® -9 MurphyS S Radical 2017 OCTOBER www.kitplanes.com AN R Spinner Tester Own Wrenches Your Leak-Down MODIFIED Specialty DIY In theShop: • Make • • CY A TICS: S ba N N ECTIO P EDUCTIO S R In G TIC PORT ACCUR A R Extreme Bush Plane A R A T Secrets for More Speed Paperwork Made Easy Location is EverythingLocation D D S BETTER AERO KITPLANES OCTOBER 2017 Murphy Radical • Drag Reduction • RANS S-9 • Static Ports • Cosmic Fish • DAR Inspections • Leak-Down Tester • Robbie Grove • Blind Rivets • Spin Class BELVOIR PUBLICATIONS Clear, Vibrant Displays Meet SkyView HDX - the new Beautiful Design flagship from the market leaders in Unrivaled Control Ergonomics experimental and light sport avionics. Improved Touch Interface Capable and Compatible DynonAvionics.com [email protected] (425) 402-0433 October 2017 | Volume 34, Number 10 Flight Review 6 GET RADICAL! Murphy’s latest is all about fun. By Paul Dye. Builder Spotlight 16 CHANGING A PERFECTLY GOOD AIrpLANE: Building a modified RANS S-9, part 1. By Michael Ryer and John Wells. 20 LANDING GEAR GURU: Robbie Grove of Grove Aircraft Landing Gear Systems. By Eric Stewart. 26 STATIC PORT LOCATION AND ALTITUDE CALIBRATION: Often a challenge, accuracy depends on three things: location, location, location. By Reinhard Metz. 34 SO YOU’D LIKE TO GO FASTER: Secrets for reducing drag, 16 part 2. By Dave Anders. 42 GETTING YOUR PLANE READY FOR THE DAR: Common pitfalls and problems that builders face. By Dave Prizio. 48 ErrOR CHAIN: The demise of theCosmic Fish. By Lewis Bjork. 52 BUILD YOUR OWN LEAK-DOWN TESTER: Converting a Harbor Freight compression tester for aircraft engine use. By Vince Homer. 64 COMPLETIONS: Builders share their successes. 66 ASK THE DAR: Phase I testing not completed, understanding operating limitations, non-TSO’d position lights. By Mel Asberry. Shop Talk 41 THE CrEATIVE HOMEBUILDER: Make your own specialty wrenches. By KITPLANES® Staff. 54 PLANE AND SIMPLE: Removing blind rivets. By Jon Croke. 60 HOME SHOP MACHINIST: Spin class. By Bob Hadley. 75 AERO ’LECTRICS: So-lar, it’s been good to know you. By Jim Weir. 77 UNAIRWORTHY: Pitted wheel bearing cup. By Vic Syracuse. Shop Tips 40 ALODINE SLUICE: By Larry Larson. 59 FUEL DIpsTICK AND HOLDER: By Noel Fallwell. 74 CLAMP STICK: By David Paule. Designer’s Notebook 6 72 WIND TUNNEL: Gyroplanes, part 5. By Barnaby Wainfan. Exploring 2 EDITOR’S LOG: While I’m in here… By Paul Dye. 56 CHECKPOINTS: Phase I maintenance. By Vic Syracuse. 78 REAR COCKPIT: Fuel follies. By Tom Wilson. Kit Bits 4 LETTErs 67 LIST OF ADVERTISErs 68 BUILDErs’ MARKETPLACE 80 KIT STUFF: Drawing on experience. By cartoonist Robrucha. 20 On the cover: Murphy Aircraft’s new Titan-370-powered Radical, photographed near Chilliwack, British Columbia, by Paul Dye. For subscription information, contact KITPLANES® at 800/622-1065 or visit www.kitplanes.com/cs. KITPLANES October 2017 1 EDITOR’S LOG While I’m in here... It all begins so innocently. We have the odd digital instrument velcroed to panel space since day one. Every time I the best intentions to make a small modi- the glareshield for years and small black thought it was a good time to take the fication or simply fix something that isn’t boxes (like GPS receivers) stuffed behind airplane down, pull the panel, and do quite right. We take the airplane out of the panel, filling all available volume. the installation (plus all that necessary service and open her up to do the job. In short, the RV-8’s panel wiring is a cleanup), something else has come up, We stare at it a little while and think, “You mess, an embarrassment to anyone (like some other airplane was broken, or the know, while I’m in here, I might as well…” myself) who values parallel wiring runs annual inspections had ticked around on The next thing you know, months have with tight little lacing-cord knots. So the calendar. gone by, the airplane is spread all over the cleaning that up has been on the list. The But finally it was the RV-8’s turn—so hangar floor, and you are further from fly- last of my airplanes to get some sort of out came the panel and all that wir- ing than you were before you started! ADS-B In and Out equipment, the RV-8 ing came spilling into my lap. Cleanup The past year saw my trusty RV-8 in has sat patiently for the past six months began. Actually removing the old tran- this situation. With other, newer air- with a brand new Garmin GTX 345 sitting sponder and