In another thread, BJC suggested I post about what I like about my RV-10, now that I've been flying it for a couple of months. I'll go farther than that and give you unfinished work, likes, and dislikes...
Unfinished Work:
Optimization for cruise. I need to add a fixed rudder trim tab. I need to balance the fuel injectors. I still have a little aileron droop. I have work to do balancing CHT's and cleaning up the cowl exit. I think there are 3-5 knots of additional speed and .5-1 GPH of fuel savings to be had through optimization.
Likes:
The interior is large. I'm 5'7, 165 lbs, and on the trip to Oshkosh, I had a 6'4, 260 pound friend in the right seat, a 6'5", 190# kid sitting behind me, and a 4'9, 80# kid sitting behind my friend. Everyone had plenty of elbow, leg, and headroom. The seats are comfy, as is the seating position.
Visibility is best in class for a 160-170 knot 4 seater. The glareshield is low and the windows are large.
The airplane is very stable and may be the easiest airplane to land I've ever flown.
I'm very happy with my switch placements and the other ergonomic and man/machine interface decisions I made.
I installed an overhead console, thinking it would be a good place for lights and possibly some switches. Never installed any of those things, but there are 4 eyeball vents up there feeding from a pair of NACA ducts on the aft fuselage. Those things are a Godsend on a hot day.
A baggage door. Boy, compared to hefting everything up onto the wing and over the seats in the RV-6, a baggage door makes things easy.
Rear seat entry. Getting into the rear seats is very easy.
Load lifting capability. I built the airplane light so it can carry quite a load. Its useful load approaches 1200 lbs, although I try to restrict it to about 1150 at this point. Maybe I'll use the extra 50 lbs as I get more comfortable.
Low speed flight. The airplane is very honest and stable at low speeds. There's no wing drop in a stall. Also, it cools very well at low speeds and power settings, which is very helpful if you're heavy and flying a 30 mile arrival at Oshkosh.
High Speed (?) flight. The airplane seems to be a 12 GPH/162-165 knot hauler at 60% power. Pretty much Van's spec's.
The avionics. I have Garmin's G3X Touch system with an autopilot. All 10 or so boxes and 47 miles of wire are working well together.
Performance w/Simplicity. It'll do 210 mph at full tilt boogie. With the gear down and welded.
Runway needs. Seems very comfortable with 2,000', leaving good safety margins.
Dislikes:
The avionics. Having an integrated system with 10 boxes and 47 miles of wire scares me to death from a troubleshooting perspective.
Moving it. The airplane weighs almost 2,000 lbs with full fuel. On the smallish tires, it can be a beast to push out of the hangar if the tires are even slightly flatspotted from sitting. Same trying to pull it back in. I'm sketching up a DIY tug to help with this.
The doors. Mine fit well, but the overall door design is the weak spot on the RV-10. They are on the flimsy side and there are plenty of reports of people losing doors that weren't properly closed. Holding them open a couple of inches really helps with ground cooling, but it feels a little like Russian Roulette.
Front seat entry. Not the easiest thing to do with the step-down, and no great way to get in over and around the control stick.
The yank and bank factor. Control pressures on the -10 are heavy and it simply isn't a yank and bank airplane. Great for passengers, XC's, and (presumably) IFR, but less fun on a solo VFR day.
Battery access. I've had to pull the battery twice since the airplane has flown. That requires removing about 30 screws from the baggage bulkhead. No fun. Less fun on a hot ramp with a dead battery.
Short Wheelbase. I'm used to flying my RV-6, which has a 15' (or more) wheelbase. The -10's wheelbase is much shorter and makes the airplane pitch, yaw, and bob much more on the ground than the RV-6 does. I'm still not used to it.
Unfinished Work:
Optimization for cruise. I need to add a fixed rudder trim tab. I need to balance the fuel injectors. I still have a little aileron droop. I have work to do balancing CHT's and cleaning up the cowl exit. I think there are 3-5 knots of additional speed and .5-1 GPH of fuel savings to be had through optimization.
Likes:
The interior is large. I'm 5'7, 165 lbs, and on the trip to Oshkosh, I had a 6'4, 260 pound friend in the right seat, a 6'5", 190# kid sitting behind me, and a 4'9, 80# kid sitting behind my friend. Everyone had plenty of elbow, leg, and headroom. The seats are comfy, as is the seating position.
Visibility is best in class for a 160-170 knot 4 seater. The glareshield is low and the windows are large.
The airplane is very stable and may be the easiest airplane to land I've ever flown.
I'm very happy with my switch placements and the other ergonomic and man/machine interface decisions I made.
I installed an overhead console, thinking it would be a good place for lights and possibly some switches. Never installed any of those things, but there are 4 eyeball vents up there feeding from a pair of NACA ducts on the aft fuselage. Those things are a Godsend on a hot day.
A baggage door. Boy, compared to hefting everything up onto the wing and over the seats in the RV-6, a baggage door makes things easy.
Rear seat entry. Getting into the rear seats is very easy.
Load lifting capability. I built the airplane light so it can carry quite a load. Its useful load approaches 1200 lbs, although I try to restrict it to about 1150 at this point. Maybe I'll use the extra 50 lbs as I get more comfortable.
Low speed flight. The airplane is very honest and stable at low speeds. There's no wing drop in a stall. Also, it cools very well at low speeds and power settings, which is very helpful if you're heavy and flying a 30 mile arrival at Oshkosh.
High Speed (?) flight. The airplane seems to be a 12 GPH/162-165 knot hauler at 60% power. Pretty much Van's spec's.
The avionics. I have Garmin's G3X Touch system with an autopilot. All 10 or so boxes and 47 miles of wire are working well together.
Performance w/Simplicity. It'll do 210 mph at full tilt boogie. With the gear down and welded.
Runway needs. Seems very comfortable with 2,000', leaving good safety margins.
Dislikes:
The avionics. Having an integrated system with 10 boxes and 47 miles of wire scares me to death from a troubleshooting perspective.
Moving it. The airplane weighs almost 2,000 lbs with full fuel. On the smallish tires, it can be a beast to push out of the hangar if the tires are even slightly flatspotted from sitting. Same trying to pull it back in. I'm sketching up a DIY tug to help with this.
The doors. Mine fit well, but the overall door design is the weak spot on the RV-10. They are on the flimsy side and there are plenty of reports of people losing doors that weren't properly closed. Holding them open a couple of inches really helps with ground cooling, but it feels a little like Russian Roulette.
Front seat entry. Not the easiest thing to do with the step-down, and no great way to get in over and around the control stick.
The yank and bank factor. Control pressures on the -10 are heavy and it simply isn't a yank and bank airplane. Great for passengers, XC's, and (presumably) IFR, but less fun on a solo VFR day.
Battery access. I've had to pull the battery twice since the airplane has flown. That requires removing about 30 screws from the baggage bulkhead. No fun. Less fun on a hot ramp with a dead battery.
Short Wheelbase. I'm used to flying my RV-6, which has a 15' (or more) wheelbase. The -10's wheelbase is much shorter and makes the airplane pitch, yaw, and bob much more on the ground than the RV-6 does. I'm still not used to it.
