RV9a registered RAA

[RetiredRacer]

We are pleased to report, our Recreation Aviation Australia registered RV9a made it's first flight on the 10th of April. No vices, in fact after trimming it flew hands off.

 

Unfortunately had to cut the first flight short due to a rough running engine that developed after take-off. But looking forward to sorting the problem out and doing some testing.

 

Aircraft weighed in on a set of longacre motor racing scales at 893 lb (406 kg). The airframe of the quickbuild kit was unmodified in any way or form, to achieve that weight. A Conical mounted 0-235 C2C was chosen and modified to Lyc's LSA 0-233 spec's (with bolt-on equipment etc). along with a Catto two blade prop and numerous other under cowl modifications to save weight. RV12 type seats and instrument panel fitted with a Dynon D180 EFIS, X-Com radio and Trigg transponder, were fitted to the Spartan interior. A huge amount of time was spent researching and choosing the lightest equipment and gear available for this aircraft.

 

The A/c has been registered as a single seat, but now the long awaited 600 kg amendment has been initiated we will be able to re-install the right seat and stick (the seat and stick were installed when the A/C was weighed).

 

Here is a youtube link to our first flight for anyone that may be interested

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/RockinRobynQ3?blend=7&ob=5

 

 

[fly_tornado]

very nice

 

 

[ave8rr]

Hi Bob, good to see another RV9A flying.

 

We own RV9A VH-LAT based at Bundaberg. Unlike yours it is fitted with the latest Dynon 10" Skyview and Trutrack autopilot (see avitar) and is powered by the Lycoming 0320 160HP with sensinich two blade metal prop.

 

A further weight increase to 700-750kgs would see all RV6/9 aircraft able to be registered with RAAUS and operate to the design MTOW. We have no intention of putting LAT on the RAAUS register as long as I hold a class 1/2 medical.

 

Cheers

 

 

[dazza 38]

Very Nice Bob.

 

 

[Gnarly Gnu]

Good stuff Bob, you must be chuffed.

 

 

[poteroo]

With a current RV-9A at 795 kgs on the VH register, it's really difficult to see where you are going to obtain a decent loading by going to a LSA 600 kg max AUW standard. Even if we go to 750 kg - it will require a smaller engine in the -9A, ie, as VANS has already proven, a 110 HP Lycoming 0-235. It's on their proven designs, and it 's legal. Yes, yes,....I hear you - you'll build it even more spartan than VANS could have ever thought. This will allow it to fit under the 750 kg limit at 727 kg AUW, even with an 0-320. But, I like a few creature comforts in my RV - a seat would be nice, so would a cushion, and maybe even a heater!!

 

With the smaller engines, the performance won't be blistering, but probably good enough for 125-130 KTAS in cruise. Maybe the IO-233 will lift performance a bit, as would a CSU or ground adjustable pitch prop. OK, you might take an extra 33% distance in takeoff - so what, that's probably 50m anyway!

 

I guess most GA pilots will try to stay in that category as long as they can, in order to retain the benefits of more HP and higher performance. The RV-12 just doesn't come near the RV-9A performance. In fact, I'd suggest that a lower powered RV-9A, with 110 HP, will absolutely cream a -12 with the R912 - 100HP. The big difference is that the -9A is a hell of a lot more difficult and time consuming to build.

 

happy days,

 

 

[winsor68]

Vans need to design a new fuselage for the 9a.. and offer a Rotax option for it...?

 

 

[Spin]

Geez, talk about piddling on a bloke's battery! Well done Bob, your course may not suit everyone, but nice to see something different on the RA fleet and a Vans aircraft that doesn't need to emulate an airliner to get airborne.

 

 

[Bandit12]

Makes perfect sense to me - building a higher performance aircraft is not cheap, which seems to generally preclude younger people doing it. So those a little more "mature" can and do afford it, but run the risk of not passing a medical and losing the ability to fly GA. So building a proven design to RAA specs seems like a great idea. Watched your video, like most RVs, it looks superb!

 

 

[RetiredRacer]

Geez, talk about piddling on a bloke's battery! Well done Bob, your course may not suit everyone, but nice to see something different on the RA fleet and a Vans aircraft that doesn't need to emulate an airliner to get airborne.

Hi guy's

 

To give you a bit of background on this project.

 

I'm a low hr RAA licensed pilot. My next birthday will be my 70th. I started to study and save up to get my pilots licence when I was in my teens, but I finished up getting involved in a rock band instead. Three years ago I decided I was going to do what I've always wanted to do, build a plane and get my licence.

