Project News

If you don't think that you have the time, skill or patience to build, then buying something that someone else has already lovingly crafted here in the UK is a good option. It is also possible to buy something overseas, import it, and transfer it to an LAA Permit to Fly.

The process of importing an amateur-built aircraft from overseas can bring challenges though. Questions about the build quality, along with modifications or undocumented repairs can sometimes result in delays, extra inspections or partial reworking.

It was with that kind of caution in mind, that Nye Williams tackled his RV-6 import project from the USA. While Nye was lucky to find and import a well built aircraft with good provenance, his task of gaining LAA approval for a historical repair, as well as reworking the instrument panel and reassembling the airframe took close to two years, more if

G-RVJL (s/n 20207) Van’s RV-6

By Nye Williams

you count his conversion to type. That’s a project all of it’s own by any measurement, but the result is a good looking aircraft and an interesting tale.

In a similar vein, Bob Johnson’s SA100 Starduster One also started life in the US, and is the only example in the UK. A pretty biplane, LA readers might have seen a picture of it in the November 2021 issue’s LA Rally Report.

Mike Dunlop adopted a Long-Ez project that was nearly forty years old. A BGA inspector and engineer, he hasn’t found the work too taxing, although I believe he’s gained more stimulation from the paperwork.

If you’ve got a new build or restoration project that you’d like to share with LAA members, whether part way through, or just flown, we’d love to hear about it.

Email your contributions to projectnews@laa-archive.org.uk

The Glenforsa Fly-In on 30 May 2021 was the day I felt that my RV-6 purchase was fully justified. Having had many camping holidays on the Isle of Mull as a child, Glenforsa has always been on my flying visit bucket list, and perfect weather, together with my son Keir, made a very full day of flying, just about as good as it can be.

Not having the dedication nor time to consider building an aeroplane, I have nevertheless been envious of the owners of modern machines like the RVs which bring into range destinations that are impossible to fit in around a busy work schedule. My Piper Vagabond has been pretty much the only aeroplane I have flown in the 22 years I have held a PPL, and while lovely, it can be a bit slow.

What was to become my RV-6 was built in the US by Van’s employee, Ken Scott and first flew as N207KS in 1993. Ken decided in 2018 that after 25 years of flying it, it was time to sell, and had discussed this with my good friend and, now former, FLYER magazine editor Ed Hicks, who is now editor of this estemed mag. Ed has built a couple of RVs and had flown in ‘7KS with Ken in the US, and he encouraged me to buy it as a good honest example of the type. It was fitted with a low hours 160hp engine and Hartzell CS propeller which is a good match for the RV-6 airframe. The purchase provided a bit of a logistical project in terms of import, but without the commitment to the few thousand hours required to build one. The market value of RVs in the US was also a factor in making the purchase price attractive, so the deal was quickly done and I was the owner of a very nice RV-6. Albeit nearly 5,000 miles away.

Ken put me in touch with local engineer Tom Hinckley, who dismantled the aeroplane and prepared it for shipping, and made his last RV-6 flight into Lenhardt Airpark on 29 March, 2019 and by 11 April, Tom had the aircraft ready to ship. The container left Seattle on 25 April and was delivered at Garston Farm on 6 June where it was unpacked, having survived the journey intact. With the aeroplane safely installed under a gazebo – which keeps the dust off, and is useful to hang lights from – and the RV-experienced LAA Inspector Trevor Hope on board, the work began to get it back in one piece and restored to flying condition.

The only issue that required non-standard attention was a historical repair following damage when the hangar housing the aeroplane was hit by a car… 20 years and 1,000 flying hours ago. The repair involved the construction of a new tail cone and empennage and had required joining of the longerons mid-fuselage. With an RV-4 already on Permit with a similar repair, LAA Engineering was very helpful in enabling us to bring this repair in line with its own requirements, and after preparation of some drawings, after some deft riveting by Ed Hicks and Steve Ayres (thanks again) the repair was LAA approved, and we were able to get on with the more straightforward elements of the reassembly. Ed’s previous RV-6 building experience helped when it was time to refit the wings and empennage, and aside from a few grazed knuckles, all went smoothly with the only real delays coming from the various Covid lockdowns, which brought much of the world to a standstill. The radio and transponder required replacement with 8.33mhz and Mode S capability respectively and it was decided that the instrument panel would get a complete ‘all glass’ update around the AFS EFIS which had been fitted in 2012. A Garmin G5 was added along with a Garmin Aera 660, which replaced the 296 it arrived with. Ed did a nice job with the panel layout and paint, with new wiring and systems setup by Warminster-based avionics guru Dave Smith.

Top left Reassembly begins, and an old US registration gives way to a British one. Gazebo workspace helps with lighting.

Top right The aircraft was reweighed by PlaneWeighs, and a new weight and balance created.

Above right Panel has been refreshed, and is now all-glass.

Above left First flight. The combination of 160hp, constant speed and a light build makes this RV extremely quick to accelerate.

Planeweighs gave the new G-RVJL a new Weight and Balance schedule, confirming that Ken had built a light RV-6 weighing in at 1,028lb, which with the CS prop is an achievement.

With all the jobs done and the paperwork complete the Permit to Test arrived from LAA on the 21 October 2020, allowing Steve Ayres to make the first test flight on 3 November. Perhaps unsurprisingly given it’s flying history, the RV performed well and exhibited no out of the ordinary characteristics or vices (well done again Ken), and apart from a bit of tweaking of the newly fitted stall warner there was nothing to stop the flight test programme, including the aerobatic elements being completed over the subsequent two days. The Permit to Fly arrived back on 13 December, so technically it was done. Winter weather and the final Covid lockdown made my transition training impossible until restrictions were lifted in May, and I finally got signed off by LAA Coach Ron Perry to fly G-RVJL on 7 May. Perfectly timed to make the fly-in to Glenforsa on 30 May. My thanks to Ken Scott, Ed Hicks, Trevor Hope, Steve Ayres, Dave Smith, Ron Perry, my son Keir, and Mike Ball at Garston Farm for their help in making this happen.