Velocity Views11st Quarter 2000

In this issueMachados join factory.....1

Mark & Nancy combineforces with the Swings tobenefit entire Velocityfamily

Factory News ...................2SUV update, Daren’s condition, V speeds,Endorsements for complex and high perfor-mance, Switch panels,Gap seal, Sun-n-FunDinner, Open house onFeb 5th, Lycomingengines, distance demoride arrangements

Service Center Open .......5New Service Center willassist builders with theirprojects and also serviceflying Velocitys

Safety Corner ...................7Accident & IncidentReports and MaintenanceService Difficulties

Factory KPCs ...................8Kit plans changes to keepyour manual up-to-date

Builder Forum ..................9Tips, information & letters

Buy Sell or Trade ...........17

Marketplace ....................18

Volume 21

Machados Join Swings at Factory

Pictured from left to right: Scott, Bonnie, and Duane Swing, Mark and NancyMachado

Mark and Nancy Machadojoined Velocity this fall as companyshareholders and the newest members of the team. Many of youknow this aviation couple fromVelocity West, the California salesand service center which they established and operated for the lastfew years. Relocation in Florida is abig move for these West Coastnatives, but they arrived with a spiritof commitment and excitementtoward their new roles at theVelocity headquarters.

Mark became a private pilot in1982 and bought a Cessna 172. Beingmechanically inclined, he never feltfully comfortable with the Cessna, sohis conversion to experimental waseasy. After buying plans for the LongEZ in the mid ‘80s, Mark located a

Long EZ and a Very EZ in NovaScotia. Both planes had been highlymodified to be part of a Lindbergh-commemorative expedition acrossthe Atlantic. Mark ended up takingthe Long EZ apart (with a chainsaw,among other tools!), leaving basic-ally just the spar and shell. After1500 hours, and while working dualcareers as a mechanical engineer anda general contractor, Mark got bothexperimentals in the air. Flying hisown homebuilt made Mark muchmore comfortable and it wasn’t longbefore he was ready for a step up.Mark bought his Velocity kit in 1990and today has logged over 800 hoursin Velocitys and has built 5 planes!Needless to say, these experiences –coupled with operating the Velocity

Continued on next page

Velocity Views 2 Volume 21

by Duane Swing

SUV UPDATE

Since its introduction at Oshkosh‘99, the Velocity “SUV” has cement-ed itself as the perfect option formany first time kit buyers. Valuepriced at just $22,000, the SUV offersan entry-level four-place aircraft kitpriced thousands below anythingcomparable.

With much of the same state-of-the-art technology incorporated inVelocity’s other aircraft kits, theSUV’s flight statistics attest to its finedesign. Using the easy-to-findLycoming 160 HP engine and a constant speed prop, the SUV boaststhese specs without the addition ofvortex generators:

Take Off Distance 1200 ft.Rate of Climb: 1000 fpmLanding Distance 1200 ft.Cruise (8000 ft.) 155 ktsMaximum Speed: 165 ktsCeiling 16KRange at 75% (NM) 968Minimum Speed 60 ktsLanding Speed 70 kts

The SUV is also approved for the

Lycoming 180 and 200 and theFranklin 220 engines. Velocitydesigned the SUV with dual yokes,gearing it for the entry-level pilotwho Velocity designed the SUV for.The yoke concept allows a singlelarge gull-wing door for easy entryand exit into any of the SUV’s fourseats. Using a reduced center keel,compared with other Velocity models, added an additional 4” ofusable interior space. The VelocitySUV can be built, ready for flight, forunder $50,000.

All the testing is now completeon the SUV and shipments havealready begun. The airplane hasbeen to Oshkosh, Phoenix, and Texason the airshow circuit and has nowover 60 hours of flight time. The mostimportant factors are the NACA cool-ing ducts and the Vortex Generators(VGs). The NACA cooling ductshave been working perfectly and nochanges are necessary. We will soonbe putting them on a 200 horse air-plane and checking for proper cool-ing. This is also true of the XL that weare building to replace our existing

XL demo N97XL. The VG’s wereinstalled and moved around withadditional VG’s added as necessaryto achieve the best results. We canreport that the average Velocity willsee at least an 8 knot decrease in indi-cated speeds on the low end. Weactually got the SUV down to 50 knotindicated with about 430 lbs. in thefront seats and mid fuel. This is 10knots less than with the same weightbefore. We will be doing some sideby side flying with our long wingfixed gear to see if the SUV (muchlighter airplane) can fly as slow as thelong wing version. The cruise speedsare probably down by a couple knots.So far, the VG’s have been installedon the standard wing SUV, the longwing XL and the long wing Elite.Results vary somewhat but the netresults are all positive. Better lowspeed control. Better canard/elevatorcontrol on landing. Lower canardstall speed which results in a safer offfield landing should one be necessary.

We have been searching for asupplier of the VG’s that will reducethe cost for our customers. The oneswe purchased cost $398.00 for the set.We have now gotten the cost down to$200.00 for the set with instructionsand a placement template. They areheld in place with a thin coating ofsilicon. We are probably 30 to 60 daysaway from getting production partsand if interested, call Brendan forcurrent information.

As a further test, we removedone of the vortilons and tufted thewing behind all the VG’s. The resultwas that we can see no difference inthe air flow behind the VG’s evenwhere we had removed the vortilon.These tests were done from minimumspeed all the way to high speedcruise with the same results. It is ourdecision, therefore, to not require thevortilons if the VG’s are used. As aresult of all this, I have contactedAvemco with a strongly worded let-ter indicating that if they really wantto seek an honest appraisal of theVelocity, they should come down tous or we will come to them and do aflight test. Our goal is to get somereduction in insurance or a reduction

center on the West Coast – makeMark a great resource for currentand future Velocity builders...and asure asset for Velocity, Inc.

As Mark’s partner in marriageand in Velocity West, NancyMachado has been submerged in aviation since she met Mark. Nancysoloed after just 7 hours, showing thebenefit of logging 700-800 hours inthe right seat while flying with Mark.Professionally, Nancy’s years ofwork in the legal and insurancefields honed her natural people skills

while building strengths in market-ing and communications. At VelocityWest, Nancy wore many hats,including assisting Mark with hisplane building projects and helpingto answer builder questions. Now inthe office at Velocity in Sebastian,Nancy enjoys working with newbuyers and is quick to volunteer tolead a factory tour. You are likely toencounter Nancy first on your nextphone call or visit to Velocity. Onceshe and Mark and their happy dogOtti get better settled in their newenvironment, Nancy looks forwardto completing her private pilottraining.

••••

MachadosContinued from page 1

Velocity Views31st Quarter 2000

If Distance is a Problem...

With the closing of ourWest Cost Service Center,we want to make a specialoffer for those of you thatwill need to travel a longdistance for a factory demoride and tour.

Here’s our deal:Velocity Inc. will cover yourairfare, up to $500, provid-ed that you purchase aVelocity kit within 7 days ofyour demo ride.

in flight time needed to qualify forinsurance. My intention is to estab-lish different flight times and ratesbased on the airplane of choice andeven better rates with the use of theVG’s. That is, the SUV fixed gearwith VG’s would have the absolutelowest rates and times needed toqualify for insurance, with the XL RGrepresenting the upper end of thescale. We have already demonstratedthat an 80 hour (total time) pilot, onhis first take off and landing, can doso successfully in the SUV using theyokes and with the VG’s. It tookanother two hours of dual before hecould do the same in N81VA. Asmany of you have found out,Avemco (and others) make no dis-tinction between different models.They treat our 160 horsepower SUVwith a fixed gear and yokes the sameas the XL RG with 300 horsepower.This must change.

