A tour of the RV-10

This is a fully finished and IFR equipped 2015 RV-10. Painted in a bright white and trimmed in metallic black and green. The interior features a cream colored leather interior with a sporty black stitching and dark grey carpet and trim. A carbon fiber instrument panel and center console house the full Garmin avionics suite that features dual G3X touch screens and a GTN 650. The power of the IO-540 260hp Lycoming engine and Hartzell prop gives the airplane some serious performance.

Watch the video below for a tour.

Engine:

-IO-540-D4A5 Lycoming 260hp Fuel Injected 6 cylinder engine.

-Hours (Total Time: Aircraft, Engine, and Prop) 170

-Dual Lightspeed electronic ignition with integrated backup power system

-GAMI Injectors

-Vetterman Exhaust

-EFII Fuel Boost Pump Module

-Servo controlled Oil Cooler Damper

-Servo controlled Cowl Flaps

-Full engine management system readout to G3X including: 

     -Fuel flow gauge

     -CHT and EGT on all 6 cylinders

     - Oil temp and pressure

Avionics:

-Powered by a primary 60 amp alternator or a 30 amp backup alternator

-Engine Ignition and Primary Avionics Integrated Battery Back-Up Systems

-Full ADSB in and out with weather and traffic

-Autopilot with robust feature set, including safety features such as underspeed and overspeed protection, a dedicated return-to-level (LVL) mode button, Garmin ESP™ (Electronic Stability and Protection), Flight Director (FD), coupled approaches and missed approaches

-VPX Electronic Circuit Breaker System integrated into G3X screens

-PS Engineering PMA5000EX Audio Selector Panel allows for full audio control. Front and back seats can listen to their own audio sources plugged into the airplane and fed through the headsets.

-Ultra EFIS for a secondary backup flight instrument

-ELT ACK 406 Mhz

-Cabin Carbon Monoxide detector with audio alerts

-Light weight and high powered LiFPo EarthX Battery

-GTN 650 GPS/NAV/COMM/MFD   Fly WAAS LPV approaches down to 200ft minimums and push the TOGA button on the instrument panel to cue the autopilot to automatically capture the correct pitch attitude required to fly a missed approach and then follow the loaded missed approach procedure.

Full Garmin G3X Suite, featuring:

-GDU  460 PFD with synthetic vision

-GDU 460 MFD

-GTX 23 ES Mode S Transponder 

-GDL 39R Full ADSB in and out

-Dual GSU 25 ADAHRS (primary and backup)

-GMC 305 and GSA 28 Servos for full autopilot  

-GAP 26 Pitot Tube

-Angle of Attack Indicator on top of panel

-GTR 20 Remote mounted Comm

-GAD 29 ARINC

-GEA 24 EMS (Engine Management System)

Interior and Exterior:

-Fully finished interior with trim and cup holders

-Overhead landing and taxi light controls

-Landing lights have "Wig-Wag" function above set airspeed and automatically return to normal operation during final approach

-Dimmable LED overhead recessed interior lighting with reading spot lights

-Super Bright LED Landing, Taxi and strobe lights with the sleek Aveo ZipTip system

-Door activated interior lighting and wing walk lighting with auto time-out shut off

-Dual USB ports for device charging

-Plane Around 180 Door Latch system

-Low Profile exterior door handle

-MATCO Wheels and Brakes

-SafeAir Pitot Static system

If there is anything else about the aircraft you would like to know feel free to look around the blog using the nav on right or enter your search term into the search bar below.

Some of my Favorite In-Flight RV-10 Pics

I wanted to share the view out my RV-10 window.

End

Well this is the end of the build log. I have finished my Phase 1 flight testing and have already been on several trips with the family. I'm happy the building is over but I have such great pride that I did all of that myself. It almost doesn't seem real. I can't even comprehend how much time and effort it took. But I finished what I started and now I need to learn how to enjoy this new machine and my free time that I now have until the next big project. BuildingRV10 will only be used to keep track of airplane maintenance or updates. Thanks for reading!

