -- 11/17/10): FAA

Starting Data log ...

Starting Device manager ...

Starting RTIO manager ...

RTIO Version: 2.6.0.715

RTIO BootLoader version: 2

Serial #: 002396

Starting network manager ...

Done!

 

Install wiring and hook up Approach Fast Stack cable/harnesses

 

 

 

2-27-2011 Light Speed Engineering (LSE) Ignition

Choice of Light Speed Engineering electronic ignition, replaced right side magnito.

(Left side is still the Slick Mag with impulse coupling)

When start the engine, both LSE and Slick engaged.

Installation note:

1. torque spark plug @20 Foot pound, torque apark plug adaptor socket @ 25 Foot pound.

2. Secure Hall effect unit DB-9 connector cable to it's own mounting screw.

3. The plasma module has A and B output, are they specific to the Cylinder?

    A: connected to Cylinder xx    and xx

    B: connected to Cylinder xx    and  xx

 

 

 

2-20-2011

Circuit breakers and toggle switch installed in the Avionics/Instrument Panel 

2-10-2011

Avionics/instrument Arrived.

Dynon SkyView dual display (10" & 7"), dual AHARS, ARINC, dual backup battery.

 

1-29-2011

Garmin System arrived.

Garmin GNS-430 WASS GPS/Com/Nav, SL-40 Com, Garmin GTX-340 Audio Pannel, Garmin 496 GPS. Order from Garmin direct. (handled by Manager -- Tim Casey)

 

Measure and lay out the panel

 

 

 

 

 

1-10-2011

Engine and Propeller arrived today

Engine: Lycoming O-360-A1A

Propeller: Hartzell C2YR-1BFP/F7497. 74” diameter, “blended airfoil” design. 

 

 

 

 

6-19-2009

I sold the Garmin G900X System today, to

President/CEO      Christopher J. Alberti 

Starlite Aviation Technologies LLC
Yuma, Arizona Email: starliteaviation@yahoo.com

Web Site: www.starliteat.com

G900X system is too expensive to own and maintain by a poor guy like me (a $90K panel, plus additional weight and space issues), I have decided to go with more econimical Dynon SkyView Synthetic vision EFIS and Engine monitor, along with Dynon mode-S Transponder. I'll include Garmin Stack with GNS-430 WASS GPS/Com/Nav, SL-40 Com, GTX-340 Audio Pannel (with Marker beacon), 496 GPS (as a backup & portable GPS), I know 496 is gonna be obsolete very soon, but I don't have room for 696 GPS which I would love to have. I'll install two conventional  gauges as backup, one is Altimeter and the other is Airspeed indicator, if I feel comfortable after flying for a while without the gauges, I may elimanate them to save some weight, Altimeter is pretty heavy. Everything in my plane will be electrical, no vacuum involve.

 

Now I have some spare money to purchase a nice engine and propeller. I'll shop around at Oshkosh AirVenture next month for everything I need to build the RV-7 and go around the world some day.

 

I've kept the TruTrack Digiflight II 2 axis auto pilot, Artex 406Mhz ELT and Mountain High Oxygen system, these will offer me lots comfort for long X-country flight. 

 

It's a big decision and commitment to build a RV-7

After a few months of search and study, I've finally found a RV-7 in Apple Valley California. This RV-7 is a quick build kit, originally purshased as a tricycle gear and later converted to a taildragger. With Garmin G900X GPS/Nav/Com the top-end avionic panel purchased from Advantage Avionics @ KCNO, equipped with TrueTrack auto pilot and Mountain High computerized Oxygen system.

6-3-2009

It took me two nights to built and finished this Moving rack, which I use to store and move the RV-7 wing and Horizontal stablizer in-out of my Hangar.

 Building the Wing Rack

5-31-2009 (same day 5 years ago, I took my first flight in a Citabria, the day after my 45th birthday )

Today, I rent a U-Haul truck transported the RV-7 from Apple Valley to Torrance Airport, California. The whole trip went flawlessly, with the help from the original owner/builder Stephen De La Cruz (A nice fellow, a gentleman and Aerobatic pilot who flies Military un-man aircraft and Pitts S1S). Unfortunately there was no photo taken during this trip.