DAREN’S CONDITION

Daren has been back to work forthe past couple months but is some-what limited as to what he can do.No more heavy lifting or high stress

marking• Va: Maneuvering speed 140 ktsNot an airspeed marking

All the above are indicated airspeed and not true air speed.Common sense should apply tospeeds when rough air is encoun-tered and a reduction to Va might beappropriate. Va (maneuveringspeed) is also defined as rough airpenetration speed.

You will note that the airspeedindicators we have sold in the pastare incorrectly marked with the Vnoat 140 knots. This should have been170 knots.

HIGH PERFORMANCE ANDCOMPLEX ENDORSEMENT

Some of you have asked me if aHigh Performance or Complexendorsement is required to fly aVelocity. From a legal point of view,it is not required. From an insurancepoint of view it might be. Accordingto FAR 61.31 (k) (2) (iii) underExceptions. “The rating limitations ofthis section (high performance andcomplex) do not apply to (iii). Theholder of a pilot certificate whenoperating an aircraft under theauthority of an experimental - typecertificate”.

The insurance companies maynot care if you are legal. If they say

work allowed. He is also on a specialdiet while he awaits a proper heartdonor. As his work family, we areholding Daren and his family up inprayer while they go through thesetrying times.

VELOCITY V-SPEEDS

The following are the V-Speedsthat apply to all our airplanes. Manyof you have asked what they are: forairspeed markings and for just gener-al knowledge. The airspeed mark-ings are:• Vs: Stall Speed (minimum speed)60 kts This will vary with load (redl i n e )• Vfe: Max flap extension (speedbrake) 110 kts White arc from Vs toV f e• Vno: Max Structural Cruise speed170 kts. Green arc from Vs to Vno• Vne: Never exceed 200 kts Yellowarc from Vno to Vne• Vx: Best Angle speed 80 kts Notan airspeed marking• Vy: Best Rate speed 100 kts Notan airspeed marking• Vlo: Max landing gear operatingspeed 120 kts Not an airspeed

Continued on next page

Feb 5th Factory OpenHouse WorkshopSchedule

Saturday February 5, 2000 - Factory’s quarterly openhouse in Sebastian Florida (X26)9:00am Coffee and donuts10:00am Workshop: To be announced - check our web site

or call usNoon Lunch1:00pm Workshop: Building Q&A3:00pm Demo rides in the XL

Please be sure to call the factory and RSVP! Friday arrivalscan book a room at the Sand Dollar Motel (800-226-4546) herein Sebastian. When you call us to RSVP, let us know whenyou plan on arriving so we can make arrangements for trans-portation, etc.

Velocity Views 4 Volume 21

you must have the ratings, whatchoice do you have?

SWITCH PANELS (not theXL)

One of our builders just pointedout to us that there has been achange in the type circuit breakersused in these panels. By populardemand, the manufacturer changedfrom non disconnect type to the rock-er disconnect type. The major prob-lem is that the rocker disconnectswitches can be easily switched offby bumping the switch. The panelmaker was not aware that the manu-facturer of these switches does notrecommend them being used in highvibration applications. The questionis, is this a high vibration applica-tion? We really don’t know theanswer and there are several panelsout there (they are also sold throughSpruce) and no one has had a prob-lem in actual flight. If you get one ofthe new panels and feel this is aproblem, contact the panel maker(his phone number is in the instruc-tions) and he will replace the rockertype with the non rocker type circuitbreakers.

NOVEMBER 6 OPEN HOUSE

Our November 6 open housewas the largest yet with just under 70people in attendance. Most of thosein attendance were not presentlyVelocity builders and several indicat-ed that a purchase would be made inthe near future. We had one manwho flew down from Chicago,another from Atlanta, one from NewMexico, a couple from Texas, twofrom Germany and three fromDenmark, along with a spatteringfrom other states. Our workshop wasbroken down into the Lycomingengine installation, and a hands onfiberglass workshop. In the work-shop, the attendees built a pair ofwheel chocks from foam and glassusing the West system so they couldcomplete them and take them homewith them.

My only regret is that more ofyou flying Velocity owner/buildersdidn’t attend. We had Sam DaSilva

and Chuck Ufkes fly their Velocitysin and Chuck and Sam both spent alot of their time talking about theirprojects. At one time I counted 12people gathered around Chuck as heexplained some of the finer detailsabout his airplane. Chuck was thefirst to try the upper fuselage coolingscoops on his airplane, and, as on ourSUV, they are working fine.

Our next open house (workshop)is set for February 5th 2000. I have noschedule for what we will be doingbut, if I can get at least 6 Velocitys tofly in, we will spend most of the dayletting those in attendance talk to theowners. If you think you might beone of those, I promise good foodand a lot of hangar flying. We willalso schedule a low level formationfly-by if you think you’re up to it. Asan added bonus, everyone who fliesin will receive a Velocity jacket. Letme know if you are interested inattending with your airplane. Ifyou’re not yet flying and have athought for these workshops, let usknow so we can work it in.

LYCOMING IO 540 G1D5ENGINES

Westair International ofMonument CO is offering a limitednumber of low time to “0” SMOH290 horsepower engines. Prices from$15,000 (low time) to $19,750 (“0”time) with no core needed. They arealso offering a Hartzell prop at nocharge. We can’t use the prop butthere might be some negotiatingroom as a result. These engines are290 horse at 2575 RPM. Runningthem at 2700 rpm produces 300horse. This engine is almost identicalto those used in the Piper 600Aerostars If interested, call 719-481-2286.

GAP SEALWhile flying the SUV, we noticed

there was a lot of heat coming fromthe gap between the aft portion ofthe fuel strake and the wing. This isthe gap that we usually fill with sili-con after our testing is over. In thiscase, with no silicon in this gap, thereis a rather large low pressure areacreated in this area and it will suck

the heated air from the engine com-partment out through the small gapthat exists between the main wingspar and the carry through spar. Thisgap can be seen with the top cowlremoved and is where the inboardupper wing attach bolt is found.

We feel it is important to seal thisgap with some high temperature bar-rier like the Stainless/Nomex firewallprotection to prevent the hot air frombeing sucked into this area. It wouldalso be a good idea to seal the gapbetween the aft part of the fuel strakeand the wing to prevent the low pres-sure air from pulling the hot air intothis area. In the event of an enginefire, stopping this fire from propagat-ing into the area where the two sparsare bolted together would be ofutmost importance.

Builders HOT LINEPlease remember that on week-

ends, and after hours, we do notanswer the 561-589-1860 phone num-ber. Our unlisted builders hot line is561-589-0309, and, if we are here, thisis the only number we will answer.We are working on an additionalrevolving number for this hot line toeliminate the busy signals you get oncertain days.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAYThe only way to reach your long-

range goals is through survivingyour short-range objectives.

Be Safe!Get a Factory Check Outprior to your first flight!Flight training is availablefrom:• Brendan O’Riordan(factory’s CFII)• Scott Baker on the WestCoast (Sierra Bravo).Don’t take a chance, getchecked out prior to your firstflight. Please note that youshould be current prior toyour Velocity check out.

Velocity Views51st Quarter 2000

Working on your own kit aircraftat the manufacturer’s service hangar...an excellent way to accelerate theearly construction phase of a home-built aircraft. Couple this with a shopdedicated to working on flying air-craft, and you have the new VelocityService Center. Velocity has nowopened its Service Center at compa-ny headquarters in Sebastian,Florida.

Our Builders’ Head StartProgram for Velocity kit buyersallows builders to start work on theirown aircraft here at our ServiceCenter. Based on the reaction to thisprogram so far, we anticipate that amajority of our new kit buyers willspend from one week to one monthat our Service Center prior to kitshipment to their own home base.Builders in the Head Start programcan rent hangar space in the ServiceCenter on a daily, weekly, or month-ly basis. Each builder will be usinghis/her own kit components – suchas epoxy, cloth, fillers, brushes – dur-ing Service Center construction. Thelong-term advantages of participat-ing in the Head Start program, espe-cially for the first-time builder, areamazing. Not only does it allow thebuilder to focus on the project with-out many of the usual distractions, italso allows him or her to get orga-nized and develop better workinghabits right from the start. For addedconvenience to the builder, theVelocity Service Center can handle alimited number of RV’s on site.

