Squawks and tweeks

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 5:39 pm

So got a few flights behind us now and have started a squawk sheet for Aurora

1. heavy left wing.....really wants to roll left at 200mph
2. No OAT indication on Dynon
3. ELT and/or Remote broke
4. Canopy has loosen up and rattles at idle
5. Heat controller is backwards
6. need seal on canopy
7. full fuel in left tank only registers 15gals
8. sidetone or ??squelch...I have a lot of noise in my headset, but everyone says the radio is real clear
9. slight contact between plenum and upper cowl. (added anti scuff tape for now)
10. wallet is already empty

I think I have a handle on fixing all of these....ok, on #10 I need a fix. Anyone have some advice for any of the above.

I worked on #1 today. Closer inspection showed my left aileron sitting proud ~1/8". Apparently, this is a common problem with QB wings from 06-07. I pulled it off and slotted the brackets. if this fixes it I'll redrill a new bracket.

#3 Guess my used ELT although cheap wasn't money well spent. It works by itself but not with a remote. (tried 2 remotes and multiple cables) New ELT ordered.

And to think I was finished

.

lancef53 · Post by **lancef53** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 8:32 pm

My full fuel on my Dynon 180 shows 16 for one side and 17 for the other full. It stays there until it is actually under that amount, then reads correctly. Better than the last 5 or 6 gallons not reading right!!

Where did you place your oat probe? I have mine under the cabin, where the fuse bottom skin attaches to the wing. The wires are in the wing root.

Good luck on the squawks--I have been able to ignore several of my non-critical ones, and spent my time flying in the summer

Post by **bullojm1** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 8:56 pm

Brian,

Every new RV has a squawk list. Yours doesn't sound like there are any major issues. Here are my suggestions.

2) Probably a wiring issue.
3) How effective are the 121.5 ELT's anymore? I say make due with what ya got (its legal to fly in phase I without an ELT) and wait to see if ACK will release their affordable 406 Mhz ELT.
4) My rattles a little too. In fact my plexiglass is rubbing where it meets the rear window. I'm going to file it down slightly.
5) RV's have heat? I know I installed a system for it, but no matter which direction it's installed, I still don't have adequate heat!
6) I used McMaster-Carr part number 1120A712 for my seal between the bottom of the canopy and the canopy decks. 10' was the perfect length.
7) If you have floats this is common. How does your right tank read?
9) Sounds like a little glass work when it warms up, on a rainy day.
10) I have the same problem. How come I had more $$$ when I was spending all that money building?

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 9:23 pm

Thanks for the part number and feed back Mike. I'm happy these are my only items so far, I feared worse.

2. on the Dynon OAT, I have the sensor and compass in the tail cone. the compass works so I think the factory harness is ok. Probably just operator error on setting up the black box.

5. My heat muff seems to be working ok. Of course I get a headstart due to the hangar is always 50-55* and I've only flown in the sunshine.

7. Right tank will read the level up to 20gals. The levels seem real accurate at the bottom, but only have 1 fill up to base that on.

9. since I added the scuff tape to the cowl there has been no further transfer, so wonder it it wasn't the initial startup shaking. MY cowl and spinner alignment moved a bit since then.

10. will always be an issue, no matter what. you can never have enough gas money

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 9:34 pm

I have floats and have the same issue with my left tank...reads 17 when full, then accurate below that.

I also have a rub with my plenum...noticed it after the first flight, hasn't changed since.

My OAT is in my left NACA fresh air duct. Not the best spot, but it's usually fairly close. I have had to calibrate it three times in 25 hours tho...

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 6:03 pm

Success! I dropped my left aileron 1/8" the other day and apparently that was the correct thing to do. Now at 200mph she's hands off.

I still don't have OAT indication, seems I don't have it hooked up.

At 7500', 24" 2380 rpm I did some GS comparisons. IAS =180mph, but averaging 203mph.

I wanted to run the engine a little harder but at 2500 rpm I'm bumping into the yellow arc. This was 6500' 2500rpm.

kinda cool cruising past Mt Baldy doing 200mph in a plane built in my garage

3.9hrs so far, temps look good. oil consumption <1qt.

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 11:12 am

Great pic Brian!!

Do you have any restriction on your oil cooler? Mike put one on his, and I flew yesterday (temps mid 30's), and couldn't get my oil temp over 122 degrees...think I'll have to put one in.

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 11:34 am

nope. I'm not sure what the temp is at altitude, but I'd guess it's in the 20's. ground temp was about 35. Oil temp has been real steady at 178. I may have an issue come summer time.

CHT's were 311-350, but yesterday they were 290-330's I think. I need to download and review the data log. #1 is the low cylinder, so I'm thinking of a little AL tape across the front for now.

EGT's are 1100's or so. I pumping a lot of wasted fuel for sure. But don't lean very much just yet.

