This is a log of the build of a Vans RV-12, kit #120895. This will be my first experience in aircraft construction and I hope to learn a lot along the way.
I have spent the past few days completing the flight tests required by Vans Aircraft and also to fulfill the Phase I requirements of the Airworthiness certificate. I added a rudder trim tab to help with rudder at cruise flight. It took a couple adjustments to get it to performed correctly.
The last 4 flight tests involved climbing to 10,000 ft at different configurations and time the climb between different altitudes. The autopilot and EFIS logged helped immensely in getting this data. The flight tests also included doing various stalls, slow speed, cruise speed calibration, turns, etc. I had to add 20 lbs of water in a jug as a ballast to get the plane to 1050 lbs per instructions.
Overall things performed as per POH. The RV12 is a fun plane to fly and can't wait to take some of my family up on flights.
Today was the big day!!!! I received some more transition training from Jose at Vans. We went over what PAP F1 instructions were so I could be prepared for my first flight test. I completed my checkout from him so now I am legit to fly my plane.
After flight training I went to the hangar and put the plane back together from the airworthiness inspection. I went through pre-flight checks and then performed some taxi tests. I calibrated the magnetometer and conditioned the brakes.
The weather today was excellent and wind was calm so I couldn't pass up doing a first flight. I figured since the training was fresh in my mind it would be a good time. So I had the family come out and performed the first flight. The airplane is amazing and took off in no time. It flew smooth. I went through PAP F1 and everything functioned well. There is only some rudder trim to take care of. I even tested out the autopilot and it worked great! I came in for a landing and made a very smooth landing. An of course had the RV Grin!
I checked the engine for leaks, etc. and went through making notations on the PAP F1 form. I previously ordered the rudder trim kit as I figured there was a good chance I would need it, so I went ahead and installed it. We will see how it does next flight.
After the flight we had a good family dinner at the hangar.
Pulling plane out of hangar
Checking over plane
Wheels off
Takeoff
Landing
RV Grin
Dinner at hangar
Video of takeoff and landing
Video from in cockpit of first flight. Speed of 5X except for T/O and Landing
Today was another big Milestone. This afternoon I went to Vans aircraft and received some transition training from Jose. We flew down to Lebanon and did a few landings. I practiced some slow flight and stalls on the way there. The RV-12 is Awesome!!! I think it helped some that I had a few hours in the Tecnam Sierra as that gave a little closer feel to how the RV12 flies. I will continue with a little more training tomorrow morning to get better prepared for my first flight in my aircraft.
This evening the DAR, Gary Brown came and did my airworthiness inspection. Everything passed with flying colors. A little time spent going over paperwork and operating limitations. N8697T is now considered airworthy and ready to fly.
Tomorrow after transition training in the morning I will put the plane back together and do some taxi tests. If everything goes right and weather is good I hope to do my first flight tomorrow evening!
Time: 1 hr (For inspection, didn't include flight transition training time of 1.7 hrs)
I received a few electrical parts to fabricate a new ELT GPS tester. It is too rainy today to pull the plane out of the hangar to do the test. That will have to wait for another day.
I did complete the fuel calibration of the tank. It calibrated up to 16 gallons. That completes G8 of the production acceptance procedures.
I started today by adding a ground wire to the sender grounding plate. I have read that some people had to do this in order to get proper ground to the fuel sender. I removed a screw, added some fuel sealant and then placed the wire.
While waiting for fuel sealant to dry I performed the ELT tests. After a run to Radio Shack I made a makeshift ELT GPS tester light. I tried doing the test and could not get the light to light up. It may be due to the wrong type of resistor so I will order a few supplies online to make a better tester. I performed registered the ELT and performed the ELT self & G tests and they both passed.
I decided to add a few gallons of fuel to see if the ground wire to the fuel sender functioned properly. I added 5 gallons and the results were much better than before.
It is the day for weight and balance. I first started by placing the canopy seals as per plans. I then installed the cowling and inspection plates and figured the plane for weight and balance. I also re-checked the cable tension for stabilator and they both came in at 40 lbs. All the interior was positioned back into place.
I leveled the deck and then place the plane on scales. I had bought 3 scales to make things easy and it was. Weights were obtained and recorded. Measurements were also taken to get the measurements from all 3 axles to the reference line. The weight and balance calculations were then performed. My plane with full interior and ADS-B out/in weighed in at an empty weight of 752 lbs.
Completed photos were also taken for the DAR.
I then attempted to calibrate the fuel tank. I say attempted because once completed it seemed like the readings were inaccurate. I believe there may be a grounding issue, so the fuel tank was drained again. I will research this out more and see what may be the issue and re-calibrate the tank.
I went to the hangar and first thing I did was to check the spark plug wire locations. Since there was such a drop in RPM at run-up last time I thought that this might be the most likely reason for it. Sure enough, despite my efforts to keep the right plug in the right place, the top plug wires for #2 & #4 cylinders were switched. I moved them to their proper location and did another run-up. The ignition test passed with only a 150 RPM drop in each A and B ignition.
I removed the gascolator and checked and cleaned screen. Everything looked pretty clean. I also removed and checked the carb bowls. This took a little work but manageable, especially with the right carb since there wasn't as much space.
