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1 Nov 09        Today - 0.6        Total - 25.2                

Fuel Computer - 27.3 G        Actual fuel - 24.14 G        Difference = 3.15 G        L Tank - 11.54    R Tank - 12.6

It was IFR here all day until just before dark.  When it cleared, I topped the tanks and loaded the RCP with 80# of weight and took off to do stalls and landings with a slightly farther aft CG than I've flown with thus far.  A number of people have said the airplane flies better with some weight in the back, but 80# seems to make very little difference.  Takeoff performance was normal as was climb.  Climbed to 5500' at 150 KIAS and got about 800 FPM.

No flap stall was 57 KIAS and full flap stall was 53 KIAS.  The speeds without the extra weight were 54 and 49.  Aileron rolls with the added weight were absolutely normal.  I pushed the top speed up to 210 KIAS during RTB and the plane is solid as a rock.  If anything, the airplane is a bit faster with some aft loading and full tanks.  I hit initial at 185 KIAS in level flight.  The first landing was with full flaps and seemed to settle into a comfortable final at about 75-77 KIAS - a little faster than solo.  The same was true for the second landing which was at half flaps.

I ordered some colored plastic tips from Sporty's that fit on the toggle switches.  My idea is to color code switches so as to make them easier to find, harder to mistakenly turn off, and easier for checklist use.  I'm using red on the switches that are turned on before engine start and remain on throughout the flight, blue for those switches turned on after start and remain on until just before engine shutdown, green for switches to be used for takeoff and landing, and white for optional use or random use switches.  Thus, I can hop in the plane and turn on the red switches and I'm ready to start, on with the blue and I'm ready to taxi, and green when I'm ready for takeoff.  The only toggle switches that should be normally switches off in flight are green and white.  I've noticed myself, while reaching to turn off a switch not needed in flight, inadvertently putting my finger on the wrong switch.  I could have easily recovered from using the wrong switch, but I don't need the rapid heart action that would result.  But, the switch covers that Sporty's sent are all different sizes and shades of color!

3 Nov 09        Today - 0.6        Total - 25.8

Inching my way toward 40 hours.  Had a flight late in the day today and loaded the RCP with 120#.  Other than ripping around the skies today, nothing significant done except CG check with heavier weight.  Next I'll jump right to 200# and full tanks.  I need to make sure the salt pellet bags I'm using are secure, so with the 200# load, I'm going to run more straps across to make sure it's tight.  I don't need that much weight coming loose and jamming the stick.

Today I did one pattern to ensure a good running engine and then departed.  I did clean and full flap stalls at about 5500' and got 58 KIAS with no flaps and 53 KIAS with full flaps.  Not much different than with 80# in the back.  I'm guessing that it will stall at 61 and 56 with 200# on board.  I'll plan to get that flight done tomorrow along with at least one more.

5 Nov 09        Today - 1.2        Total - 27.0

Whew!  Just completed the most frustrating single task of the entire building process - installing the RCP seat belt and shoulder harness.  Reaching the attachment points is the most difficult part.  For some reason, Van's plans call out AN4-7 bolts for attaching the belts and securing them with cotter pins and castle nuts!  I don't understand why he decided to use that hardware unless he was concerned that the belt connections would not pivot.  The Hooker harness I have has lead inserts that pivot and thus an AN4-7A bolt can be used with a lock nut.  Still they were very difficult to install.

Once I got them in, I loaded the plane with 200# in the RCP and strapped it down with the seat belt.  I also added a wedge to the bottom trailing edge of the right wingtip.  Nelson suggested modifying the fiberglass wingtip to compensate for the heavy wing so I decided to try taping on a wedge to test the wingtip mod theory.

The takeoff was no flap and was a bit longer than normal.  Once airborne the plane needed more nose down trim - no surprise there - because of the extra weight.  Top speed seemed to change very little, but climb rate suffered.  At altitude, the clean stall came at 60 KIAS and the full flap stall at 56.  I meant to pull the CB on the AOA for the stalls, but forgot, so I just listened to Betty complaining the whole time - "Angle! Angle! Push!"

I tried the AP again today and assigned it to hold heading and altitude, which it did fine for about 10 minutes and then lost its grip on heading and began drifting.  The AP must be watched constantly.  When I took it off heading hold and gave it GPS guidance and a descent, it suddenly pitched up with about 2 Gs.  I disconnected at that point and left it off.

