KTFP - 1T7 - KTFP

We flew to our house at Kestrel Airpark, 1T7, this past Saturday at 10:00 AM. The weather was excellent in this part of the country. Filed IFR, climbed to 8000 ft. 35 minutes latr we were flying by Randolph Airforce Base and descending to 1T7.

Returning to our home in Portland, TX at 5:00 PM, clear skies, tail wind, cruising at 168 KT. Soon were seeing the Corpus Christi, Portland, Aransas Pass gulf coast. Also a few of the local Chemical plants.

Landed at KTFP, T.P. McCampbell at 6:15 PM

RV12 Webinar

We had the pleasure to listened to the EEA RV12 Webinar presented by Dick VanGrunsven this past Tuesday April 21 2009. We are somewhat getting interested in building a slower airplane and certainly looking at the new family addition to Vans Aircraft. Our dogs also enjoy aviation, Sue our 8 year old cocker spaniel came up to the table to listen to Dick's presentation. She started upbeat but was falling sleep during the questions session as can be seen on this picture. The information was excellent.

Exhaust Adjustment

As per conversation with Larry Vetterman, Vetterman Exhaust, I have:

1. Adjusted the left  hangers tubes to have a max separation of 1/4" inside the hoses.
2. Raised the exhaust pipe about 3/4" to prevent it from touching the cowling.  The horizontal hanger pipe is now 1 1/2" from the firewall. This is the closest that I could get to the firewall and still keep the separation inside the hoses to a max of 1/4"
3. The pipe clamp is located about 1 1/2" from the last bend on the pipe.  See pictures below:

Exhaust System

Found that the left exhaust pipe has moved and it was no longer pointed downward. This was due to a worn out hanger kit. Called Larry Vetterman, Vetterman Exhaust, and received adviced to replaced the hanger kit. I received the kit on Friday April 9 and replaced the kit on Saturday. Here are pictures of before and after replacing the kit.

Skyview Calibration

Resolved the problem with the Skid-Slip ball. It was corrected by leveling the ADAHRS.

Skyview Calibration

Today I received advice from Dynon, great customer service, to adjust the level of the ADHRS to center the skid-slip ball. This shlould not be a major task and will do it this coming weekend.

After yesterday's flight I found the need to adjust the position of the end of the exhaust. The problem seemed to be the hanger for the exhaust pipes. After talking with Larry Veterman the hanger will be replaced. The ball joints need to be lubricated and the hanger needs to be located as close to the firewall as possible, the end of the exhaust needs to be at a 20 deg angle of the belly of the plane.  Thanks Larry for the advice.

Flight from KTFP to KVCT

Nice flight from T.P. McCampbell to Victoria, TX airport to check out the Skyview. Visited with a couple of friends. Also checked out the EZ-Auopilot from Trio Avionics. I am impressed of the results having had the Navaid autopilot for 10 years. The Trio is definetely a superior unit. Did a GPS approach to runway 13 at McCampbell and it tracks the approach with surpricing accuracy. Great unit.

The reason for the Skyview to shut down on the first day was due to a low battery. The unit is working fine now after the battery was charged. Yesterday I calibrated the magnetic heading. It is not correct yet since there is a difference between the Skyview and the D10A. Will calibrate both of them at the same time today. The skid-ball indicator shows an inclination to the left while ball on the D10A and on the Trio autopilot are dead center. I don't have an answer for this at this time.

New Software Installed

The new Dynon sofware was downloaded and succesfully installed:

Version 1.5 released 3/29/10
US Navigation Database valid 08Apr10 - 06May10

Pictures of the airspace around T.P. McCampbell, Corpus Christi and Victoria, TX are attached.