About RV8.ch
Welcome to RV8.ch! This little site will document the progress on the building of our Van's RV8 experimental aircraft in Switzerland. We will load lots of images, tips, tricks and techniques that we learn ourselves and from others on the net. Please visit the Photo Gallery!

Topics
Home Maintenance (1) Workshop (4) Empennage (24) Wings (19) Fuselage (79) Wiring and Electrical (32) Engines (83) Instruments (22) Paint (10) Tips and tricks (21) Ramblings (19) Off Topic (3) Flight Testing (14) General News (9)

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STORIES No new stories COMMENTS last 2 days No new comments LINKS last 2 weeks No recent new links

Technorati

Older Stories

Friday 14-Jul

Aircraft silencers and mufflers (0)

Wednesday 12-Jul

Powerlet power outlets (0)

Saturday 08-Jul

Intake air temperature sensor (0)

Thursday 20-Apr

Instrument Panel (0)

Tuesday 18-Apr

Alternator Belt Tension (0)

Sunday 16-Apr

Fuel pressure manifold (0)

Thursday 13-Apr

2.25" altimeter (0)

Friday 31-Mar

Fuel system pressure test (0)
Cooling system plumbing shots (0)

Sunday 12-Mar

First engine start (1)

Builder Sites
RV-8 Kevin Horton RV-8 Larry Bowen RV-8 Randy Lervold RV-7A Bernie and Alex RV-7A Dominik Stalder RV-8 Jim Daniels RV-8 Olivier Le Carbonnier Van's Builder Links RV-7A Brian Meyette

Welcome to Mickey's RV8 Site
Tue, Feb 09 2010 @ 06:45 in Switzerland

Van's RV8

Wed, Sep 10 2003 @ 05:29 in Switzerland
Contributed by: Mick
Views: 8,616

A short introduction to the RV8 from Van's aircraft.

Danny King's "Beautiful Doll"

Information about Van's Aircraft RV8 can be found here. http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/rv-8int.htm I chose this plane because I want a tandem, not a side by side seating. Tandem allows the best visibility on either side of the aircraft. When I want to fly side by side, I can use one of our aeroclub's Pipers (http://www.aero.ch/)

I have decided to equip my plane with the following:

A Lycoming or clone io-360
Grand Rapids Technologies EFIS Sport
Grand Rapids Technologies EIS 4000 Engine Monitor
Garmin SL-40 VHF transceiver
Flightcom 403 stereo intercom
Trio Avionics EZ Pilot autopilot
Narco AT-155 Transponder
Ameri-king AK-450 ELT
Odyssey PC680 Batteries (2)
Proprietary Systems Angle of Attack (AOA) Sport
Garmin GPSMAP 196
and some other cool stuff!

Current Status

Sat, Jun 21 2008 @ 15:05 in Switzerland
Contributed by: Mick
Views: 1,123

Just a quick couple of pictures to show the current status.

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Eggenfellner Subaru STI for sale

Thu, May 29 2008 @ 21:04 in Switzerland
Contributed by: Mick
Views: 2,841

I've decided to sell my Eggenfellner Subaru STI engine. It is a FWF package including an electric 3-blade MT prop with prop controller, RV8 engine mount, supercharger, intercooler, engine computer, dual fuel pumps, exhaust system, mufflers, and all accessories.

The reason I am selling it is because the package is not yet complete, and I would like to get my aircraft flying.

There are some people still doing development of the engine. The systems that will need work to make this FWF kit complete are:

New Gen III PSRU. The current Gen II supercharger that was shipped with the engine has been grounded due to several in-flight failures. I might be able to source one of these from another builder that has decided not to use his. A new Gen III is about USD 6000 from the Eggenfellner Aircraft.
Change out the supercharger for a turbocharger. The Gen III PSRU has a lower gear ratio, which allows the engine to rev higher, producing more power. A side effect is that the supercharger will spin faster than it was designed to. This can be resolved with a new supercharger pully, but I believe the best solution is to install a turbocharger.
Replace the Engine Computer. The ECU that is installed should be reliable, and many have found it works well. Some have had problems, and are switching to an SDS engine computer. I would recommend this change.

I really regret having to change this engine out for a traditional aircraft engine. I feel that the Subaru engine is an outstanding fit for aircraft, but I just don't have the time and resources to finish the development work on this package. The original supplier, Eggenfellner Aircraft, is no longer developing this package, having moved on to a 6 cylinder engine.

