It’s finally come down to it, time to sell the RV-4. I swore that this would be my last airplane but my flying mission has changed. I really want to start getting into the old back country strips that I used to go to and the RV-4 just isn’t suitable for getting into some of the smaller and rougher ones. Plus now that it’s painted I would worry about chipping paint.

I am also feeling compelled to build a plane with my son. The next plane will be largely built by him with my supervision. So without any further ado…

For Sale

Asking Price: $42,000

RV-4 N311SV
Serial No: 1054
Year built: 2002 (actually the year it was registered, took 5 years to build)
Engine: O320-D2A, TTSN: 288
Propeller: Catto 2 blade
Flaps: Manual
Trim: Electric
Avionics:
Rocky Mountain MicroMonitor
MicroAir 760 Comm Radio
MicroAir T2000 Transponder with blind encoder
Stereo intercom with music input
Standard ASI, VSI, ALT, Mag Compass

Photos:

The plane is all white. I will be adding vinyl graphics in the near future unless requested otherwise by buyer.

I need to clean up a few wires behind the panel. There is also one more air vent to mount just below the panel. Electrical switches are on a panel located below the right cockpit rail. Throttle, mixture, and carb heat controls are located on a quadrant just below the left cockpit rail. The instruments are: Left half of panel from top down, ELT, Intercom, Trim indicator, trim button, MicroMonitor, fuel gauge with selector switch directly below, MicroAir 760 Raido, T2000 Transponder. Right half of panel from top down, Alternator warn indicator and field breaker, Magnetic compass, ASI, blank, Altimeter, turn coordinator, blank, vertical speed indicator. At the far left is an air vent. The stick has a single push to talk button mounted on top.

Fuses are located in a hinged panel below the switch panel on the left. Note that the battery and fuel lines are normally covered. I had them off to clean the interior and forgot to put them back on for the picture.

I need to get a better shot of the interior. The interior is flat grey with two-tone grey upholstry. The roll bar is painted white.

A few more exterior shots follow:

If you would like to view higher resolution photos please visit my Picassa Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/svanarts/RV4N311SVForSale

The bottom line:

If you are looking for an Oshkosh award winner, this plane is NOT for you. If you a looking for an honest, fun flier, this plane may be for you. I’ve flown it to Oshkosh twice now and it has never let me down.

email: svanarts [at] yahoo [dot] com  if you have any questions.  Thanks for looking!

I got a call while I was on vacation that my RV-4 has been painted. I have no idea what it looks like. Well, that’s not true. It’s white. All white. But it will still look like a different plane when I go to pick it up. The plan is to fly over there on Saturday and spend the rest of the day putting it back together again. Then I need to repair my trim tab but then it’s back home with a shiny airplane. I’ll post pictures when I get it.

Everything finally came together today. The Lord saw fit to give us some beautiful weather both here in California and also over in Nevada so I was actually able to get my plane over to the paint shop! The day was not without it’s problems which made me think maybe I still wasn’t supposed to go over there today. For instance, the engine flooded the first time I tried to start it. No problem, I got out and spoke with an old friend for a while. The next time, the engine fired right up. Then after I took off, I found that the electric trim tab had decided to stop working. Well, it was only a 45 minute flight, I could hand fly it for that long. So I elected to continue and was rewarded with smooth air and stunning views of the Sierras.

As was predicted there was very little wind this morning. It was actually bumpier in the valley than it was over the peaks. It can get pretty turbulent over these peaks but all I ever felt were minor burbles. Within 30 minutes I was past the tallest of the peaks and into Nevada.

This was my first flight in over two months and I was so glad that no one saw me land at Yerington. 🙂 At any rate I got the plane down and taxied up to Matthews Aviation.

It turns out that it was a good thing I was a little late because they had just finished putting an RV-10 back together and he was making a quick test flight.

It took me about 2 and a half hours to take the plane apart and judging by the way it came apart, it’s going to take much longer to put back together. 😦 I finally got it done though, and discussed my paint options with the owner. That was easy. Paint it white. Just white. So Matterhorn White it will be with vinyl graphic accents.

There were a couple of other planes there to be painted including a Bonanza. There were other interesting things tucked here and there around the paint shop.

Don’t know what this one is but it looks fast.

After I went over painting options with the owner I walked into town and grabbed a burger at the golden arches. McD’s is right outside the airport fence. Cleanest McD and most polite burger flippers I have ever run into. I ate my burger while watching for planes… none departed, none landed.

I walked back and sat down to check my blackberry for email. Within 5 minutes my buddy Dennis arrived to cart me back home. Dennis had his RV-6A painted here last year and it look great.

Before long we were off and enjoying some beautiful views again on the way home.

Stay tuned, I’ll post more once I head back to put the plane back together.

I have to admit to being a little nervous about flying over to Yerington.  I’m not even sure why.  I’ve flown over the Sierras plenty of times.  There is just something about this time.  Maybe it’s the finality of painting the plane.  After painting it goes up for sale almost immediately.  That could be it; I’ve certainly put a lot of myself into this plane, blood, sweat, and yes, sometimes bad words.

Or is there some other reason?

Each time I’ve planned the flight *something* has happened.  First, I caught cold and couldn’t go.  Then the winds kicked up pretty good and I couldn’t go.  Now it looks like the weather is turning and I may not be able to go.  I wonder what our Lord is tyring to tell me?

Well I checked the weather this weekend and I’ll have to postpone my trip again.  There is a windy weather system moving in over the Sierras this weekend.  Doesn’t look too good.  I don’t know why God is providentially hindering me from travelling to Yerington but I have enough faith to know when not to push it.  I’m rescheduling for some time next week.  It will be a last minute decision.

Watch this space for more information.

Days until paint: who knows?

Well I wasn’t able to meet the schedule for painting my plane.  I had a severe head cold all week and just was not able to complete the work in time.  I finished up the remainder of the work today and the plane is now ready for paint.  I have a few more minor tweaks that I should complete next Friday and be ready to fly it to Yerington, NV next Saturday.

 

Days until paint: 7

I have fabricated a new top deck.  This is the portion of the upper fuselage just forward of the canopy.  I have aligned and mounted the wheel pants as well.  Tomorrow I will stop by the airport and remove the flaps to bring them home to bend the flap fairing radius a little more.  They rub on the bottom of the top wing skin right now and that will scratch the paint.  I also still need to add some screws to the wing tips.  If I don’t get around to it I will just have to save that until we remove the tips for painting at the paint shop.

Days until paint: 10

I just have a few minor nits to complete on my panel.  I have to mount an ventilation duct and that’s about it for the panel.  All that’s left now is to install the new top deck just forward of the panel.  I hope to get that done this Saturday and be ready to move on to the wheel pants and fiberglass work.

Days until paint: 18

I’ve finished putting the pressure recover wheel pants together.  There’s not much work involved there other than some trimming and installing nutplates.  I am hoping to finish up my instrument panel on Friday, and then start on mounting the wheel pants on Saturday.

Days until paint: 31

I finished my new instrument panel, now all that remains is to install it in the RV-4 and reinstall all the instruments.  I’ll have to re-route on of my fresh-air vents but other than that it should go back in the plane relatively quickly.  I’ve also begun working on the wheel pants (covers.)  I hope to install these this weekend.

Days until paint: 33