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 8:22 pm

Don't base anything off of EGT's alone for engine health. The only thing they're good for is leaning for your FI, and to tell you something is in agreement...e.g. Low CHT and low EGT, something is up with that cylinder. CHT's are important, you know that tho!

Otherwise EGT's are what they are when other parameters are set.

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 8:41 pm

Just like the rest of the build, I'm learning. towards the end of my last flight I'm finally able to relax a bit. Stuff still takes planning ahead, but at least I can enjoy it.

I notice the aileron control is sensitive at 200mph. I was making a strafing run on some ice fisherman...don't worry I was plenty far away. Later I spoke with one he said It looked pretty cool as I zoomed by at about 210mph then pulled up and banked away. Yeah I'm kinda' liking this.

Bob Barrett · Post by **Bob Barrett** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 3:52 pm

Brian, don't rule out the sensor probe! You could have a bad ground or some such thing. Also radio noise can come from a bad ground on your headset jacks. I had my oat probe in the NACA air inlet and found I 72 degrees F when flying on a 20 degree F day last winter and I knew I was getting engine heat on the probe. Last Spring we moved the probe to the lower side of the right wing tip and now I have good readings. I am looking forward to meeting up with you and Lance53 somewhere next year! Gas Money sure is a problems

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:33 pm

I may need to move mine too...the NACA duct seemed like the perfect location, but it's not always accurate.

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Thu Dec 23, 2010 4:50 pm

cjensen wrote:...and I flew yesterday (temps mid 30's), and couldn't get my oil temp over 122 degrees...think I'll have to put one in.

Update on this...proof that going back and checking your work is a worthy step before taking the next set of measures (like pulling the cowl and experimenting with a cooler restrictor like I had planned to do next week).

I flew this morning, and like last time, my oil temp took FOREVER to come up. Once finally at 100, I taxied to the active, and departed for another airport. I was watching the oil temp the entire way (15 minutes), and it never topped 122 degrees. Once I landed, I told the tower that I would need a few minutes to go thru some EFIS configurations, and low and behold, I found the problem. I had somehow selected the oil probe type as a "Standard NTC". I have a Westach NTC. Switched it to that, and voila, I have oil temp at 155 at idle after the taxi back. Took off, and it went right on up to 182 degrees for my second leg.

Gotta watch these silly electronics sometimes! It couldn't have been my fault...

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Thu Dec 23, 2010 6:48 pm

cjensen wrote: ........ Gotta watch these silly electronics sometimes! It couldn't have been my fault...

Doh! At this point the Dynon is a big mystery to me. I finally adjusted the horizon to show level flight today. still no OAT.

added my first quart of oil today after 6.4hrs. started pulling back the fuel flow, but still running very rich.

One new development, It is real sensitive in roll. well thats not new, but today I gave the stick a little tap and it seemed unstable and the oscillations got worse

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Sat Jan 01, 2011 8:09 pm

Finally got the OAT readout working, Of course is was operator error all along. Also got my Avmap GPS talking with the Dynon.

Haven't flown in over a week, too cold and snowy here. tuesday is looking good though.

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Sat Jan 01, 2011 10:47 pm

I hear ya Brian...I'm sitting at 9 days, and I won't be airborne any time in the next week. All by design tho...

Glad to hear the OAT is working...what sort of operator error were you experiencing???

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Sat Jan 01, 2011 11:20 pm

cjensen wrote:....what sort of operator error were you experiencing???

Failure to be able to read and push the correct buttons.....I found that the info was always there when I downloaded my Dynon flight log. Digging a little deeper I was able to get it displayed on the screen. DOH! Should have TAS, %power, density alt, etc.

I was also having the same trouble with my GPS to D180 connection. Had to select the correct NMEA string in the GPS....TaDa, we have winds input, track, endurance on the Dynon now.

Guess that's what the phase 1 is all about. Engine has settled down, so I'll be able to slow things down and lean it out to help the wallet. Next time out I'm going to try to set the AOA....or I might just set up a nice cruise and try to do a 2hr fuel burn test and check my TAS against the GPS indication.

I figure I need to fly 2 hrs/wk to get the testing done before Kris graduates. Just need some nice days.

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 9:46 am

Here's a pic yesterday after some bobcat work to clear in front of the hangars.

Was going back today to finish the hand shovel work against the doors, mine is clear, but I usually shovel for the other folks.

BUT NO....our predicted slight chance of snow is actually 100% falling, 1" new and building!!!!!!!

so much for flying again today.

Post by **Spike** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 1:27 pm

I'd put up with the snow without complaint for a view like that. Wow dude.

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:09 pm

Spike wrote:I'd put up with the snow without complaint for a view like that. Wow dude.

If I had the view today I wouldn't be complaining either. problem is we have a 1000' ceiling and 3mile vis with light snow over the airport.

But yeah most days I never complain about the snow or view. Lots of people say they live in God's country...and they might, but HE vacations in Montana.