It was very turbulent at low altitude with strong winds, so not much fun in the pattern.  The landing was full flap and all normal except that I had to use about 85 in the final turn and 78-80 on final with the heavier weight.  The AOA barked at me a couple of times because of the gusting winds.

I'd hoped to get in another flight today, but the belt installation took so long that I ran out of time.  13 hours to go.

Engine Readings at 6500' MSl for 12 minutes

8 Nov 09        Today - 1.0        Total - 28.0

Just enough time late today to get in a flight to do acro.  Winds were very gusty - at pattern altitude they were 090/27G35 and about 080/10G15 near the runway - so the ride was rough below about 3000' MSL.

I climbed above 6000' and did several aileron rolls each direction, some lazy eights, and then did my first loops in the airplane and pulled the highest G so far.  I started the loops at about 160 KIAS and used 3 Gs.  That caused me to be just above the stall over the top.  Three loops convinced me that I need to use more G in the pullup in order to have a little higher speed over the top.  But, I'm trying to gradually increase G loads and I wasn't ready to go to 4 Gs yet.  I'll do that next flight and add a cuban eight to the mix.  I may use a little more speed also, especially with someone in the RCP.

Back into the pattern for some bumpy patterns and landings.  I used half flaps because of the gusty winds.  The nosewheel is shimmying again so next time I take it down for MX work (December) I'll tighten the breakout force again.  At that time I'll also change the oil and switch to Exxon Elite 20W50.  12 hours to go.

9 Nov 09        Today - 1.2        Total - 29.2

The surface winds were 110/15G25 today and gusting to 40 at pattern altitude.  It was a very rough ride below 4000' MSL.  I hit my knees on the bottom of the panel several times due to turbulence.

I did a no flap takeoff with filtered air from inside the cowling to see how well it would perform using filtration.  It did fine and I may start doing all takeoffs and landings using filtered air and then switch to ram air above 1000'.  I got a bug strike from a huge bug on the prop yesterday and it splattered all over the cowling and windscreen.  I got to thinking that if it had gone in the fuel injector intake, the engine might not digest it very well, so using filtered air may be best.

One low approach after takeoff and that was a good thing because I got a good idea what the winds were doing at the runway.  When flying past the trees on the east side of RW 05 and into the open air the zips along Cessna Blvd, the airplane abruptly swung to the right and then left as the wind swirled.  That told me I had to have the plane on the ground and in a 3 point attitude on landing by the time I reached Cessna Blvd.

Out to the practice area and up at about 6-7000' the air was a little smoother.  So it was time for some higher G loads.  I did several aileron rolls. lazy eights, and chandelles to warm up and then started into the over-the-top maneuvers.  It was tough to get 4 Gs on the loop.  I tried a 165 KIAS entry but only pulled to 3.5 G and hit about 88 over the top.  So, I kept increasing the pull until reaching 4 Gs.  It took 170 KIAS and a solid pull to get 4 Gs for the loop, but after practicing it multiple times, it became fairly consistent to hit it.  I did several Cuban Eights also.  The over-the-top maneuvers require 10 degrees nose low entry, 2500 RPM, full throttle, a solid pull to 4 G, about 90-100 KIAS over the top, and a gradual throttle reduction passing inverted until back up to 10 degrees nose low in order to avoid going too fast.  Each recovery reached only 3 G and 160-170 KIAS.  In time, I should be able to fine tune the acro to get precise entry parameters.  It was way too rough coming back to the pattern to go fast so I kept it at 160 KIAS.

In the pattern I did another low approach and then a half flap landing that I plunked down just past the threshold and dropped the nose gear before getting to Cessna Blvd.  I'd originally planned to do crosswind landing practice at Deland today, but it wasn't wise to practice crosswind landings because of the gusts.  Had it been mostly steady wind, I could have checked the crosswind limits - although I'm not worried about being able to land in a strong crosswind.

15 Nov 09        Today - 1.4        Total - 30.6

I had a great visit with Joe Dubner in Independence, OR yesterday.  I overnighted in Portland and drove down to visit him.  We'd talked on the internet (he's building a RV-8) and I wanted to see his project.  He lives in a fly-in community at Independence so we also saw 4 or 5 other RVs.  A great bunch of guys!  We were late arriving at MCO from PDX due to WX in DEN, so my plans to do the spin tests before dark didn't work out.  I guess the spins will wait for another day.  So, I decided to do the night certification.

