RV-12 Tips, Tricks and Suggestions

 

Hi all,

These are my own personal Tips, Tricks and Suggestions on how to work with the RV-12 & RV-12iS. I am by no means an expert but as the owner, as well as having over 1000 hours flying them, I have some ideas on what might make flying the RV-12's easier. I hope this is useful for you. And by all means, contact me if you have suggestions.

-Bill Snodgrass

 

Checking the oil or “burping” the airplane

The RV-12's have a Rotax 912 with an oil sump (called a dry sump) assembly located on the side of the engine. This means for accurate determination of how much oil is in the engine you must first push the oil that is at the bottom of the engine in the crankcase up into the oil sump assembly. This is done by slowly pulling the prop in the direction of rotation. NEVER move the prop in the direction opposite of normal rotation as this can destroy the engine!

As the prop turns, the piston cylinders pressurize the bottom of the engine crankcase forcing oil that has been sitting there up into the oil sump assembly. The burble, gurgle or burp that you eventually hear is air being forced into the oil sump after most of the engine oil has now been moved upwards. You can now check the oil amount with the dipstick. See this YouTube video for a decent explanation: https://youtu.be/HsIfNt7_SB4

 

You MUST burp the engine before checking and adding oil! Adding too much oil can damage the engine!

 

Did you know there are control locks for the RV-12's?

Locking the controls of the RV-12's is done using the seatbelts and some specially constructed PVC pipes! To lock the flaperons and stabilator, wrap the seatbelt(s) around the control stick and tighten the belts. Usually one seatbelt is enough unless the airplane will be outside for awhile. To lock the rudder pedals, the PVC pipes are tubes that lock onto the rudder/brake pedals and are pushed against the front of the seat. 

 

Putting away the RV-12's (pushing a shopping cart backwards)

Although I think I have a nice hangar, unfortunately there is a large dip in the asphalt in front of the hangar due to drainage. And having another airplane in the hangar adds to a tight environment and a bit of tricky maneuvering. My suggestion is, after shutting down the airplane, to maneuver the aircraft by using the towbar and placing your hand on the propeller near the spinner (do not press on the spinner!). Use the yellow lines to center the airplane. Note, do not push pull the nose wheel aggressively left or right once in the hangar as the stabilator will hit whatever is inside! Use the vertical stabilizer of the airplane to guide you as you are putting the airplane away.

Closing up the airplane

Once the RV-12 is parked back in the hangar, please make sure to close all vents and buckle all seatbelts. Although we do not suffer so much the damnation of the little critters like some places in the world, it is still good practice and a safety precaution to close the vents as bugs or even mice could get into the cockpit. Buckling the seatbelts is a courtesy to others who will be flying after you are done. Attach the electrical trickle charger to the battery connector.

And plug in the engine heater.  The engine heater is set a on a timer so in summer you can still plug it in.

 

Spit and polish

Although I don’t clean the RV-12 as much as I would like, there really is not too much required to clean it. If you become so inclined to show your appreciation by cleaning the aircraft or just want to get the bugs off the windows, all you need for the windows is a micro-fiber towel and water. The blue water jug has water and there are cloths near it. Do not use paper towels on the Plexiglass as it will scratch it. Use one soft, wet micro-fiber towel to clean the windows and one dry micro-fiber towel to dry it off.

 

Save The Planet (Recycle the Sump Gas)

Ok…yes, I’m a greenie. (I’ve also worked for Halliburton for 24 years so ask me more sometime about my O&G views.) But the truth of the matter is I don’t like the gas stains that appear on the asphalt in front of the hangar if the sump gas is thrown there. Although I doubt much of the residual gas makes its way into the water, I still prefer for aesthetics, as well as the environment to please dump your drained sump gas into the red recycle can with the blue funnel.

 

FAQ

• Why does the plane vibrate on takeoff? – Because it’s excited?!? No? Well ok…from what I understand, typically the nose wheel will be out of balance after a tire has been replaced. It requires using motorcycle weights to re-balance it.

 

Thank you for flying the Remos and be safe and have fun!!

Bill Snodgrass

Colorado Sport Pilot, LLC