Author Archives : Chris French

What I learned at Oshkosh 2023


Another interesting and fun year at AirVenture, punctuated with beer, learning, and soaking up the experience with like-minded folks. Speaking of learning, thanks to DanH for his training on the Spotted Cow tap and for organizing another great evening with RV builders. Now on to what else I learned: Vic Syracuse (Base Leg Aviation) I ran into Vic while he…

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G3X Configuration for an RV-10 with full Garmin Panel


Firmware Update 1. Power on the PFD into Configuration mode by holding down the “Menu” button while the screen is booting up, or reboot the screen by simultaneously pressing “D->”, “Menu”, and “NRST”, then continue to hold the “Menu” button. 2. Insert the SD card with the most recent software version into the EFIS to load the most recent software…

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Garmin Kavlico Sensor Failure Replacements


I struggled to find a simple guide to understand the various Kavlico sensors and relevant service bulletins, here is my consolidation of that information. Relevant Links: The issue was outlined by Larry, N38LA (RV-10) back in 2020 on this VansAirforce post: Link The Garmin Service Bulletin: Link The Dynon Service Bulletin: Link The Van’s Service Bulletin: Link Original Sensors on…

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Oh f*ck, found a big oil leak


There were many swear words falling from my mouth as I removed the cowl to begin my annual condition inspection and I saw a lot of oil on the bottom of the cowl (sorry I failed to take a picture) and on the top of the airbox. Not good. It looked like a classic crankshaft seal failure. First call was…

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Lycoming 6 Cylinder P-Mag Setup Simplified


It took some time for me to full appreciate how to fine-tune my P200-6X Lycoming P-mags. I’m putting together this page to help others get up to speed more quickly. Information: I have been most please with settings of 23° BTDC (MIN) and 29° BTDC (MAX), but you will want to experiment to determine your optimum values CHT will increase…

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Day Five, Enipucrop Porcupine


I’ll be honest, I was dreading this ride all week. 11 miles up on a Black diamond run sounded like a big challenge, especially after day one was only 18 miles. Nearly 100% of the riders of this trail take a shuttle to the top and ride down. Not us, we committed to peddle up and then enjoy the fruits…

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Day Four, Moab Brands and Dead Horse Point


The previous weekend, passing through Moab, I had a morning ride around the Moab Brands area. It was a good warmup area and in between where we were camping and Dead Horse Point. We made quick work of it and with our early start had the trails to ourselves. Then it was on to Dead Horse, getting close to the…

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Day Three, Navajo Rocks


After getting some advice from the owner of Rim Cyclery we decided to check out the Navajo Rocks area. This section has two loops and we choose the southern loop first. It worked out fine but probably would have been better to do the North loop first before it got crowded. Oh well, it wasn’t that bad but definitely way…

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Day Two, Bartlett Wash Slick Rock


With heavy rain and wind overnight we felt lucky that come sunrise it had stopped and we could drive to town. On the way we hit more storms with a section of highway that held two inch deep hail, yeah that was fun until we slowed down a bit. A relaxing breakfast at Love Muffin was followed by waiting out…

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Day One, Captain Ahab and more


After a filling breakfast at Jailhouse Cafe we were on the trails by 8:30 for a long day in the saddle. In terms of riding here is what we checked off: Day 1 – 17.9 miles Amasa Back Area HyMasa (Blue/Black) Amasa Back (Black) Overlook Pothole Arch (Blue/Black) Rockstacker (Double Black) Upper and Lower Captain Ahab (Double Black)

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