The Velocity Service Center alsocaters to service work on flyingVelocitys. Composite repairs, pre-buy inspections, final assembly, inte-riors, painting, and other services areoffered. Annual conditional inspec-tions (“annuals”) are performed forfixed gear and retract gear Velocitys.Our Service Center provides Velocityspecialists for these jobs, and is also agreat resource for Velocity ownerswho did not build their own planes.

Continued on next page

BUILDERS HEAD START SERVICE CENTER

We got possession of the servicecenter building on November 8thand have been spending time gettingit ready for work. First order of busi-ness was a thorough cleaning andpainting the floor with the epoxygray paint. The office comes nextwith new carpet and tile. As you cansee from the above photo, we willalso be resurfacing the pavement.

Our main goal is to provide a“Head Start” for those who want to

Velocity’s new Service Center is located just to the south of the factory building

The Service Center is set up to accommodate 4 different projects at a time

New Velocity Service Center Opens

work at the factory on their airplanewith the help of a professional. Wehave established the terms and con-ditions of this service center. Thepricing schedule is as follows:Hangar rental rate:

Per day: $17Per week: $100Per month $ 350

Shop rate when assistance is needed.Per hour $40Hangar access after 5:00, holidaysand week ends by request.

Velocity Views 6 Volume 21

The NewVelocityServiceCenter ata Glance

• Builder’s Head StartProgram... Rent space inour new service center towork on your project withfactory help nearby.

• Conditional Inspections(Annuals) for flyingVelocitys

• Pre-buy Inspections for fly-ing Velocitys

• Composite repairs, interi-ors, painting, and other ser-vices on flying Velocitys

• Monthly billing for rentalspace plus labor rate (asused)

New Service CenterContinued from previous page

Special tools, shop equipment,shop rags, sandpaper, clean-up mate-rials, gloves, drinking water, and cof-fee shall be made available for use atno extra cost. Builder is expected touse his/her own kit components forthe construction of the project (ie.epoxy, cloth, fillers, brushes, mixingsticks/cups, etc.). Each builder willset up his/her own epoxy station andpump area and organize kit invento-ry for easy access. Each builder isresponsible for keeping their workarea clean on a daily basis. Also, eachbuilder is responsible for insuringtheir own projects (fire, theft, flood,hurricanes, etc.).

Service Center for FlyingVelocitys

Annual Conditional InspectionsConditional inspections (annu-

als) will be billed at $500 for fixedgear and $600 for retract gear. Thisexcludes work needed to make air-worthy. The aircraft owner will begiven a squak list broken down intotwo categories; first will be itemsmandatory for safety, and secondwill be items recommended. Repairswill be billed at our shop rate of $40per hour, for items that you have usrepair or service.

Other ServicesComposite repairs, pre-buy

inspections, and other service pro-jects for flying Velocities can now beaccomplished at our new service cen-ter. Our shop rate is billed at $40 perhour.

RV ParkingWe can handle a limited number

of RV’s but at present no sewer con-nections available. A dump station isjust across the street.

If interested, let us know so wecan send you a contract and get youon our list.

••••A look at one of the four work areas set up for a builder to work on his/her kit. Factoryhelp is available at an hourly charge, which will assist the builder in developing theproper skills and good work habits.

Sign up for

Velocity’s

April 10th

Sun-n-Fun 2000

Dinner

Lakeland, Florida

Sun-n-Fun is April 9-15Our annual banquet will beheld on Monday eveningApril 10, starting at 6:00pm.The banquet will be at theImperial Lakes Country Club(same place and set up aslast few years).Check our web site (calen-dar of events) for details(menu, cost, etc.).Please sign up in advancewith the factory, or at ourbooth during Sun N Fun.For a map to Imperial LakesCountry Club, refer toVELOCITY VIEWS Vol 17page 12.

Thanks,Bonnie

Velocity Views71st Quarter 2000

Safety CornerAccident & Incident Reports,Maintenance & Service Difficulties

Fatal Accident ReportKen Swertfeger / LW FG

A sad day for the Velocity fami-ly. We just learned that KenSwertfeger died as a result of an acci-dent in his fixed gear Velocity LW.Ken passed away on Saturday,December 18th. Our thoughts andprayers extend out to Ken’s familyand many friends.

As of this writing (Dec 21), thereare several conflicting stories thathave been reported to us. Ratherthan speculate or report conflictingstories, we will wait until we havethe facts. We will report all that weknow in the next issue of thisnewsletter.

Our condolences to Ken’s wifeBarb and his entire family.

EXHAUST SYSTEM RECOMMENDATIONS

We decided to fly a customer’sairplane to the AOPA convention asit was a brand new, well equippedXL RG and we thought it wouldmake a better showing than our 3year old XL. We never made it, asBrendan had an exhaust pipe breakat the end of the last cylinder and thelast 10” of the pipe was hanging inthe cowling, flopping around. Theonly thing that prevented it fromexiting the airplane was some fiber-fax wrap that was placed all aroundthe exhaust. We had advised previ-ously that this was not a very goodidea for three reasons. First is thatthe exhaust will retain a lot moreheat and there is a possibility that itwill start a crystallizing process andbecome brittle. The second reason isthat there is no way to inspect theexhaust for cracks. The third reasonis that the wrap is quite heavy andthis added weight will cause the

pipes to fail much quicker than if leftunwrapped. If you need to protectsome fiberglass or control cables, it isbest to insulate these items ratherthan the pipes. We also found thatthe tabs that are to be used to safetywire the lower end of the pipe to theupper end to prevent the exhaustfrom exiting the airplane were notinstalled.

EMERGENCYPROCEDURES

We are seeing a lot of our air-planes now flying with eitherhydraulic or electric constant speedprops and the proper emergencyprocedures need to be addressed. Itis common knowledge that therather large flat plate area of the M-Tconstant speed propellers provide ahuge amount of breaking with thepower pulled all the way back toidle. This breaking effect is not goodif you’re trying to extend your glideto maximize the distance covered inan engine out emergency.

The proper procedure to extendyour glide is to pull the prop controlall the way out to give you the coars-est pitch possible. This will minimizethe prop drag and give you the sec-ond best glide ratio. The best glidewould be with the engine shut downand the windmilling prop stopped.This can be done by pulling the noseup until minimum speed is reached.This is usually enough to get theprop to stop.

If you have an M-T electric con-stant speed prop, the procedurewould be to switch the prop into themanual mode (left switch) and holdthe right switch down until the prophas achieved the courses pitch possi-ble. This will again give you the sec-ond best glide ratio possible.Shutting the engine down will be thebest.

Shutting down the engine downwill also give you the best glide ratioif you have a fixed pitch prop.

SLICK MAG SERVICEBULLETIN SB1-98

If you are using the Lycoming IO540 K series engine (300 horse) inyour XL, there is a mandatory inspec-tion required on the impulse mag. Itrequires an inspection every 250hours of operation.

LYCOMING SERVICEBULLETIN AND AD NOTES

Lycoming constantly issuesmandatory service bulletins on theirengines that should be looked at. Oneis SB 388B. This has to do with valvesticking on almost all Lycomingengines and spells out the procedureto check valve guide to valve stemclearances.

SB 342B outlines the proper pro-cedure for clamping the stainlesssteel fuel lines from the spider valveto the cylinders. This one affects allIO 360 and all IO 540 engines.

SI 1492A outlines procedures indetermining excessive piston pinplug wear. There have been signs of alarge amount of aluminum showingup in oil filters that has been traced tothese plugs. The service instructionsoutline the method of checking andcorrecting this problem.