 

At the time it looked positive that RAA were going to get 750/760 kg MTOW some time in the future. As both my brothers had owned Cessna's, I liked the idea of having a lycoming up front. Van's website had the -9 with the 0-235 listed at 735 kg MTOW.

 

Because of my age I felt I didn't have time to wait around until the increases came in. As it was going to take time to build an aircraft, I bit the bullet and ordered a RV9a quick build kit. The kit was on the water when the new's came through that the 760 kg MTOW was knocked on the head, but we were going to get 600 kg instead.

 

At this point I felt I had two options. Go GA or sell the kit.

 

A friend of mine gave me a link to a guy in the states who was building 9's and 9a's to meet the LSA spec's. After getting in touch with this guy, I decided to press ahead with the 9a.

 

The rest you know.

 

 

[winsor68]

Bloody good effort I say... I like the Rv9a philosophy. It seems to have a very nice wing for our purposes...

 

 

[rgmwa]

Congratulations on a job well done. It would not have been easy. What sort of performance are you getting?

 

rgmwa

 

 

[terryc]

We are pleased to report, our Recreation Aviation Australia registered RV9a made it's first flight on the 10th of April. No vices, in fact after trimming it flew hands off. Unfortunately had to cut the first flight short due to a rough running engine that developed after take-off. But looking forward to sorting the problem out and doing some testing.

Aircraft weighed in on a set of longacre motor racing scales at 893 lb (406 kg). The airframe of the quickbuild kit was unmodified in any way or form, to achieve that weight. A Conical mounted 0-235 C2C was chosen and modified to Lyc's LSA 0-233 spec's (with bolt-on equipment etc). along with a Catto two blade prop and numerous other under cowl modifications to save weight. RV12 type seats and instrument panel fitted with a Dynon D180 EFIS, X-Com radio and Trigg transponder, were fitted to the Spartan interior. A huge amount of time was spent researching and choosing the lightest equipment and gear available for this aircraft.

 

The A/c has been registered as a single seat, but now the long awaited 600 kg amendment has been initiated we will be able to re-install the right seat and stick (the seat and stick were installed when the A/C was weighed).

 

Here is a youtube link to our first flight for anyone that may be interested

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/RockinRobynQ3?blend=7&ob=5

Well done Bob, it's a credit to you and your off sider. She looks great.

 

 

[RetiredRacer]

Here is my 2,3,4,5th &6st flight reports.

 

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The rough running engine was caused by stale fuel. Because of the floods (our house and my business workshop both wemt under) and the rebuild program, the plane sat for three months. We found the throttle body spray tube was gummed up.

 

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2nd flight.

 

This flight was only 20 minutes and no testing was done as the engine still wasn't sounding 100%. Trying to run it full throttle to bed the rings in was difficult, as the temps on 1&3 just kept climbing, which meant that once they got over 400 deg. I'd have to back off to let it cool, then go again.

 

Back on the ground I did a mag check and found a couple of plugs miss firing. Trying to keep the engine cool, I was keeping the mixture rich. And during the cooling descends must have fouled up the plugs.

 

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3rd & 4th flights.

 

OK, need to do do some checking. Did another flow test to make sure there was plenty of flow. good there. And changed the plugs from 8's to 7's to try and stop them fowling up. During the flow test I found the slide in the TBI (throttle body injection) wasn't getting full travel, which meant it wasn't getting full throttle. I adjusted the cable to rectify the problem which must have come about when we adjusted the cable so we could get the idle down to where we wanted it on first engine start.

 

New and hotter plugs along with full TBI slide travel, seemed to do the trick. The engine sounded sharper and was finding more rev's on take-off and climbs. but now with full throttle, the exhaust gasses on 1 & 3 cyl's are spiking, resulting in shorter runs on full throttle. Which makes it hard to try and bed in the rings.

 

Decided to land, have some lunch and give it another go after lunch.

 

The 4th flight was cut short as the engine temps seemed to be getting worse, so decided to call it a day.

 

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5th flight

 

After a discussion with Jim (the engine builder ), it was decided that the extra travel on the slide in the TBI, because of the way it is designed, could be causing cyl's 1 & 3 to lean out. If this was the case, then we could experiment with the throttle and see what happens. I also decided to change the plugs back to 8's as a precaution.