The goals were:

    Evaluate exterior lighting for taxi, takeoff, cruise and landing

    Evaluate and practice with interior and glass panel lighting

    Evaluate and practice with interior LED lighting

    Assess night operations in the RV-8

    Assess EFIS use for night

    Assess other radios and equipment for night use

    Check AP for night use

    Do three night landings

Starting is a little different at night because you can't see the prop spinning, so you have to listen for the start to bring the mixture forward.  Dimming all of the glass panels is straight forward, but the EFIS Lite doesn't dim enough - even with the lowest setting.  Dimming the AOA is also easy, but it doesn't dim enough either.  The MRX is quirky.  I dimmed it and turned the volume down, but then couldn't get back to a normal display.  I must be doing something wrong.  The CO Guardian is hidden and its display isn't seen.  For the two warning lights on the left, there is residual light from behind those lights and it shines on the cockpit floor, but it is not distracting.

Taxi using the taxi lights is fine, but the lights still need adjustment.  The right one is aimed too high and both of them are aimed too far to the center.  After another adjustment, I should have very good taxi light coverage.  Of course, turning on the landing lights for taxi works great.

The tinted Todd's canopy is a tiny bit too dark for night operations.  But, it more than makes up for that drawback by being about perfect for daytime operations.  I don't even wear sunglasses in the day.  I think once I adjust the lights again the canopy will be fine.  In flight, the interior displays and lights are a bit too much, but I think the reason is the darkness of the canopy.  It darkens all the outside lights which makes the interior lights seem more prominent.  All the interior lights also reflect off the inside of the canopy and cause a halo sensation which further detracts from outside visibility.  None of these issues were a problem for landing as the HID landing lights are so bright that seeing the runway is easy.

While not noticeable at low altitude because there are so many many outside lights, at cruise the flashing of the wig wag recognition lights shines on the prop and causes a distraction.  Adjusting the lights may help some on this issue.  The strobe and position lights are also easily noticeable but they don't bother me - although they could bother someone else flying the plane.  Later I'll consider adding the glare fences like Bonanzas have.

The interior LED lighting is excellent.  They are fully dimmable and cause no distraction when properly dimmed.  When turned up, they add to the halo effect on the canopy interior.

The radio and transponder are self dimming and cause no problems.

The AP adds significant safety to night flying if carefully monitored.  I did multiple turns using the heading bug with altitude hold engaged at 7500' MSL.  The altitude hold in turns didn't do a great job, although I didn't trim it well at first.  Without trimming it in the turn, it lost as much as 120' during the turn and then overcorrected when rolling out and climbed as much as 80 feet.  However, it did much better when I trimmed for it in the turns.  I used 2 clicks of nose up during roll in (it uses a standard bank turn) and took them out on rollout.  Then it lost only 50' in the turn but gained as much as 100' in the rollout.  I'll experiment some with 3 clicks of nose up and see how it does.

Landings are simple.  I used an overhead pattern and one simply has to crosscheck inside instruments and power settings more than in the day.  I used 9-10" MP in the final turn with half flaps and held 80-85 KIAS and then used 75-78 KIAs on final.  The runway is so well lit that night landings are much like daytime landings.

Although not perfect for night flying, my RV-8A is certainly suitable.  But then, what airplane is perfect for night flying?  If God had meant us to fly at night, he would have given us FLIR.

Maybe I can do the spin tests in the morning.

Engine Readings for tonight

18 Nov 09        Today - 1.0        Total - 31.6

First flight today was a fun hop up to Flagler County to meet with other pilots for lunch.  I'm always amazed at what a sharp bunch of people we have in aviation.  The airplane flew fine and I hit initial for RW 06 at 190 KIAS.  The guys on the ground said the engine sounds really good.

18 Nov 09        Today - 1.0        Total - 32.6

On the return flight I climbed up to 7500' to do spin testing.  For this flight, I only did spin entries.  I want to take small steps and next I'll do one turn spins followed by two turn spins.

The spin entries had to be forced.  At stall full rudder just barely coaxed the spin entry.  I had nearly full tanks and just me on board, so the CG as somewhat forward.  It appears that the airplane is reluctant to enter a spin near forward CG.

On the next flight, I'll hold the pro spin controls a little longer to force it through one turn.

Recovery is very straight forward with forward CG - it requires only removing the pro spin rudder and flying back to level.  I left the nose low too long during one recovery and hit Vne very quickly.