AD note 98-23-01 is anAirworthiness Directive pertaining tofailure of the flexible coupling onAirborne dry vacuum pumps.

AD note 98-18-12 is anAirworthiness Directive pertaining tothe rotary fuel pumps used on vari-ous fuel injected Lycoming engines.For the most part, this AD notewould only apply to the IO540 series(300 horse) engines. This rotarypump could also be used on any fuelinjected turbocharged Lycomingengine.

SAIB (Special AirworthinessInformation Bulletin): Lycoming hasissued this SAIB for new Lycomingengines (all types) or new cylinder

Continued on next page

Velocity Views 8 Volume 21

Safety CornerContinued from previous page

replacements. The SAIB is in regardsto valve seats dropping into theengines. It seems that Lycoming hasinstalled undersized valve seats innew engines or new cylinder assem-blies and they simply fall out. Oncethe engine has accumulated over 10hours and they have not fallen out,they assume they are the right size.(kind of makes you, wonder doesn’tit?) This SAIB was issued due to thishappening with a total of 3.3 hourson the tach on one engine and theother didn’t even get into an airframebefore it self destructed on the teststand. The SAIB spells out the proce-dure of determining if you have anengine or cylinder assembly that

KPC 110Affects: All Large wing aircraftincluding the XL.Manual Section 12.3.1Date of Change: 12-6-99Figure 12-8 shows 50” length.Remove that dimension from theplans.

KPC 111Affects: All XL RG aircraftManual Section 12.3.1Date of Change: 12-6-99Under the “VERY IMPORTANT”note on page 12-12, it reads “at theside of the fuselage and flange posi-tion.” It needs to read, “approximate-ly 3” from the side of the fuselagejust below the bend.”

KPC 112Affects: All RG aircraftManual Section 6.1.1

Kit PlansChanges“KPCs”

Note: Check the date at the bottom ofyour page. If it matches the “Date ofChange” shown in the KPC, your manu-al has already been corrected.

Date of Change: 12-6-99Figure 6-6, top drawing show theoutside edge of the swing arms atthe edge of the gear doors when inreality they are about 1/4” from theedge. If the flange on the fuselagewas cut to 3/8” then the swing armswould be right up against the flange.This assumes between 1/16” and1/8” gap in the fit of the gear door tothe fuselage. The flange is then cut inthe area of the hinge for clearance.

KPC 113Affects: All RG aircraftManual Section 6.2.1Date of Change: 12-6-99Figure 6-12 should show the over-center stop just as it is shown inSection 9.6.5 - Figure 9-42.

KPC 114Affects: All Elite RG and XL RG air-craftManual Section 6.2.1Date of Change: 12-6-99Change the Aluminum Plate(.25”X2”X5”) shown in Figure 6-12and 6-14 to a couple of washers (AN970-6). The reason is that it is notneeded and the springs interferewith plate.

KPC 115Affects: All aircraftManual Section 4.4.4Date of Change: 12-6-99

Change to read - “Trim the trailingedge of the canard from the leadingedge.”

KPC 116Affects: All XL aircraftManual Section 4.5.2Date of Change: 12-6-99Change to read - “Measure and markboth elevator torque tubes 20-3/4”out from the center of the canard.The total distance between the marksshould be 41-1/2”.”

KPC 117Affects all XL RG aircraftManual Section 9.4.2Date of Change: 12-6-99Remove the bumps in the Socket asshown in figure 9-21.

KPC 118Affects all Elite RG and XL RG air-craftManual Section 6.2.1Date of Change: 12-6-99In addition to the microglass holdingthe knurled nose gear bushings inplace, if there is any bushing pro-truding out either end, you shouldadd some microglass or flox aroundthe protrusion smoothing out thetransition from bushing to keel.Then, add 3 layers of BID over thebushing and onto the keel about 1”.After cure, on the inside surfaces youwill need to grind or sand the glassoff the steel insert to allow the gearto slide back into position.

KPC 119Affects All SUV or any dual yoke setup.Manual Section 5.1.2Date of Change: 12-6-99The instrument panel should belocated at the edge of the Keel cut.This dimension should be approxi-mately 21” from the rear face of thecanard bulkhead just inboard of thewood stiffener and near the top. Thisshould be approx. 1” further aft onthe dimensions listed in this section.This gives the control system room towork.

•••••

might be effected.

PZL FRANKLIN SERVICEBULLETIN PZL-F/62/99

Applies to the 6A-350-C1R & 6A-350-C1LPZL has created a special oildrainage pipe PN 26.08.0700 that willfacilitate the draining of engine oil.Their concern was that without thenew pipe PN 26.08.0700, damagemay occur to the drain valve head(by using another tool to keep itopen). Velocity builders withFranklin engines should order thispart from a US distributor and obtaina copy of both the service bulletinand the updated pages for the manu-als (no 26.0.197)

•••••

Velocity Views91st Quarter 2000

BuildersForum

Builders Forum is full of tips, information and letters (“material”) supplied toVelocity Views Newsletter from individuals that are Velocity builders (or want to bebuilders). It is provided as “USE AT YOUR OWN RISK” material. NeitherVelocity Inc. (The Velocity Factory) nor Velocity Views Newsletter (Lavoie Graphics& Rick Lavoie) have endorsed this material, and disclaim any liability for the use ofthis material. Individuals who use this material for the operation, maintenance, orconstruction of their homebuilt aircraft do so at their own discretion and at theirown risk. Any variance from the builders manual is high risk.

GETTING BACK THEELBOW ROOM

From Al Gietzen; Vista, CA

Back in the early ‘90’s I was con-vinced that I wanted to build aLancair 320. Then at Oshkosh 1994 Iwandered by the Velocity booth anddecided to climb into the cockpit andcheck it out. Settling into the pilot’sseat I immediately had the sense thatthis was my airplane. The visibilitywas good; there was a sense of secu-rity sitting below, and looking over,the wing. And most of all there wasthe sense of space because my leftarm could rest comfortably out intothe strake. I quickly began to loseinterest in the Lancair.

That was, of course, before theElite doors. One of the main draw-backs of that earlier design was thatpeople who were smaller (and/orheavier) than my 6’ 4” frame had aserious gymnastic challenge gettingup on the strake, over the sill andinto the airplane. So when the Elitedoors became an option it was a def-inite improvement.

Before buying my kit in 1996 Iwent to Florida to take a flight in thenew model, and was disappointedthat my sense of comfort in the cock-pit just wasn’t there. That left elbowroom and armrest were gone. Alater mod included opening the tipof the moved-back strake to theinside of the door, but being too lowand too far back it didn’t much forhelp us tall folks who were the onesthat needed that room.

Wanting the best of both worlds,I bought the Elite option and decidedto make a design modification whichwould give a strake opening to the

inside very much like the originalstrake, while maintaining a strakepiece on the door that didn’t stickout any further than, and weighedabout the same, as with the normalElite design.

The shape of this strake exten-sion (see photo) has a profile on thedoor that is the same as if the strakewere slid forward to about 2” fromthe front of the door. There is a breakin the line of the leading edge right atthe door cut, and the strake extensionblends smoothly to the strake. Fromthe door back, the all aspects of thestrake installation are stock.

This mod required determiningthe proper profiles and buildingmolds (one for each side) to makethe new parts for on the doors. Thestrake extension part is strong andlightweight, made with 1/4” foamcore sandwich. Additional reinforc-ing plies are placed along the lead-ing edge. The weight of the new partis comparable to the normal portionof the strake that would be attachedto the door, plus the weight of thepiece cut out of the door; so the doorweight is not increased. The distanceout from the door at the door cut isthe same as the normal Elite (about10”). See Photo 2 (attractive womannot included).

