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New RV-9A owner - Minnesota

MacCool

Well Known Member
I've been looking around for airplanes for a few months now and as I gravitated toward Experimental, it became clear that Van's was going to be my leading contender. I ultimately found a beautiful RV-9A (thanks to VAF), bought it, and flew it 500 miles home (KBRD) this past weekend with a buddy who has 5 decades of flight experience and is a CFI and past RV-6A owner. Flying it home was a joy...it was the plane I was hoping it would be.

I'm the third owner. The plane is very well equipped and very nicely finished
  • Lycoming IO-320 160HP, factory new 407 hours
  • MTV Constant Speed Prop
  • E-Mags
  • dual batteries
  • bunch of Anti-splat stuff
  • Flightline interior with leather seats.
  • Whelen lighting
  • heated pitot
  • The usual Anti-splat Nose gear mods
  • Smoke system
  • The panel is IFR-capable with Garmin/AFS/Uavionix instrumentation and a DigiFlight autopilot

I started transition training on the 3-hour flight back. Sweet plane. In 50 years a pilot, I don't think I've ever flown anything like it. VAF has helped me a bunch already...thanks. Looking for the "donate button"...
 
Sounds like a real winner! It's the most enjoyable aircraft I've owned. Didn't build mine but I've enjoyed "making is my own" and learning through other builders. Enjoy
 
Congrats on the new bird! If you see a polished/blue -7 on the line come say hi. Wings cafe at your home field is a pretty regular $100 breakfast spot for us.
 
KAIT in Aitkin is a nice, quiet-but-very capable airport, and has an EAA chapter. I keep thinking it would be a real nice place for a Minnesota or upper midwest fly-in someday.
 
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Thanks for the welcome. Sadly, the plane has been a bit problematic and I haven’t flown it at all other than the flight back.

Coming back with my CFI/buddy, we noted that the 430W wasn’t sending GPS data to the EFIS. That was annoying, but not a deal-breaker relative to the flight. I could navigate just fine off the Garmin (and my iPad). However after landing for fuel, restarting showed that the engine-driven fuel pump had failed. We found a mechanic that would come out on a Sunday to fix it, but the only pump he had, pulled off a rebuild, wouldn’t generate enough pressure for this IO-320. We drove his courtesy car for the last 200 miles to get home while he ordered a new pump.

Fast-forward...my buddy drove the courtesy car back to Iowa and retrieved the plane. Runs great but we still have the 430W -> EFIS issue, so he kept the plane at his airport in his hangar in St. Cloud while his airplane is in his son’s hangar at KBRD and his son’s airplane is in my hangar. Musical hangars. He has spent hours under the panel of my plane looking at configuration, software, and wiring issues. An hour on the phone with Rob Hickman and someone from uAvionix as well...no joy. Best guess at this point is that it has a dead ARINC interface.

My friend/CFI/avionics wrangler has been flying for 5 decades, so I’m confident that I have a good guide through this, but I am anxious to get transitioning.

I hope that your aviation week has been less frustrating than mine...:)
 
Call for help

Hi Mac, I would suggest a quick message to G3Xpert at [email protected]. The connection is pretty simple really and if the wires between the 430, GAD29, and EFIS are correct then you need to make sure the EFIS and the 430 are configured properly in 'Settings'. You can also check the status of the GAD29 by looking at the LED indicator. If its green its probably working.

Disregard...I just read your other post and you already have the experts helping you out. :)
 
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Such great airplanes.

I have a couple of hours flying it on the return but only a couple of landings. The plan was touch and go's at KMCW after fueling but that's when the fuel pump died. I do love flying it...it's truly a blast...but note that decades of Cessnas and Pipers has left me with something of a tendency to over-control a responsive plane like an RV-9A. Certainly nothing a couple of hours in the saddle won't fix, but gotta wait for the avionics bugs to sort out.
 

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9A vs. Cessnas and Pipers

You'll have zero problems. I think it's actually easier to land than my Warrior was (and a Warrior, as you know, is not hard to land!). The low speed handling is just superb.