Flight Testing: Flying High

This was the best part of flight testing. High altitude long distance flying. Particularly in the summer heat. I also wanted to use the autopilot for this multiple leg flight. I was basically flying the entire perimeter of my Phase 1 flight test area, which was a pretty big area.

163kts, 10.8gph, at 10,500ft, OAT 48F

Flight Testing: Gremlins

Ready for a science lesson. As ferrous metals repeatedly move through Earth's magnetic fields they can become magnetic. World War II war ships would need to be degaussed (de-magnetized) to prevent setting off Nazi sea mines. They would get magnetized from moving through the earths magnetic fields. Well, as I've been flying around apparently my steel seat belt cables became magnetized. They're magnetic fields during turbulence or steep turns (therefore they were moving a lot) would result in my magnetometer being confused and I would get the error messages shown below. This took some head scratching at first to figure out what the problem was. But after taking out the seat belt cables and watching a compass go sporadic when placed next to the cables I was convinced they were the culprit to this gremlin. I replaced the steel cables with stainless steel cables and the problem was fixed. Although later tests showed that a tow bar (made of steel) placed really high in the baggage compartment can cause the same issue, so beware.

Here you can see the steel seat belt cables and their proximity to the magnetometer.

Flight Testing: Flying to Work

For the next several weeks I was a flying fool. I flew before work, after work or for a few days I even flew to work!

I had an installation to support at our company's hangar so I decided to fly to work today.

Easy parking when you're the only one that commutes via airplane.

DAR inspection, Taxi Tests, First Flight

Before first flight I had a lot of ground running time. First engine start, first taxi, high speed taxi down the runway and slam on the brakes. I actually did that one a few times to condition the brake pads. And there is magnetometer calibrations which require the engine running. Lots of run time before you even get to take off. I tried to keep the engine cool and did a lot of this during the evening hours to try and not die of summer heat.

Somewhere in the midst of all this taxi testing I had my DAR inspection. Went really well. He had a few pointers and suggestions but nothing show stopping. We signed all the paperwork and I got my airworthiness certificate! All in just a few hours.

First flight. 

I am hangared at a Class C airspace. And no they didn't care that this was a maiden flight for an experimental aircraft. I requested to stay above the airport, denied, " well can I stay next to the airport?", denied,.....ok, I guess I'll head to the next closest airport. "cleared as requested have a good flight".    Ugh.   So I line up for take off and throttle forward, man this plane moves, accelerating down the runway and off the ground in just a few seconds.....I am now flying in an airplane I built! OK, focus Justin, whats your airspeed, 140KTS!!! jeez ....OK pitch up a little....climb? 2000FPM!!! damn this thing is fast....3500ft altitude already...OK....keep the throttle open we need to break the engine in....150-160-175KTS!!!! wow....(there is so much going on this time I can't even describe the complexity) I then discover my trim isn't working...crap....OK fly the airplane. With lots of stick force I flew the airplane wide open throttle for almost an hour. I tried different power settings and simulated landings and then finally decided it was time to head home. 

174kts! that's fast. (for you non airplane types that's 200mph! in something I built...in my garage...at home)

I got clearance to land on 36R and followed the landing procedure I had written down and it resulted in a great landing. I call tower "Successful first flight for experimental 521 Tango Whiskey!" Tower answers back "Except you landed on the wrong runway....taxi back to hangars via Juliet" .....dang it, I was so focused on my landing speeds and procedures I turned into 36L instead of 36R. But you know what...that's fine....I had a great first flight, a great landing, and I'm still alive. All is good.

Finished and Ready to Fly

Finshed and ready to fly!  After 3 years 2 months 2 weeks and 2 days (March 23 2012 - June 8 2015) and over 2000hrs of work.

The plane is finally complete.

Interior lights on and the wing walk light in the door shining down. It all looks really nice lit up.