Velocity Views 10 Volume 21

The inside view (photo 3) showsthe considerable arm and elbowroom. It definitely gives the feelingof a wider cockpit. The latch rodsneed to be modified as shown. Theadditional hardware includes theintermediate bellcrank and its pivotmount, some 5/16” aluminum rod,and a few more clevis pins. The twofront rods can be made by cuttingand modifying the existing front rod.A new rod is made for the lower rearcorner latch pin, and the lower latchpin tube alignment and location isslightly different. I find the doorlatching to be smooth and not notice-ably different than the standard latcharrangement. Of course this modifi-cation also requires rework on theinner door panel to accommodate theopening.

Based on similar extension onLong-eze and Berkut, I expect nonoticeable change in flight character-istics. Although high speed jets useleading edge extension to enhancelow speed lift and handling by gen-erating low-pressure vortex over thewing, affect is likely not noticeablehere. I can provide parts for anyoneinterested, and you can get more infoat http://home.utm.net/alventur/strakext.htm or contact me at my e-mail address:Alventures@msn.com, or phone meat 760-630-5555.

•••••

Update on the Rose’sSecond Velocity project

From Wes and Becky Rose, Michigan

I thought I would stop work onthe new XL long enough to let every-one know what’s going on up here inMichigan.

As a lot of you know, Becky andI sold our 173 FG last April andTravis delivered us a new XL kit theend of June. Again, like the 173, thekit was not a fast build. By Oshkoshtime the wings and winglets wereglassed, all the bulkheads and maingear legs were installed. ByThanksgiving, everything on the

ing process. In talking with Duaneand Scott, we have made a couple ofchanges.

One is Naca Scoops in the top ofthe fuselage for engine cooling.Templates are available fromVelocity. The other is to split the fuelsump into two separate tanks byadding a partition in the middle andputting in a fuel selector valve. Ihave also run heat ducts along bothsides of the keel and added an elec-tric heater in the section behind thekeel fins in addition to the oil coolerheat source. It gets really cold here inMichigan!!

One other thing I would like tomention, while testing the retractsystem, I found that I placed the nosewheel guides back a little too far and

lower half was ready and the glasswas installed in the upper half. Thetwo halfs were mated onThanksgiving weekend.

Building a Velocity the secondtime goes much easier. I have noticeda lot of improvements in the kit overthe 173 that have eliminated ques-tions and time taken from the build-

Velocity Views111st Quarter 2000

No magneto or spark plugsDirect injectionQuiet operation due to lower rotat-ing speedAir and oil cooling systemSingle power lever control and inte-grated engine monitoring35% lower fuel consumption than acomparable petrol engineGreater protection for the environ-ment with lead free jet A fuel(kerosene)

We feel the Velocity is the shapeof things to come – to marry it to thistruly remarkable diesel engine, withthe back-up Renault will provide,really must be the way forward inthe new millennium.

Any reader who wishes to knowmore about this exciting engine,please contact me or Jack at:jack.berkin@virgin.net. We wish allVelocity owners many happy andsafe flying hours in the future.

Denis E. WoodBritish Airways, Retired

•••••

Many Many ModsFrom Bill Mulrooney, West Bloomfield, Mi.

My partner, Dan Horvath, and Itook delivery of a 173E RG about 3.5yrs ago. Since then we have learned alot about building the plane and Ithink a lot of you might be interestedin some of our modifications. First Iwould like to say how great theSwings have been and how nice it isto have a company that is willing totalk to you about any idea withoutbeing negative. Thanks.

Backgrounds:Dan is a ChemicalEngineer with 3M and knows justabout everything there is to knowabout adhesives and I have amachine shop background, studiedMechanical Engineering, and builtcustom cars from the ground up.Now to the good stuff.

1. First idea when buying a kit-plane was to form a Limited liabilityCorporation(L.L.C.) henceOFFROAD FREEDOM L.L.C. was

builder has done something. Our vis-its to Sun ‘n’ Fun and Oshkosh help,but by the time we return home wehave forgotten the details!

In spite of all these logisticalproblems, our Velocity has much ofthe composite work completed – weare in the process of completing thefuel strakes. These have proved verytime-consuming as we chose to fitthe larger XL wheels and this hasinvolved re-designing the layout ofthe baffles and bulkheads, not tomention changes in the nose wheelbay.

During the past three years, wehave been in close contact withMarane Renault, who are developinga family of General Aviation turbodiesel engines, ensuring no drop-offin performance below 15,000 feet.Renault, who are the largest manu-facturers of cars and trucks inEurope, were approached by SocataAircraft Co. back in 1995 with arequest to design a completely newfamily of small diesel engines.Renault Sport Division – based nearParis – having completed six yearspreparing Formula 1 racing engines,culminating in six consecutive worldchampionship wins, now had sparecapacity.

The intention is to produce fourengines in the 180HP to 300HP range– all with a high degree of common-ality. The 200HP version has com-pleted 2000 hours on the test bed andapproximately 200 hours in the air ina Socata Trinidad, and is expected tobe fully certified in the spring of2000.

It is our intention to use thisengine in our Velocity RG. It will,however, be necessary for Duaneand his team to install the first ofwhat we feel sure will be manyRenault engine installations byVelocity owners.

The rewards are considerable –consider just some of the advantages:

Simple designFewer moving parts

when bringing the nose gear up withthe wheel cocked a little, it wouldcome up okay, but the fork wouldcatch on the sides of the opening forthe wheel and would not let it comedown. I lengthened the guides out tocover the arch of the nose wheel forkas it travels up and that took care ofthe binding. It’s just something elseto check as you test your gear.

Hope to see a lot of you at Sun NFun. We will have to fly the Senecathere, but we are planning to havethe new XL at Oshkosh.

•••••

Letter from EuropeFrom Denis E Wood,West Essex, England

As this is our first letter toVelocity Views, we must begin bysaying how very lucky we think youbuilders are to be construction yourVelocitys in the USA, where you caneasily communicate with each otherand attend forums and workshops tohelp you on your way.

We are working very hard tobuild our Velocity 173 RG in a rentedhangar in Cannes in the south ofFrance. As far as we are aware, theonly other constructor in France isDr. Frederic Villard, who is workingaway in his garage near Geneva onthe French/Swiss border some 400miles away.

We follow the views expressedin Velocity Views with great interestand have adopted a number of“good ideas” put forward bybuilders – but we are very muchalone with no one in easy reach tosee how they solved a particularproblem, therefore the time taken tocomplete the various stages is twiceas long.

Duane and Scott are alwayshelpful and supportive, and, togetherwith Malcolm at Hangar 18, havesaved us many hours of “head-scratching,” but there is no substitutefor actually seeing how a fellow

Velocity Views 12 Volume 21

preload. Other reason for this designwas to keep servo low for interiorfinishing ease.

7. Our EAA tech advisor is JimPrice, the guy who holds an altituderecord in his Long Eze, and he gaveus this advise. Use soda straws overbrake lines on gear legs before slur-rying and glassing, then your linescan be slid in and out easily w/outincreasing the bump in your gear legby much. He also recommended

using elect. gyros for a couple of rea-sons - At higher altitudes vacuumgyros can lag. don’t have to worryabout foreign object damage (electunits are sealed). In our case don’thave to try to mount a vacuumpump on our V-8 auto engine and ifengine fails gyros will still work.

8. Sealing all gear openings onRG. Why, because Duane once toldme that the RG is actually louderthan a FG due to poorly sealed gearopenings on RG. Well, to seal thenose gear opening is fairly easy. Iused 2” dia.delron rod, machined itto same length as gear threw bolttube 4.225”, then drilled a 5/8” holethrew center, now a perpendicularhole threw the center using a 1.250”hole saw, now cut rod in two threw1.250” hole, now in order to get themto fit over gear threw bolt hole youmust cut slots for gusset plates (lookat photos to better understand).What we have done is increase thethrew bolt tube OD size from 5/8 to2”. This allows opening to be sealed

4. We relocated the gear dumpvalve to pilot side and plumbed intees above and below valve for hiand low pressure taps.

5. We added a second oilite bear-ing to the outside of the control stick.(See photos) This idea I got from Tim

England. It’s not that the old systemwas unsafe, we were just trying toeliminate future control system slop.It was made of 1 X 6 X .125 alum.plate that was bent so stick has fullmotion, then drilled for bearing topress in. Jamnut/inner bearing racewas made from 1/2-13 boltw/threads turned off down to ID ofbearing pressed into alum., thendrilled threw center and tapped toact also as jamnut for bolt threw con-trol stick. Alum. welded to tubeusing assemble as fixture.

