Chuck wrote:

Paul and fellow gearheads -

 This morning at 9:15 AM. RV6 N616RV, with yours truly at the controls,
"slipped the surly bonds" for the first time - five years and one day after
receiving the empennage kit. The flight lasted 40 minutes. Take-off was
uneventful, but was a little different from the RV4 I usually fly. I am used
to throttle in the left and stick in the right hand with the RV4. Left
rudder was used for takeoff and a little was needed in level flight.  I used
full power until I reached 1000' AGL, then throttled back to 4500RPM because
oil temps were reading 235F - ouch! This is measured after the oil cooler.
OAT was 92F this morning- we may be getting a record high temp. for the date
today. The good news is that the highest the water temp got was 190F with
6PSI water pressure. I was expecting water temp to be a problem, not the
oil, because my radiator core is only 540 Sq.In., less than the 600-900 Paul
recommends. After slow flying at 3500RPM for a few minutes, the oil temp
showed 218F and water temp 175, water pressure 2PSI.

Hey those oblique water rads under the engine really work. I am very very happy
about that. If everybody starts doing it like you did it we can reduce
that range to 500 to 700 cubic inches :-) PL

 The airspeed indicator is reading low, I did a stall and it showed 40MPH -
should be around 50mph. Top speed indicated for the flight was 100 MPH but
I'm sure that's low. Will take the GPS next time.

 My final approach was not the greatest- I learned that when it's throttled
back it comes down like a rock with the prop only turning 500RPM or so. I
will keep some power in next time.

 After uncowling the engine, I found the muffler had two big holes and
cracks in it on top, one was where the Oxy sensor USED TO BE!! I'm glad I
limited the flight to 40 Minutes. I never could tell any difference from the
sound in flight.  The muffler is made from .045 Stainless with the O2 sender
boss welded in the top, 2" away from the edge. It needed a little more beef
there I guess, or should have been mounted closer to the edge. Well, back to
the drawing board.

All in all, this has been a GOOD day!

Chuck Dunlap
RV6 N616RV 13B - 0.7 hours TT
RV4 N914RV Lyco - 750 hours TT

Great work Chuck. Congratulations. If you don't get the 40 hours flown
off by Copper State I will drive out there and take a look.

Paul Lamar
 
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