Feature

Mel James RV-9A first flight report

by Mel James

Bob Littledale & I decided one day back in mid 2004 that it would be fun to build a plane. Neither of us had any building experience but felt that if we could assembly “flat pack” furniture we should be able to assemble a “flat pack” kit plane.

We ordered a RV-9A “Quickbuild” kit from Vans Aircraft in October 2004 and 2 giant crates arrived in early January 2005. It took us at least 2 weeks just to unpack, identify and store the vast number of parts. In accordance with Vans instructions, we started by building the Empennage. 2 right elevators, 2 vertical stabilisers and 3 elevator trim tabs later we began to learn from our mistakes and realise the task ahead.

It has taken us 2 years 8 months to arrive at the flight testing stage. In terms of time, I guess we spent over 3000 working on the plane. If these, probably 30% were spent discussing what we should do and how we should do it. If we were building again, the time would be halved. Whilst Vans instructions are excellent we found that, as first time builders, spending time on trying to understand the tasks has paid dividends in limiting mistakes and reworking.

Here are some builder tips

1. Vans instructions contain very few mistakes. If you think they have got it wrong, check again because it is probably YOU. We were convinced the main elevator push rod was the incorrect length. I’m glad we did not cut it down as after: e-mails to Vans and a few more hours with the plans, the problem was solved by setting up the geometry correctly.
2. Spend enough time reading and understanding the instructions and plans until you understand them. If in doubt ask (Vans or other builders). Time and money will be saved on this (most important) issue.
3. Read the vast amount of tips (and builder experience) now available on the internet. Whilst some builders incorporate their own (non standard) ideas into their builds, the frank admissions of their mistakes, the way they have approached issues and their innovative solutions really do help a deeper understanding of the project.
4. We have fitted a new Lycoming 0320 from Vans. For UK weather we did not like the Carburettor heat baffle supplied by Vans as it barely affected the RPM when applied. We have fitted a “Cessna” type from Aircraft Spruce which: a) was easy to fit; b) was cheap and c) gives us about 100rpm drop when applied.
5. The upholstery and interior trim supplied by Flightline Interiors has given us a very comfortable professionally looking cockpit as good as can be found in many production aircraft.

G-RVMB is a pleasure to fly, very stable and very fast. We are having to learn to plan well ahead when we want to lose height and (or) speed.

Thank you for your interest in our project.

Related Link(s):
Video


« Back to the RV Hotline