6. The roll trim system seemedprone to maintenance and lacked aposition indicator plus Dave Blacksmod. got me thinking. Our systemuses a Mac 8a servo, some 3/8 stain-less tube I had, and 2” delron rod Ihad. (See photo) You move hoseclamps on rod to adjust system

born and the kit was purchasedunder that name. As the lawyers say,you have to limit your liability. Godforbid the day the our plane crashesand hurts someone on the ground,but if it happens we did not want tosee our wives and children strippedof everything.

2. Glassing, living in a northernclimate a heat gun is a necessity.Sand, vacuum area, acetone wipebond area, paint area w/resin,wetout glass on plastic, use heat guncarefully to promote cure till almosttacky, stick glass in place, stipplewith brush and heatgun and all diffi-cult lay-ups become easy with noruns drips or errors.

3. There has been a lot said aboutRG nose gear door sequence valvelocation and the best solution to mewas in V.V. a while ago and it worksgreat. The plumbing is a little harder,if you pre make all your lines rightbefore you mount your console it’snot too bad. Our valve is bolted to thepilot side of the console on the bottomof the wooden pad for the forwardcontrol stick bearing and activated bythe arm that the over center gas strutbolts to. (See photos) Also you canextend the arm that the gas strut boltsto, to increase its mechanical advan-tage. (See drawing 1)

Velocity Views131st Quarter 2000

off squarely by adding glass in con-sole to come out to delron then coverglass w/smooth side of velcro to actas sealing media. Simple, right?Inside of console was painted whiteto better identify hydraulic leaks ifthey occur.

Main gear was sealed by cutting3/4 plywood into disks w/hole incenter for main gear bolt to go threwto allow bolt to used to clamp disks

on both sides of gear leg, centered onbolt hole. Disk dia depends on dis-tance from bolt center to transversebulkhead above. ours was 2.75radius. Then duct tape disks and boltto gear legs and fill semicirclew/micro balloon slurry. File slurryafter cure down to disks the removedisks. Then do the same for the lowerside. (See photos)

9. Since Dan and I intend to flyinto the mountains to sSki often, oneway I thought to reduce take off dis-tance in cases of a cross wind and toadd safety in case of a brake failurewas to make the nose wheel steerableso on takeoffs you do not have to tapthe brakes. One thing I always try toremember is that all of us building aVelocity are doing so because wethink pretty highly of the plane andso when doing any modification youalways have to ask yourself am Idoing it to make the plane truly bet-ter or just to make it unique or per-sonalized. So in design I did notwant to loose the ability to have thenose wheel free spin for ease of hand

taxiing in and out of the hangar orwherever. So first I had the topsquare part of the nose wheel casterturned down to 2.5”, then I bought a3” dia. alum. tube w/a .250 wall, giv-ing a 2.5”ID. I made a spring loadedpin system that when the pin ispulled out 1/4-20 threads are cut onend so turning pin when pulled outlocks pin out allowing hand taxiing.3” tube rotates on nose fork. Whenreleased pin engages into hole drilledinto fork. Tube is rotated by 1/16cable (rudder cable) that wraps tubein a slot and is anchored to tube infront cable then make a sweepingturn to top of gear through a bikecable sleeve through my 2” delronblocks and then over the top of theblocks inside the plane so that whenthe gear retracts the springs thatreact rudder pedal movement intowheel movement are relaxed so inflight the pedal effort is normal. Withthis mod nose wheel guides insidethe nose are Mandatory. (See photo8) I really do not want to be morespecific until it’s tested but I thoughtmaybe some of you are like me inthat sometimes the original ideamight escape me but once shown thelight I can think of many ways topossibly improve it and really enjoybrainstorming it with others.

Velocity Views 14 Volume 21

effort. Then we attached the door gasspring and everything went to hell.The gas spring, due to poor mechani-cal advantage on the door (too closeto hinge point), flexes the tabs thehinges are attached to, and bows theroof up enough to place the latchpins out of alignment and rotate thedoor back to the point that it wouldrub on the rear of the opening. Aftertalking to Scott we reinforced ourdoors with carbon fiber, and createda 1/2” foam/carbon fiber beamacross top of fuselage just outboardof hinge attachment. After all this itwas latchable but not right. So I bitthe bullet and started playing withdifferent gas springs and differentpoints of attachment and what Icame up with works great and I amsure with this location we would nothave to reinforce anything. The ideacame from pictures of a Lancair 300in AOPA. The gas spring nowmounts high on the carbon beam (seephotos) to a 1” x 1/4” x 2” long pieceof aluminum (see drawing) thatslides into a slot cut in beam so

run actuator parallel to canard bulk-head so that area under RBH couldbe used for storage. Area is sealedusing door weather stripping. (Seephotos Thanks Dave for writing inVelocity Views; it’s made our planebetter.

11. The Elite doors. The Swingscreated one of the easiest planes toget into and out of with this doorsystem, and their factory plane doorswork pretty well. But after creatingthe openings, seal lips, and attachingthe hinges our doors opened well. Sowe bonded all the latch tubes inplace and the doors latched andunlatched beautifully, almost no

10. Dave Black’s article on theRBH came just in time for us, but,like I said, he showed the light but Idid not want any screws showinglike Duane brought up, so ouranswer was to hinge it in front bymaking hinges the same as with thenose gear doors – but larger – and tolock it down by using 2 door pinsand tubes under windshield thatspring out into nylon tubes glassedto RBH. Pull a rod at the top of thedash and a gas strut opens hatch. Weplan on storing O2 bottles there,Duane told me how to just rotatetrim spring rearward, flip it over and

Velocity Views151st Quarter 2000

aluminum can be screwed withcounter sunk screw to forward faceof beam. It could also be bonded butso far it seems very strong. You wantcenter of threaded hole for mountingball 3/4” off side face of beam.Height of slot in beam is determinedafter mounting tab in door, attachinggas spring to door, then open doorso that outer door lip to sill dimen-sion is 52 3/4” (look at fig.11-25 inmanual). Rotate cyl. past beam andcut slot to place ball 3/4” inboard ofbeam on this radius. The doormounting point is a slot centered 8 1/2” above upper latch pin and 11 1/2” down from upper door stiff-ener. It is about a 1/2” higher thanball mounted in the beam on the oldsystem. This slot runs parallel tostiffener but rear edge of slot shouldbe at least 1/4” forward from edge,otherwise cyl. will hit seal edge.This alum. tab is 1” x 1/4” x 2” longalso, but instead of being screwed init is potted in with micro-balloon. Idrilled a 7/16 hole through tab atend bedded in slurry and it alsoappears to be very strong. On door,mount tab so threads on mountingball just clear stiffener; this lessensovercenter problems. With this sys-tem gas spring is closer to beamwhen the door is closed, and out ofthe way completely when the door isopen. When closing, the last 2-4” areover-center meaning the door gas

spring just starts to push the doorclosed. This could lesson chances ofdoors opening in flight. When open-ing, after about 15-20” the dooropens itself with a 60# gas spring.Scott sent me 30# gas springs andthey just hold the door open, andwhen using the 60# gas springs thedoor latches great and this systemcounteracts the weight of the doorthat is forward of the hinges. Some ofthe pictures show the factory systemand mine to show the differentangles and the better mechanicaladvantage. I also changed the doorhinge screws so that they screw infrom inside the plane, no screwsthrough the outside of the roof. Cuthinge pockets the same then slurryfoam and apply only 2 plys fine bidlapping recess and surroundinginner skin, then glue door in place,hot glue 3/16” spacers in recesses,then glue loose hinge end to spacer,be sure spacer does not cover holesin hinge, cover lower side of hingewith clear release tape (hinge shouldalready have #21 holes drilled butnot tapped), then glass 5 plies 7x7triax over hinge lapping onto fuse-lage. When cured shine a light fromabove and mark hole locations anddrill carefully. Break door open andremove tap hinges with 10-32 anddrill triax with about .200” drill.Reinstall door using stainless 10-32screws. After fitting remove doorand glass over both with 7x36 triax,this reinforces dripedge/seal areaalso. Again shine light and drill andyour done. You now have awater/air tight hinge attachment thatcan allow minor adjustment of door,uses stronger screws, and has noscrews to look bad on the outside ofyour airplane.