physically installing the planes in our hangar, the RV-8 occasion- on the shelf, destined to replace the old new one took about an hour; that was ally gets stuffed in the back, unflown for Mode C GTX 327 that has occupied the the easy part. Going through all my a few weeks (or sometimes a month) at a time. Originally flown in 2005 after a 1½-year build, it is equipped to state-of- the-art standards—or at least the state of the art in 2004. Things have advanced since then! Fortunately, the panel has been constantly updated as we tried new EFIS and avionics equipment, both the blessing and the curse of being an aviation journalist. Yes, it is great to get a chance to fly with the latest and greatest—but that often means a hurried and tempo- rary installation, with proper bracketry and cabling ignored in the interest of expediency and not wanting to make anything so it can’t be changed again later. Extra circuit protection can often be velcroed in place, and a forest of zip ties used to keep wires from dangling out from under the panel instead of nice neat lacing. I’ve had antennas and When you go in to change a light bulb, sometimes it gets a little more complicated. Paul Dye, KITPLANES® Editor in Chief, retired as a Lead Flight Director for NASA’s Human Space Flight program, with 40 years of aerospace experience on everything from Cubs to the space shuttle. An avid homebuilder, he began flying and working on airplanes as a teen, and has experience with a wide range of construction techniques and materials. He flies an RV-8 that he built, an RV-3 that he built with his pilot wife, as well as a Dream Tundra they completed. Currently, they are building a Xenos motorglider. A commercially licensed Paul Dye pilot, he has logged over 5000 hours in many different types of aircraft and is an A&P, EAA Tech Counselor and Flight Advisor, as well as a member of the Homebuilder’s Council. He consults and collaborates in aerospace operations and flight-testing projects across the country. 2 KITPLANES October 2017 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes notes to figure out what serial channels had to do a little rewiring of the lighting written checklist, as always, to make sure were talking to each other between the switches since the strobe circuitry was that I didn’t lose track of where I was in EFIS, IFR navigator, and transponder different. To no one’s surprise, the nylon the month-long downtime) along the took longer. Molex connectors I used more than a way, mostly when I was frustrated with But since I was in there…the annual dozen years ago were getting a little some portion of the upgrades. And was due. And that meant I had to check brittle, so I figured it was time to “modern when the airplane was all buttoned back out all of the lighting. Lo and behold, up” and put in some better, newer CPC- up, its new transponder transpondering, the landing lights were both dead—HID style connectors I had on hand. Since I and its new lights blinding all that looked units with noisy power supplies that I was in there… my way, I took a look in the logbook and had installed years back in a test pro- Oh, then of course, I had a new little realized it had been 2½ months since the gram. I rarely fly the airplane at night, so Garmin aera portable GPS—the first airplane had last flown. Our other air- I hadn’t noticed them going out (that’s new portable I had used since my 696 planes were smiling, however. They took what inspections are for, right?), but now showed up about eight or nine years up the load and got lots of airtime during was the time to address the problem. ago—and that needed a mounting loca- the same period. Time for LEDs, of course! But since I was tion so I could use it with the wireless link It turns out that “while I’m in there” is in the wingtip…wouldn’t it make sense to to display traffic and weather from the one of the most dangerous things you upgrade the nav and strobe lights to LEDs new transponder. I freehanded a bracket can say if you want to get an airplane at the same time? Since I was in there… to mount on the left side of the cockpit in and out of maintenance as quickly So yes, all the lighting got changed. and only bent one of them the wrong as possible. It’s not so bad when you’re A new set of Whelen landing, nav and direction before I got it right the second motivated by the fact that it’s the only strobe lights got added, which means time.