There is a yahoo list of about 25 other owners of the STI engine that are working together to finish the development of this engine, so I'm confident at some time in the future it will become a very viable powerplant for aircraft use. This list is called EggenfellnerSubaruSTI and is open to all STI owners. This is a good place to discuss this engine, and the development work being done from Australia to the US to Lithuania.

Please contact me if you have interest in this package (mick at rv8.ch, please include "eggenfellner" in the subject). If I don't sell it, I will pickle it, put it in the corner of the workshop, and when the development work is complete, I'll either put it on this RV8 or my next one! :)

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Lower rudder tip - part 4

Sat, Jul 28 2007 @ 17:38 in Switzerland
Contributed by: Mick
Views: 1,896

This is a continuation of this article: http://www.rv8.ch/article.php?story=20050902213147833

Here are some detailed shots of the rudder bottom attach strips.

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Laser cut panel - vs. water jet cut panel

Sun, Apr 08 2007 @ 21:15 in Switzerland
Contributed by: Mick
Views: 2,374

I had my panel laser cut by a guy in Idaho recommended by the epanelbuilder.com website. I believe the price was pretty good, around USD 100. The problem is that the laser seems to do quite a bit of burning through the aluminum. I've attached some photos. I'd recommend going with a company that does water jet cutting instead of the laser.

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Battery Rack in the tail, part 2.

Sun, Mar 18 2007 @ 18:30 in Switzerland
Contributed by: Mick
Views: 1,807

This is part two of the battery rack in the tail story. When I went to put in the baggage floors and sides, which go in front of and on top of the area where I put the battery, I was rather disappointed to find that my beautiful battery mounts were interfering with the forward vertical part of the baggage skins. It seems I have mounted my batteries too far forward. Ugh!

To fix it I needed to simply move the batteries back about 2 inches, so that's what I did. Here's what it looked like when I started:

Here is the old battery rack with the new one. The green is the old one. I was able to reuse the angle for the new one. Notice that I've moved the battery contactors back.

Here is the final result. Several hours of work, and now the batteries are just a bit further back. That should help with C of G issues, at least.

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Trio Avionics EZ-1 EZ-2 EZ-3 altitude hold servo installation

Sun, Oct 22 2006 @ 21:06 in Switzerland
Contributed by: Mick
Views: 1,979

Just getting started with the installation of the Trio Avionics EZ-1/EZ-2/EZ-3 altitude hold servo. http://www.trioavionics.com/ The reason I listed all three current models because I don't yet know which version I plan to use. I have only purchased the servo so far, which is basically the same for all of the models. Actually, there is an optional automatic trim adjustment system that you can get for the servo, and I have this option - just in case.

Installing the servo is normally extremely easy, but since I installed my batteries just behind the baggage compartment, the perfect location for the trim servo is gone. So, I need to find another place for it. There really is only one place that can work, just behind the elevator belcrank. There is plenty of room there, but there is no supporting structure to mount the servo. I'll need to make something.

Here is my first attempt at some structure for the servo. The problem with this configuration is that the bulkhead where I was planning to attach this is too flexible. Everything back there is very flexible, and you really don't want the servo to move at all, for two reasons. 1) the servo will not be as precise, since it has to try to figure out how much the structure is moving in addition to the elevator. Not good. 2) any kind of flexing of the bulkhead will eventually cause stress fractures. Also not good.

The only thing I could figure out to do is to extend the angle that is used to create the belcrank mount. Here's what I've got so far. This is fabricated from a piece of 0.125x1x1.25 aluminium angle.

Of course, I had to drill out the original angle. That was not too difficult physically, but mentally it felt strange removing something that had been installed as part of the quickbuild. I believe this will be a good solution, and it is actually lighter than my original idea, with the lightening holes.

I'll try to get this installed next weekend and see what we've got. It might be a bit long, so I may want to shorten it.

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Andair Fuel valve installation

Sun, Aug 13 2006 @ 18:35 in Switzerland
Contributed by: Mick
Views: 2,631

Here are some pictures of the andair fuel valve installation.

Nothing fancy. It is actually rather tricky to get all the plumbing in there, since bending the aluminium tubing precisely is not that easy.