Then I did loops, Immelmans, barrel rolls, cuban eights and aileron rolls.  Everything is very straight forward.  I've learned to be more abrupt with control inputs during all of the maneuvers.  The result is a more precise, easier maneuver.  Today I only used 3 Gs in the loops and the over the top speed was fine - about 90-100.

Back to the pattern for 2 half flap landings.

Engine Readings for 5500' and about 150-160 KIAS

The only difference in these two readings is the ram air.  I forgot to open the ram air after takeoff and remembered it after I'd been at 5500 for several minutes.  MP went up two inches with ram air and CHTs dropped!  EGTs also dropped - except for cylinder 3 - and it went UP!

18 Nov 09        Today - 1.2        Total - 33.8

Ok - off to do one turn spins.

Goals

    Monitor #3 CHT

    Practice previous acro maneuvers

    Do Split S

    Do Hammerhead stall

    Do clean stall

    Do one turn left spin

    Do one turn right spin

    Check max speed at 1000'

    Normal 1/2 flap landing

The #3 CHT is still problematic.  It's still not too high, but higher than I'd like.  Below 4500' it is never high regardless of EGT or fuel flow.  But, above about 4500' keeping the temp below 400 requires keeping the IAS above 145 and leaning aggressively to keep the #3 EGT at 1340.  I tried holding 1000 FPM climb today and the IAS slowly bled off from 170 at 1000' to 140 at 6000 feet.

I practiced loops, cuban eights, aileron rolls, lazy eights, chandelles, and Immelmans.  Gotta have some fun.

Aileron Roll Video here

Immelman Video here

I added the Split S to the acro maneuvers.  I'd planned a hammerhead stall but chickened out since I haven't done one in 15 years and because I hadn't practiced spins yet (it would be fairly easy to enter a spin if the hammerhead were ham fisted).  I'll do the hammerhead next time.

Stalls were normal and the airplane stalls straight ahead with a nice break.  Good buffet 1 knot before the stall.

Did full spin entry left and right with one turn each direction.  The airplane spins nicely and must be held in the spin.  With forward CG, it spins very nose low and recovers immediately upon releasing aft stick pressure.  With the power at idle, the airplane doesn't accelerate rapidly, so exceeding Vne is not an issue.  With a fixed pitch prop, it would likely accelerate much more quickly.

During RTB, I set all the levers full forward at 1000' MSL to see how fast it would go.  Once the speed settled down, I was getting 185 KIAS and 190 KTAS.  Probably not going to win at Reno, but ...

Engine readings at 1000' and WOT

19 Nov 09        Today - 1.0        Total - 34.8

Interesting flight today.  Maybe driving around at WOT at 1000' yesterday was the final breakin for the engine because the #3 CHT settled down today.  It didn't get over 398 at any altitude.  But then - I also pumped large quantities of fuel through the engine.  I set the FF at 16.5 in the climb and the temps stayed low.  Previously I've been leaning to 1340 EGT on #3 during the climb.  Then even at altitude (6500) where the CHT normally increases, the #3 CHT stayed at 380, but that was with a FF of 16.5 GPH, 2500 RPM and 24" MP.  Next flight I'll take numbers at 2400 RPM and see if I can bring the FF down while maintaining a good CHT.

I also had enough data to analyze the engine monitors "fuel used" calculations and the left-right fuel balance.  First to the L-R balance.  My concept was to use a fuel selector with a both selection - along with left and right - and design the fuel line plumbing so that the tanks would feed evenly.  My initial indications were that it was working perfectly - too perfectly.  At fillup, the tanks were consistently within 0.1 gallons of each other.  I didn't realize that fuel was transferring from the fullest tank to the lower tank while sitting in the hangar - because I was leaving the selector in the both position all the time, even while in the hangar.  I won't go into stupid way I found out, but I am certain that is what was happening.  It surprised me because I thought the fuel selector was higher than the fuel level in the tanks.

Once I discovered my error, I began turning the fuel selector off whenever the engine was not running.  That way, the amount of fuel I pumped into each tank was that actual amount burn from that tank.  What I've discovered is that I probably did not need to make the extra plumbing from the left tank.  Nelson and I made the left tank plumbing the same length and with the same angles of bend as the right side.  The left tank is burning 80% compared to the right one.  So, I could have used normal length plumbing from the left tank and it would have likely been a more even burn.  Still, I am very happy with the both option on the fuel selector.  I never have to worry about switching tanks and if I ever run one tank out of fuel and the engine hiccups, I will switch to the left tank and still have some fuel left.  Heck, even the 737 has to be balanced occasionally.  And, who knows, it may be feeding asymmetrically because of the heavy wing causing me to fly in a skid.  Maybe the problem will be solved when I solve the heavy wing problem.