12. Installing fuel bulkheads andbaffles. I used pieces of wood (2x4x3)hot glued to strake bottom, two perbulkhead/baffle, so that for fittingthey could be slid in and out easilyalways going back in the same spot.This made fitting the top strake easybecause I was able to slide almost allin and out through wheel well open-ing without removing top strake.(See photo) We also installed therear fuel bulkhead (I) and the out-

board (B) and center (D) strake ribsdifferently. First we hot glued therear bulkhead in place with duct tapeon lower edge, then we laid up thelower 2 fine bid onto lower strakeand tape on rear fuel bulkhead. Aftercure remove bulkhead, next draw aline on upper strake where rear fuelbulkhead runs along it, then applyduct tape to upper strake 1 1/2” for-ward of line and all the way to rearof upper strake. Now cut 2 fine bidthe length of your rear bulkhead andwide enough so it can lap onto centersection spar and about an inch for-ward of rear bulkhead. Ours was5x10x44 long. Paint top of spar, wetout glass, when tacky apply lay-up tospar, install strake top, then threwgear hole or threw side of fuselageapply drooping lay-up to top oftaped strake and let cure. Removeupper strake, fit rear bulkhead inplace under last layup and trace for-ward edge onto upper layup. Now Iused foam trimmings from bulkheadmaterial but strips of wood wouldalso work, just tape the rear side andhot glue to upper lay-up to simulatetop of rear bulkhead. You have tosupport end of foam or wood out atwing end other wise it will droop.Now fill gap between bottom of sparand lay-up with thick mirco-glassand cab-o mixture and glass overwith 2 fine bid from the bottom ofthe upper surface of the spar acrossfill, then out and down on tape sur-face forming upper surface for rearbulkhead to bond to. Now after curefit in outboard and center strake ribsbehind upper and lower formededges and glass in place. Use woodwith tape on rear face hot glued toupper and lower edges to form lay-ups that will bond later to rear fuelbulkhead. Last step is to mix upmicro-glass and epoxy, spread ontoall edges, and press rear bulkhead in

Velocity Views 16 Volume 21

Newsletter...Please Help!Publishing a newsletter withsuch a small subscriberbase is quite a challenge.Keeping cost (and hoursspent) down are important.Here are two things that youcan do to help VelocityViews:

• Renew on time!When you renew late, youcause me all sorts of extrawork, as I now need toprocess each late renewalby hand. There is now a $5late charge fee forrenewals that come in afterDecember 31, 1999.

• Pay by check...Creditcard option is only for inter-national subscribers (tomake currency exchangeeasy). The time it takes toprocess credit cards is veryvery inefficient and costly.

place and let cure. Apply bid tapes toupper and lower forward surfaces ofrear bulkhead and you’re done. Younow have a very strong box structurethat has a large bond area for topstrake installation that should notleak and there is no need to flip overthe plane and to try to do those lay-ups from the ends.

13. Oil cooler. We are using an allalum. small block chevy engine andauto engine. I would recommendusing the factory oil cooler system.Oil can easily account for 50% andmore of your cooling on autos so thisway you get cabin heat and can shiftuseful wt. to the nose and use less

radiator and water in the rear, plus Ihave a clean way to draw airthrough the oil cooler on the groundusing a 3” bilge blower that in flightleaves the exit duct open. The side ofthe duct with the short turn radiushas to be squared off so that a newflapper door can be installed that cancompletely close off the exit so theblower can draw a negative pressurein the exit duct when on the ground.The blower is used as ducting fromexit duct through canard bulkheadthen into the keel, that is used as aheating plenum.

14. Propeller speed reductionunit. We worked with Aero Kineticsin Wa. (360-458-8775) for our Morsechain reduction unit. He makes thehousings and you supply chain andbearings, and, in our case, the inputshaft. We wanted a torsion isolatorand he said if we supplied the inputshaft and the torsion plate he wouldbuild the rest. The assembled unitturned out nice after I did quite a bitof sanding and some painting. The

shaft offset seems perfect at 6.9”. Thisis almost 3” shorter than NorthwestAero’s belt reduction. This will helpget the oil pan out of the lower cowlalong with raising the prop centerline 2” like Scott recommended, simi-lar to the XL. We are also using a 123/4 dia. flywheel instead of a 14”.Everything to clean up the lowercowl counts. (See photo) Engine isonly for mockup.

That’s all for now, if you havetrouble understanding any of thisyou can E-mail me at majomlry@aol.com or call me at home at(248)366-7951. Just remember this isEST time zone.

•••••

Velocity Views171st Quarter 2000

Factory Information

Velocity Inc.Factory & Home Office:

200 W Airport RdSebastian FL 32958 USAPh: 561-589-1860Builders Hot Line:561-589-0309Fax: 561-589-1893

Internet web site:http://www.velocityaircraft.comE-mail address:anyone@velocityaircraft.com

Buy Sell or TradeVelocity parts, tools, kits, flying

Velocitys: Free and exclusive to Velocity Views Subscribers.

Velocity 173 RG-XL KitFor sale

About one-third to one-half com-pleted. Excellent workmanship bymy deceased husband, Bill. Allparts except engine, prop andinstruments.$42,000.00 OBOCall Elaine Luedke in Arizona at520-684-9137

For Sale 340 HP “Performance Aero” IO540Engine

Complete engine, competition win-ner, a “zero” tolerance engine onall dimensions. Critical to perfor-mance and reliability. In worksnow - available March 1st 2000$5,000 deposit, $28,000 + shipping -more details, call or fax LynnSwann, San Dimas, CA909-592-2700

For SaleM-T prop (hydraulic)

for Velocity XLMTV-9-B/LD178-102 3 blade prop,p-622 spinner assembly brand newfrom MT and still in the originalform received from the MT assem-bly factory in Orlando$9495 plus shipping from FLContact Frank Brockfrankb@eapi.com or 513.794.1970,Cincinnati OH

FOR SALEVelocity Standard RG Kit(Fully upgradable to Elite)Serial number DMO-202

Kit purchased April 1993Canard/elevators completed toprimerWings/winglets/rudders/anten-nas glassed; ailerons not startedFuselage/strakes/gear untouched(fully upgradable to Elite with fac-tory-available components)Meticulous engineer workmanshipEpoxy pump & aircraft toolsincludedDetailed photo documentationNew manuals; All issues of VV

This is the most inexpensive quasi “fast-build” kit you’ll find.Price fully negotiable; you’ll save enough to pay for your engine.Let’s make a deal.

Gary ClarkMcMinnville (MMV), Oregon541/715-0748gary.clark@viclink.com

For Sale: Chevy 4.3 AluminumBlock & Heads.

