Admittedly I did not attend many forums this year. I only attended the show for three days and there is just so much to see… But I did have a few takeaways:
Vic Syracuse (Base Leg Aviation)
Change auto spark plugs every 100 hours or annually (I have been following P-Mag recommendation of 125 hours)
Mouse milk lube exhaust at Condition Inspection (not new info for me but important)
Repack wheel bearing grease every other year (instead of annually)
Induction leak testing – connect a shop vac on exhaust, on compression stroke, spray soapy water and look for leaks
Lycoming oil return lines are not great, replace with Mil 6000-6 3/8″
Constant tension spring clamps provide the most even pressure and outperform worm gear hose clamps
Found best timing of 22.5 to 23 degrees for the IO-540 and he suggests 1-2 degree retard on Pmags (he does not like 6 cylinder P-mags)
Brad Dement (P-mag)
The Black version of the 6 cylinder P-mags with the latest firmware and internal upgrades have not had issues in the past year (previously there was a gear replacement and issue with un-torqued shaft bolts)
The 6 cylinder P-mags rarely have shaft play issues (unlike the 4 cylinder units) due to a different design but shaft play should still be checked
Allan Gabel (FlyAweigh)
Great success with HydroSilex Recharge Car Ceramic Coating as wax for the paint
Rick Gardner (CST Flight Services)
Flying to Mexico involves a lot of paperwork, preparation, and approvals for experimental planes
Pilots cannot bring anything into the country (i.e. golf clubs), their passengers need to claim their gear
CST has a $50 option for do it yourselfers
Mark Patey (Best Tugs)
Unfortunately my hangermates Alpha A3 tug will not work on my RV-10. Mark commented that the smaller holes on the RV-10 would not leave enough material for the clamping tubes for them to produce the adapters. He recommended having adapters machined if I was willing to take the risk.
Update: It does work, see this post for details: link
Chad (Vertical Power)
It bothered me that the VPX Pro was only accessible on my MFD. Should this fail I would be without control of the electronic circuit breakers. Chad suggested a DPDT switch to manually switch which display receives the RS-232 signals. I still need to research if I can have both displays configured to display the VPX data, even though only one would be receiving data at a time.
Kathy (EarthX)
Once the battery reaches 13.9 volts, the BMS goes into balancing mode (battery is 100% charged). There is no benefit to periodically using the OptiMate charger, the internal BMS will handle battery conditioning so long as it is getting charge time above 13.9 volts.
Looking for what I learned in 2021 at Oshkosh, here is the link
A few corrections.
Retard the PMAGS by 1-2 degrees, NOT advance them.
Change the auto plugs every 100 hours or annually.
Thank you Vic, I have made the corrections.
for timing, is it suggested to set the MIN at 23-24 degrees and the MAX at 32-33?
I have A2 Best Tug that works perfectly with my RV-10.
Aaron, did you open the holes on your wheel pants? I have the Flyboy’s metal nose wheel tug guards (https://flyboyaccessories.com/product/tug-guards-for-nosewheel-rvs) which keeps me from enlarging the holes.