 

On take-off the engine was just as sharp as it was before, but as the egt's (exhaust gas temp's) on 1 & 3 started to spike, I backed the throttle of a little and straight away they started to recede. After some experimenting I found the sweet spot with the throttle, where it seemed to have good power while keeping the temps under control.

 

This enabled me to get back into doing some good rated climbs to bed the rings in while also keeping the temps under control

 

I put in a total of 1.2 hrs on this flight and as light was running out, called it a day.

 

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6th flight

 

After yesterdays pleasing flight I was anxious to get a early flight, as we needed to call it a day at noon for a mothers day afternoon dinner. But the fog kept us on the ground till ten. So I used this time to give the aircraft a good check over.

 

I got airborne quickly on about 7/8 th throttle and climbed to 4000ft averaging a 1000/1100 ft/min climb rate. Hey this baby climbs, considering it is the small Lycoming motor, the engine still is being run in and because of the temps, I am probable running it a bit rich to what it really likes. Temps got up a little on 1 & 3 cyl's on this climb, but they were acceptable.

 

Seeing as we've sorted out most of the problems we have been having with the motor, I decided to start doing some testing. The Van's Aircraft testing manual tells us to do the stall testing without actually stalling the a/c. I've read where the RV9 really doesn't stall as such. I've found this to be true. Clean, I got the airspeed back to 38/39 kts and it just sat there, a massive amount of sink, but it just kept it's nose above the horizon and was steady at that. So I powered on and flew out of it. With full flaps it got down to 35 kts and again just sat there. I might have been too timid with it, trying to get it to show signs of a stall without actually stalling it. So I might have to get more aggressive with it.

 

By this stage I was getting a lot of confidence in the a/c, so I decided to go for a fly somewhere instead of hanging around Watts Bridge. So I took a fly to Gatton and back, giving the motor as much of a workout as I could, while I was doing it.

 

Another 1.4 hrs

 

Bring on next weekend :-D

 

 

[poteroo]

Never thought I'd see a -9 with those weights. Your stall speeds are an indicator of those lower weights too. My IO-360 powered -9A weighs in at 486 kgs BEW, and loads up to 795 kgs. At 795 kgs, it stalls clean at 50 KCAS, and with full flap and power off - at 44 KCAS. I've test flown a number of RV's, and the -9A's are remarkably consistent - all with numbers within +/- 1-2 Kts of the above. I make them stall cleanly, with my assistant watching the EFIS and ASI while it happens. We repeat it many times in each configuration. I don't haul the nose up aggressively - just a steady speed decrease of no more than 1 Kt/sec. I'll be interested to hear your performance numbers later on. You should be able to cruise it with 65% settings in the 125-135 KTAS vicinity....maybe even 140 is achievable? I think the IO-233 will be a good engine, but disappointed to learn that Lycoming have temporarily dropped the throttle body injection - making it now just an 0-233. Wonder why? What price that VANS have something in the wind with the 0-233 going into all those RV-12 kits?

 

happy days,

 

 

[RetiredRacer]

Ok, we've finally got our 9a ("Slipstream Runner") painted. Tell me what you think.

 

 

Yep??? As soon as I can work out what the problem is, I'll fix it.

 

 

[Tex]

Sweet Bob!

 

 

 

[ave8rr]

She looks great Bob. We will have to catch up some time. What strip are you flying out of?

 

Cheers

 

 

[RetiredRacer]

Sounds good Mike. Watts Bridge, which is about a hour and a half north west of Brisbane.

 

At this stage we're hoping to get up your way about September.

 

 

[RetiredRacer]

I'm confused here Mike. I see by your earlier post your 9a is based at Bundaberg, but your location is Kununurra. My previous statement was for NT and the top of WA. We want to do it this year, but if all the planets do not align for this year, then it will be next year. And that distance from Brissy, was by car. But you probably know where Watts is :))

 

 

[ave8rr]

I'm confused here Mike. I see by your earlier post your 9a is based at Bundaberg, but your location is Kununurra. My previous statement was for NT and the top of WA. We want to do it this year, but if all the planets do not align for this year, then it will be next year. And that distance from Brissy, was by car. But you probably know where Watts is :))

G'day Bob, Yes we are currently living (camped) in Kununurra. I came over here 4 years ago for a 15 month contract at Argyle Diamonds as the ARO for the Aerodrome.