The other issue is the inaccuracy of the fuel used calculations.  Apparently the FF transducer to engine monitor interface needs adjustment.  During fillups, the actual amount used is consistently less than the amount used displayed in the cockpit.  I suppose that could be considered a good conservative thing, but I prefer accuracy.  Actual fuel used is consistently 89% of that displayed in the cockpit.  So, I need to figure out how to adjust the display values in the monitor - at least, I think that is the way to correct it.  More research is needed.

Today's goals:

    Do two turn spins both directions

    Do a hammerhead

    Practice acro

    Practice landings

I chickened out on the hammerhead (next time), but the spins were fine.  The airplane has to be held in the spin and it wraps up tight at 1.5 turns.  The spins were the same in both directions.  Recovery is prompt as soon as the controls are neutralized.  It will be interesting to do the spins with more aft CG.  I think they will be slower and require anti-spin inputs to recover.

The acro was as before and it feels better each time I do it.

Landings also improved today - smooth.

Engine readings for today

The readings step down from higher altitude to lower.  I pumped a lot of fuel through the engine today.

24 Nov 09        Today - 1.7        Total - 36.5

Took off this morning with the intention of just burning time toward the 40 hours, but got several things done that are helpful.  Weather was 15 SCT and OVC above that, so most flying was at low altitude - and bumpy.  I entered the points for the RNAV GPS RW5 approach at Deland and simulated flying it.  The AP actually did a reasonable job of maintaining course.  I turned it off after the FAF and hand flew to mins and then the published MAP.  Not too bad - I could do a RNAV if needed.  Then ran around at low altitude to burn time and set up for the ILS at Daytona Beach.  The WX had cleared enough for me to climb to 4500' so I flew well away from their controlled airspace and intercepted the localizer and GS until approaching DAB airspace.  The SL-30 to EFIS interface worked as advertised and following the ILS was straight forward even at 160 KIAS.  I should be able to mix with jet traffic by flying 170-180 KIAS until short final.

Then back to 7FL6 for four patterns - no flap, half flap, and full flap.  The nose wheel is still shimmying and I have a crack the in nose wheel fairing (probably due to the shimmy), so I need to tighten the breakout force again.

I was really pleased with the ILS and RNAV functions and this afternoon I'll check our the VOR.  Only a few hours to go.

24 Nov 09        Today - 1.7        Total - 38.2

Got in another flight late in the day.  The weather is moving in so my plan to go to St Augustine for an ILS was nixed.  When I got up there the WX was already low and getting worse.  My plan was to do an ILS at 160 KIAS, then at normal speeds hand flown and finally one at normal speed using the autopilot to fly a coupled approach.  That will all have to wait for another day.

Instead I did a T&G at Flagler, some light acro, attempted another high altitude, long range (to stay out of their airspace) ILS at DAB, but they turned off the ILS part way through my play time so I couldn't even finish that!

So, back to Spruce Creek for 3 patterns.

26 Nov 09

Beautiful day.  I went to hangar planning to fly off the last 1.8 hours this morning.  I turned over the engine and since it didn't fire on the first couple of blades, I released the starter button.  The engine kept turning!!

I quickly tapped the starter button in case it was stuck.  No luck.  I turned off both batteries.  The engine kept turning!!!

The battery was just barely turning it over by now (10 seconds) and I turned off all the fuel, pulled the purge valve, and turned off the mags.  The battery quickly ran out of juice and the prop stopped but the starter solenoid was still engaged.  I jumped out of the plane and ran to the hangar to get allen wrenches to disconnect the battery.  I probably should have tapped on the starter contactor, but didn't think of it at the time.  Disconnecting the ground shut it down.  It took about 1.5-2 minutes to get it disconnected.  I expected the #2 starter wires to be very hot and maybe smoking, but they were fine.  Glad I used heavy wires.

I narrowed the problem to a stuck starter contactor.  It was an intermittent duty contactor and struck me as being el cheapo when I first bought it.  The only other contactor I had at the time was a continuous duty type and it seemed like overkill - plus it didn't fit well.  I still had the continuous duty contactor so removed the bad one and installed the extra one.  Everything checked out okay, so I'm trusting that was the only problem.