My insurance required 1 hour of dual before cutting me loose, which gives you some idea of how easy the -9 is to fly. :)

Others here are more qualified than I am regarding transition training, but after transitioning to a -9A following many years in Cherokee variants and 172s/152s, I think there are five main things to keep in mind:

1. It's actually possible to overspeed the flaps (hard to do in a Cherokee or 172).

2. Vne is based on TAS, and you can actually exceed it in flight conditions that will feel relatively "normal" to you (again, hard to do in a Cherokee or 172)

3. The nosewheel probably won't take the same pounding that a Cherokee or 172's nosegear will.

4. The -9 wing loves it up high. You may want to get an oxygen setup to take advantage of that. Also it's often smoother up there. :)

5. It's a little harder to slow down. Your constant speed prop will be a big help though.

You will continue to love it. The 9 does so many things well. A great airplane for flying around just for fun, it's also an extremely efficient traveler that really gets down the road compared to a Cherokee or 172. If I had a zillion bucks I would buy the rights, get it certified, open a production line, and sell new ones all over the world. :)

I have a couple of hours flying it on the return but only a couple of landings. The plan was touch and go's at KMCW after fueling but that's when the fuel pump died. I do love flying it...it's truly a blast...but note that decades of Cessnas and Pipers has left me with something of a tendency to over-control a responsive plane like an RV-9A. Certainly nothing a couple of hours in the saddle won't fix, but gotta wait for the avionics bugs to sort out.
 
Thanks for the tips. I'm very much looking forward to getting back into that cockpit. My insurance company wants 2 hours dual before solo and an hour of solo before passengers. Seems very reasonable to me.
 
9 Flying

I’m a experienced pilot and have flown a few RVs, but only 2 RV-9’s. Compared to the planes you have been flying I observed the following: In the landing flare the pitch sensitivity increases a bit and the stick force in pitch decreases. Both conditions were to a greater degree than I expected and 1 plane was more pronounced than the other. The more sensitive plane is a A model with IO-320/Hartzell CS. Also slowing below a certain speed on approach the drag goes up and a hefty sink rate can develop. None of these traits are dramatically different from the way most planes behave or what you’re used to, but there is a difference. Transition training is the way to figure it out. They are wonderful planes. Enjoy.

Don Broussard
RV9 Rebuild in Progress
57 Pacer
 
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I'm about 15 hours and done with transition training. We got to the point where I was "safe" relatively quickly, but my instructor, a good friend (and my avionics mentor) wanted to sharpen up my precision and attitude flying. He felt, correctly, that I was working too hard...too much tinkering in the approaches and the pattern. We'll start working on instrument flying soon.

Once I got out of the overcontrolling phase, flying and landings were great. I do note that you have to be paying attention descending to pattern from higher altitude...slowing down is kind of a trick. On landing, speed control isn't an issue for me with some flaps and I've been preferring about 20 degrees. At 70 mph it doesn't really float too much. With full flaps and less than 70 kts, it does have a little bit of a tendency to stop flying rather abruptly and I've been keeping a little power on for full flap landings. Rollout was a little bit of a challenge...very effective rudder.

I have an MT constant speed prop. It has a mildly annoying surge on takeoff as I advance to full throttle. I've been using just a tad of coarse pitch on takeoff, which seems to eliminate that.

But...I do love that plane. It's a blast to fly. It's a very honest airplane. It has no bad habits that I've found, and no surprises. It will do exactly what you tell it to do, but it won't wait for you. All the sloppy habits I'd developed over 50 years of Cessnas will no longer work. This plane is going to make me a better pilot.
 
Well put

But...I do love that plane. It's a blast to fly. It's a very honest airplane. It has no bad habits that I've found, and no surprises.
I think that's right. Mine just refuses to do anything weird. Very reminiscent of the Warrior/Cherokee and 172 lines that way. When it comes to airplanes, I think predictability is a terrific characteristic.

It's really astonishing how much he got right with the RV-9. I marvel at it basically every time I fly it. I think it's his Mona Lisa. :)
 
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