One of the many great things about building your own airplane is the ability to design it to match the type of flying you do. There are far more options available for experimental airplanes compared to the typical production airplanes. I've learned about many of these options from the popular VansAirForce.net website for builders and pilots of Van's RV kitplanes. Some of the options and ideas I plan to incorporate into my RV are included here.
Engine and Propeller
I originally planned to use a Lycoming IO-320, 160 HP engine. This is a very common, fuel injected powerplant with four horizontally opposed cylinders that is very well suited for the RV-9A. I've long debated carburated vs. fuel injected, but want F.I. to be better able to operate at lean-of-peak mixture settings to achieve greater fuel economy. I was planning to use a Hartzell constant speed prop which is a great match for this engine on the -9A.
After a lot of thinking, I finally decided to go another route. I decided that I really like the 3-bladed Catto Prop. This prop is a lot lighter than the CS, plus it's supposed to be quieter, smoother, and it certainly is a lot less expensive. Because I'd otherwise lose some climb performance, I've decided that I'll put an IO-360, 180 HP engine on my plane. It really doesn't cost hardly any more than the -360, doesn't weight much more, and the fuel efficency at any given cruise speed should be pretty much the same.
My plane will include a dual electronic ignition system from E-MAG Ignitions. This system is a modern alternative to the traditional magnetos used in airplane engines. This system will provide greater reliability, a hotter spark and includes it's own power generation in event of a electrical failure.
Instrument Panel
Coming up with ideas for designing the instrument panel is one of the most fun parts of building a plane. There are quite a few companies making avionics, autopilots and electronic flight systems (EFIS) for the experimental market. These companies are adding new features and capabilities all the time, so ideally I want to wait until I'm closer to flying before I make final choices.
Wanting to be able to put my instrument rating to good use, my goal is to have a plane that I feel comfortable flying IFR on cross country flights. To meet this, I plan on including an IFR-certified GPS, two-axis autopilot, and an EFIS with separate backup flight instruments. As a plus, I do not intend to have any mechanical gyros, eliminating the need for a vacuum system. My plan is to mount a small backup alternator on the engine vacuum pump pad for additional redundancy.
The GPS I install will likely be a Garmin GNS 430. Of the EFIS products in my price range, Grand Rapids Technologies Horizon Series I EFIS has a really capable system, however Advanced Flight Systems has really made a lot of progress with all the features in their AF-3500 EFIS. The Trutrack DigiFlight line of autopilots has a nice list of features and can integrate with both the GNS 430 and the GRT EFIS system, or be used standalone. Dynon also has a really nice EFIS unit that also serves as a HSI/CDI, making it a great backup unit for the primary EFIS.
At this point I'm pretty confident I'll go with the Advanced Flight Systems EFIS. I feel that for IFR flying, they have the most features that I'm interested in, especially the level of integration with the Trutrack autopilots. I also think I finalized on the overall arrangement of my panel. At this point I'm pretty sure dual EFIS screens are the way to go. Complementing that will be a Trutrak Digiflight II VSGV autopilot, Trutrak ADI, a Garmin GNS 430, SL-30, GTX 327, and a PS Engineering PMA8000B. I plan to include a homegrown annunciator strip as well. This should prove to be a very solid IFR panel.
Lights and Strobes
In addition to having lights required for night flight, I really like the idea of having wig-wag lights to improve your visibility to other pilots during the daytime. My plan is to include position, taxi and strobe lights in my wingtips and add a HID landing light in the wing leading edge. The wingtip taxi lights will include a switch for both wig-wag and steady operations.
I'm using the CreativAir 75W wingtip lights as the taxi/wig-wag lights in the wingtips. Some use these as landing lights as well, but I'd like the brightness of HID for lighting up the runway at night. My friend Pete Howell originally installed a Duckworks halogen light in his RV-9A, but later converted it to his own HID system. I'll probably do the same. I also bought the Creativair strobe light kit.
Other Non-standard Options and Modifications
- Bob Archer's wingtip nav and marker beacon antennas placed in the wingtips.
- Gretz heated pitot tube.
- Cam-Loc fasteners for the cowl to firewall attachment.
- Stainless steel screws for fuel tank and wingtip attachment.
- Van's deluxe fuel caps.
- Electric elevator trim.
- Dual (pilot and co-pilot) brakes.
- Andair fuel selector valve.
Aircraft Registration: N291MT
The FAA allows pilots to select their N-number that is printed on the side of the plane and used on the radio with ATC. I've already reserved N291MT; 291 for our anniverary month and year, and MT for our initials (Mike & Tracy).
Interior Primer
I like the idea of priming interior surfaces to prevent corrosion, although it's not likely a significant concern in the area I live in. Most of the standard primers can be quite toxic so I wanted to use products that minimized any health hazards.
For the empennage I used Sanchem's SafeGard products, which included a non-toxic conversion and sealer for the aluminum parts. The conversion chemical is applied similarly to Alodine, either by immersing or brushing on and then rinsing. The sealer is brushed on as a thin, clear coating, then cured by heating with a heat gun. While not hard to use, I felt it was rather labor intensive, especially for larger parts.
For the wings I decided to switch to the AFS (now Stewart Systems) one-part primer/sealer product which is spray applied. This is a water-based primer and also non-toxic, and has good scratch resistance once cured. I am using this same product for most of the fuselage interior, although I switched to Sherwin Williams GBP-988 rattle cans to prime the exposed portions of the cockpit interior. I'm currently thinking about using Rustoleum hammered grey for a top coat inside the cockpit.
Exterior Paint
While painting is a long ways off, I've been thinking about different ideas since I first started building. I bought a neat little program for $10 called Model Airplane Color Design that makes it easy to develop paint schemes and render them in 3D. I've really wanted to come up with a paint scheme that reflects something about my dad, who passed away a few years ago. He was a mechanic for NW airlines, and so I've tried to think of something that would reflect him, without being to NW. I saw a picture of an RV that had a neat paint job including a design on the tail, and an idea struck me. While I have no artistic talent, here's what I came up with.