Here's more information about the fuel system: http://www.rv8.ch/article.php?story=20060204155308787

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Grand Rapids Technologies EIS 4000 wiring

Mon, Jul 24 2006 @ 09:19 in Switzerland
Contributed by: Mick
Views: 2,179

Here's a photo of the EIS 4000 wiring page for the Eggenfellner Subaru engine.

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Upgrading brake o-rings

Sat, Jul 22 2006 @ 18:50 in Switzerland
Contributed by: Mick
Views: 2,972

There have been many brake fires on RVs and other aircraft. These are usually caused by the type of brake fluid used in many aircraft. The most common fluid is MIL 5056, which has a flash point of around 250�F. This is a very low flash point, and if any fluid leaks on the brakes during braking action, it will catch on fire.

There are other hydraulic brake fluids available with a higher flash point, but they will all burn at some temperature. This is a problem that has been solved in the automotive world, and I wanted to apply this solution to my RV. That solution is to use automotive brake fluid, like DOT-4. There are two problems with using this fluid. The first is that it requires different seals in all the brake components. The other is that the fluid, being based on glycol, is hydroscopic. That means that it will absorb water. This is a good thing, but it means that once the fluid has been saturated with water, it needs to be replaced. I plan to replace the fluid every annual, or perhaps every two years to eliminate this problem.

Changing the o-rings in the brake components was made much easier by RV-8A builder Charlie Kuss, who went out and found the right sizes of o-rings, and created a little kit that he made available. Here's his announcement from the Yahoo RV8 group:

Listers,
Back in January, I started a thread on the main RV
List regarding alternate brake fluids. I have
researched this and have decided to use automotive DOT
4 style fluid. My main objection to the 5056 mineral
oil fluid used in certified small aircraft is that it
BURNS! And it's flash point is a mere 250 degrees
Fahrenheit. A number of RVs have burned because of
brake fluid being sprayed on a hot brake rotor (failed
caliper O-ring or failed line). This recently happened
to RV-6A owner Ed Anderson. Ed only lost his tire,
brakes and wheel pant, because his son had the
presence of mind to snuff the fire, using some
antifreeze he had in his car. At least 3 other RVs
have burned to the ground over the years because of
this.
Automotive brake fluids do not burn and have much
better performance (hot and cold) characteristics when
compared to MIL 5056. However, automotive brake fluids
are not compatible with the Buna N O-rings in our
brake parts. Auto brake fluids require the use of EPDM
(ethylene propylene) O-rings. I recently purchased the
needed O-rings to convert my master cylinders, Matco
parking brake vale and Cleveland brake calipers. To
obtain the highest quality O-rings, I had to purchase
in quantities of 100. Therefore, I have a limited
number of brake "kits" to offer for sale for $12
(shipping included). This will include enough parts to
convert both master cylinders, the parking brake valve
and both calipers. I will also include enough spares
to rebuild all items twice.
If you would prefer to buy these items yourself, I'd
be happy to email you the part numbers off list. I'll
be at Sun N' Fun, in case some of you would prefer to
pick them up there.
Charlie Kuss

Here are a few pictures I took while changing the o-rings.

This is the brake caliper.

To remove it, I just blew a bit of compressed air into the blue fitting. The puck popped out.

The new o-ring is on there, and ready to be installed. There have been cases of these pucks being installed backwards, with the ring closer to the brake pad. This can cause a leak. Some pucks are stamped with "this side out", so it makes it pretty easy to get it right.

Here is the matco parking brake valve.

I've already done the upgrade, but I forgot to take a picture of the inside. Not much interesting, unless you are a parking brake valve engineer, just three o-rings to be replaced.

Here is the left master cylinder with the brake insides removed.

Here are the insides.

Another shot after replacement. You can see the three o-rings. One is difficult to see, its inside the puck on the left, and seals the master cylinder shaft.

Here is the master cylinder reassembled, and ready to go back on the aircraft.

I need to buy some DOT-4 brake fluid, and install it. Then the brakes will be ready for action. Thanks again, Charlie!

Update: 2008-08-02 - I need to replace the hoses that connect the master cylinders to the brake system (brake valve). Charlie suggested these:

Pegasus has Teflon lined SS hoses with AN fittings. For an 8 or 8A, you want 21" long with straight fittings on both ends. ($15.99 each) See: http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection.asp?Product=4

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