The problem is you can't do much if the contactor fails internally and keeps the circuit closed.  If I had not had the baggage door keys and the correct size allen wrench readily available and the battery cover already off (6 screws), the battery would have stayed connected to the starter and possibly burned the wires.  I can't think of another way to disconnect it.

The starter contactor is wired such that the battery positive lead goes to the contactor and from the contactor to the starter.  It doesn't make sense to put a switch between the battery and contactor in case the contactor fails closed.  That is supposed to be the reason for having a contactor for the starter - it is a safety device to completely remove power from the starter.  "Contactors never fail."  Maybe not, but they sure can stick and there's nothing to do other than remove the source of power.

While looking at the contactor problem, I discovered the reason my oil temps had risen 10 degrees over the past 20 hours.  The bolts holding the oil cooler plenum had pulled through the fiberglass and the lower part of the plenum was leaking air.

I also have a small oil leak somewhere, but I couldn't find the source.  In December, I'll pull everything off and do a thorough search.

27 Nov 09        Today - 3.4        Total - 41.6

Neat day today.  Took my first passengers up.

Early AM I still had 1.8 to fly off in Phase 1, so I went up to St. Augustine and flew four ILS 31 approaches.  I tried to use the AP on two of them but couldn't get it to cooperate, so all were hand flown.  The AP would be very helpful to maintain altitude while in IMC because the airplane is very pitch sensitive and altitude deviations of +-80' required only a moments inattention.  One of the approaches was at 160 KIAS to simulate mixing with jet traffic.  All were relatively straight forward.  The glide slope indication on the EFIS One is red which makes it a little difficult to see.  The EFIS Lite tumbled again today, so trusting it in IFR could be a risk.  I may have to replace it with something more reliable.

Oil temps are back under control with average of 178 and peak of 185.

Then I got to take Pat up as the first passenger.  It was a bumpy at low altitude, but she did great.  We did a short hop so I would have time to take Keri and Sam up.  I took both of them up and let them fly awhile and we did some aileron rolls, lazy 8s, loops, Immelmans and zero G flight.  It was all lots of fun.

Another problem surfaced today.  The aileron trim works to the right, but not to the left.  Now I'm going to have to take the entire interior out to remove the front floor to check out the trim motor.  The problem could be in one of several places.  I checked the trim on both sticks and it works the same on both, so that eliminates the stick switch.  It could be the trim servo (unlikely since it moves in one direction), a loose wire (most likely) or a malfunction of the Safety Trim module.  I also have to remove the cowling again to adjust the ram air intake and I'm going to change the oil from mineral oil to normal.  At the same time, I'll search for my oil leak.  Oil consumption is very low and part of it is because of the oil leak.

Topped the tanks with 33.64 Gal - 16.0 Left and 17.6 Right - Fuel Computer read 36.8.  While I have it down for MX, I'll adjust the fuel computer readings.

Engine Readings

After the fact analysis

In hindsight, it is obvious that the oil cooler plenum fiberglass failed.  The engine readings are vital to troubleshooting and analyzing what is going on.  Studying the engine readings revealed that the oil temp had risen compared to previous flights.  Coincidental with the oil temp increase was an increase in the #3 CHTs and #1 CHT.  The #1 CHT was not so obvious since I was focused on changing the #3 CHT.  Cylinders 1 and 3 share the same cooling air with the oil cooler and there is a divider to prevent air from the left side from crossing over to the right.  It appears that a lot of cooling air was bypassing not only the oil cooler but also the #3 & #1 cylinders which are right in front of the oil cooler.  Perhaps I should have caught the problem earlier since I was aware of the temp increases, but I overlooked it.

Now I have several other issues that ground the airplane until solved.

    1.  Oil leak has worsened - find source

    2.  Ram air intake needs adjustment

    3.  Cowling standoff on left side needs changes

    4.  Need to clean oil out of cowling and add reflective covering to reduce heat damage

    5.  Troubleshoot aileron trim problem

    6.  Tighten breakout force on nosewheel

    7.  Adjust taxi lights

    8.  Change oil to Exxon Elite 20W-50

    9.  Clean oil filter

    10. Change dimmer switch

    11. Get new placards for switch panels

    12. Replace starter contactor?

    13. Install stick boots

    14. Install map storage

    15. Empty air-oil separator

    16. Remove right aileron and adjust brackets

Today I changed the FF computer K Factor (counts per .01 Gal) from 680 to 749.  That should bring the fuel calculations closer to accuracy.

Next Update on 29 Nov 09