 

This contract is now out till 30 Jun 13. VH-LAT is currently in our hangar at Bundy due no hangarage here in KNX. With the new instrument fit out (Dynon Skyview etc) we dont want to leave the aircraft out in the high humidity over the wet season up here. We get back to Bundy now and then for a fly though. I will try and catch up next time we are over. Keep in touch re trip north.

 

Cheers

 

 

[RetiredRacer]

Never thought I'd see a -9 with those weights. Your stall speeds are an indicator of those lower weights too. My IO-360 powered -9A weighs in at 486 kgs BEW, and loads up to 795 kgs. At 795 kgs, it stalls clean at 50 KCAS, and with full flap and power off - at 44 KCAS. I've test flown a number of RV's, and the -9A's are remarkably consistent - all with numbers within +/- 1-2 Kts of the above. I make them stall cleanly, with my assistant watching the EFIS and ASI while it happens. We repeat it many times in each configuration. I don't haul the nose up aggressively - just a steady speed decrease of no more than 1 Kt/sec. I'll be interested to hear your performance numbers later on. You should be able to cruise it with 65% settings in the 125-135 KTAS vicinity....maybe even 140 is achievable? I think the IO-233 will be a good engine, but disappointed to learn that Lycoming have temporarily dropped the throttle body injection - making it now just an 0-233. Wonder why? What price that VANS have something in the wind with the 0-233 going into all those RV-12 kits?

happy days,

Ok, I thought it was about time I reported back on 396 hrs of flying in the 4 1/2 years that we have had our RV9a in the air with some numbers etc.

 

The Rotec TBI we had on the 0-235 for the first 100 hours was out of the first batch that Rotec produced, since then we have replaced it with a later model (instead of having the old model upgraded) and have learnt to fine tune it to get the most out of the small 0-235. I also replaced the original exhaust that was fitted when I built the aircraft with the new lighter smaller tubed exhaust that was designed for Lycomings new 0-233 LSA engines.

 

To help keep running costs down I designed the fuel system when I was building the plane to run on mogas without having to worry about vapour-lock. our 9a has an electric "push" pump mounted next to the fuel tank in each wing root and does not have an engine mounted mechanical fuel pump. A small "dyno" type alternator was mounted on the accessory case along with a tiny battery to supply electrical back-up for the fuel pumps (if the need arose). But with testing we have found the TBI is happy to keep supplying the engine with fuel by gravity feed only (no pumps), not only for normal cruising but also for 500'-600' a minute climbs and this is with minimum fuel in tanks. Because of this I removed the back-up alternator and battery and along with this weight saving and the lighter exhaust system I fitted earlier I was able to fit wheel pants and leg fairings and still keep our aircraft under the minimum weight required by RAA. Fitting the leg fairing and wheel pants resulted in a win win situation, not only did the 9a cruise at a 10 knot higher airspeed at the same rpm but it also did it using 1-2 litres less fuel per hour. This means we are now able to travel further on the same amount of fuel or, carry less fuel to travel the same distance.

 

Ok, now some figures. Please keep in mind this may be a RV but it was built to be able to register it RAA and to achieve this a small light low compression, air cooled Lycoming 0-235 CTC engine was chosen. This engine is plated @ 108hp and according to Lycoming has a t/o hp of 115,

 

Take off and climb out with two up is around 1000' a minute to circuit height then the nose needs to be lowered slightly to allow speed to build up to around 110kts to keep the air cooled engine temps down while climbing further.

 

Short local flights with take off and a cruise between 2500' and 4500' at around 2300 RPM will give us 120 IAS and a 22 LPH ROP average fuel consumption. Cruising at altitude above 5000', we can expect at the same RPM and IAS a 138-142kt TAS and a 20LPH fuel flow. 55% power ROP gives us 110kts and 18 litres per hour while 55% power LOP still at 110kts will shrink the consumption to 16 LPH.

 

Pushing the 9a over 130 kts IAS will push the fuel consumption up around 30 LPH or more.

 

Cheers.

 

Bob

 

 

[Ada Elle]

Oh my.

 

I now have dreams of a RV9 (not 9A) with a 915. If only the USD wasn't so strong...

 

 

[KRviator]

That would be the perfect engine for a -9, but I haven't seen a price listed anywhere. IIRC, the engine isn't being released until 2017, and I doubt it will be comparable to a 914 price wise and am fully expecting it to tip the scales north of $40,000 USD. Until then, the best you could do without strapping a turbo to one is an O-340 or O-360. You could reasonably expect a ceiling of FL180 at MTOW, TAS'ing 130 knots or so at 6.0 GPH.