Block is 4” bore, 2 piece rear mainseal, wet sump, about 78 lbs com-pared to Iron at 160 lbs, never beenused. Also V-6 alum. heads, oldersmall port, large valve 2.02 & 1.60,part#14044802. Perfect for hightorque at low RPM. $2400 Call Billat (248)366-7951 or E-mail atmajomlry@aolBloomfield Mi.

For SaleExperienced Tip-Over Cradle

173 Fixed or RG$50.00 at Osprey, FLCall Burt Kellerman at 941-966-9575 or burtvelo@home.com

PRINCE PROPELLER, 68 X 72 for180H PUSHER,70 HOURS,REPAINTED,$500.AMAR DEMUTH PROP 66 X 75FOR 180H PUSHER, 100 HR,REPAINTED,$500.Contact Tim Troyer at ph (309) 264-9480 or SKYRI10397@aol.com

Builders HOT LINEPlease remember that on weekends,and after hours, we do not answerthe 561-589-1860 phone number.Our unlisted builders hot line is561-589-0309 and if we are here,this is the only number we willanswer. We are working on anadditional revolving number forthis hot line to eliminate the busysignals you get on certain days.

P l a c e your ad here... FREE to allcurrent subscribers selling parts,tools, kits, & flying Velocitys. Yourad will run once per submission.See last page for deadlines. Pleasedo not type text in all caps!

Velocity Views 18 Volume 21

You have built a modern aircraft, now install amodern instrument! Fly a safe, accurate approachspeed regardless of weight. Prototype installed onfactory “XL” in ‘97.

For more information: www.riteangle.comor write EM aviation, 13411 N E Prairie Rd,

Brush Prairie WA 98606

CustomInstrument Panel

DesignBy Treasure Coast Avionics

Specializing in Velocity Elite & XL Models

2974 Aviation Way, Ft. Pierce, FL 34946PH: 561/464-3148 FAX: 561/464-3197

www.treasurecoastavionics.comFAA CRS# YHLR983K

R i t e A n g l e™

Angle ofAttack Systems

By EM aviation

AIRCRAFT SPRUCE WEST225 Airport Circle,Corona, CA 91720

1-800-824-1930 FAX: 1-714-372-0555

EngineAccessories

O ur 1999-2000 catalog outline s over 30,000 parts for certificated andexperimental aircraft that are stocked and ready to ship from our tworegional warehouses. One stop shopping and guaranteed lowest prices

saves you valuable time and money! Our-576 page catalog contains descriptions,illustrations and prices for composite materials, steel and aluminum sheet metaland tubing, hardware, airframe and engine parts, instruments, avionics, tools, pilots u p p l i e s . . . EVERYTHING FOR AIRPLANE & PILOT!

Order your free copy of the new 1999-2000 Aircraft Spruce catalog today! ($15 for mailing to International locations.)

★★ ★★

C o m p o s i t eT o o l s

AIRCRAFT SPRUCE EAST900 S. Pinehill Rd.Griffin, GA 30223

1-800-831-2949FAX: 1-770-229-2329

SpinnerAssemblies &Components

Exhaust Systems

Instruments

Pilot Supplies

Avionic

www: http://www.aircraft-spruce.com • e-mail: info@aircraft-spruce.com

CompositeMaterials

AIRCRAFT SPRUCE & S P E C I A LTY CO.

www.polyfiber.com

Fill pinholesfa s t e r, easier, safe r

. . . b e t t e r !

Smooth Prime is a waterborne urethaneprimer that gets way down into thosenasty pinholes in your fiberglass finishand fills them.

• Won’t shrink, stays extremely flexible

• Rolls-on (saves weight) or sprays on

• Sands quickly to a super smooth finish• No fumes, toxic chemicals or

flammable solvents

• Cleans up with plain water• Part of a new total composite finishing

system, “Flight Gloss”

800-362-3490

CALL 863-709-9714 • FAX 863-709-1414www.gulf-coast-avionics.com

FAA Approved Repair Station # UB4R564M3650 Drane Field Rd. • Lakeland Linder Regional Airport • Lakeland, Florida 33811

NO ONE DOES CUSTOMVELOCITY PANELS

LIKE GULF COAST AVIONICS!

Gulf Coast Avionics offers complete panel build-up and pre-wiring for Velocity builders. With our experience, knowledge, and technical expertise, we can work with youto deliver a built-up panel to your specifications, ready toinstall. Call us today for complete details on a custom panelfor your Velocity. We are the experts!

Velocity Views191st Quarter 2000

Not enough hours in your day?Need help building your Velocity?

ADVANCED COMPOSITETECHNOLOGIES

Call us at (814) 445-3802

Experienced Velocity builders on staff, offering sub-assembly and builder assistance. Competitive laborrates. We also offer many minor modifications thatenhance future maintenance and servicability. Callfor our brochure and references.

Serving homebuilders and pilots since 1981

Marketplace Advertising Info

Commercial vendors wishing to place anad in the Velocity Marketplace (includesad on the internet web site) should contactRick Lavoie by:

E-mail: rick@lavoiegraphics.comfax: 904-461-3146

voice: 904-461-6912

http://exp-aircraft.com

Phone: 970-224-4404

Fax: 970-224-4404 or

603-806-1259

E-mail: franklin@ezlink.com

www.ezlink.com/`franklin

136 Racquette Dr., Fort Collins, CO 80524Your #1 source for Factory New PZL/Franklin AircraftEngines, replacement parts and accessories for certi-fied and experimental aircraft. Magnetos, carburetors,starters, alternators, propellers, governors, vacuumpumps, etc. Knowledgeable technical staff with over25 years experience in the aviation industry.

• Aircraft Guide • Classified Ads• Helpful Links • Library of Articles• Aviation Marketplace

We need your input for thisn e w s l e t t e r !

• Builder Forum Input• First Flight Photos• First Flight Stories• Velocity Flying Adventures• Velocity Fly-in SuggestionsSend your photos / stories toRick Lavoie for the next newsletter!

Index of Past Articles fromVelocity Views NewsletterAvailable as a “PDF” file

Go to:http://lavoiegraphics.comAt the home page, click on “VelocityViews Newsletter”, then click on“Download Files”. You will need toread the directions for downloadingand using a PDF file to obtain“Index of Articles: vvindex.pdf”

Hundreds of people have successful-ly downloaded this file, so if you arehaving a problem, please re-read thedirections.

Velocity Viewsis published Quarterly by:

Lavoie Graphics26 Marshview Dr

St. Augustine, FL 32084-5873Rick Lavoie,Editor904-461-3146 (fax)

e-mail: rick@lavoiegraphics.com

Velocity Views newsletter ispublished by Rick Lavoie / LavoieGraphics as an agent for VelocityInc. (the factory). Prior to printing,the factory reviews each volumepublished for accuracy.

Velocity Views newsletter mate-rial has been supplied voluntarilyfrom the Velocity Factory,Builders, & Vendors. This materialis printed for informational pur-poses only. Opinions expressed arethose of the author. LavoieGraphics & Rick Lavoie do notendorse and are not liable for thecontents of such material. Use ofthis material is at your own risk.Any variance from the factoryplans is a high risk endeavor. Anycontemplated modificationsshould be reviewed and approvedby Velocity Inc.

Velocity Views is a Trademark ofLavoie Graphics

Copyright © 1994 - 2000 LavoieGraphics All Rights Reserved.

No part may be reproduced or trans-lated, stored in a database or retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form byelectronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording, or other means, except asexpressly permitted by the publisher.

Rick Lavoie, Newsletter Editor26 Marshview DrSt. Augustine FL 32084-5873 FORWARD & ADDRESS CORRECTION

FIRST CLASS

• 2000 Calendar YearSubscription (Volumes 21-24):The annual cost is $35.00 for mail-ing addresses within the UnitedStates. For all other mailingaddresses, the cost is $43.00 in USfunds (covers air mail & specialhandling).

All subscriptions are sold on acalendar year basis. New sub-scribers joining mid year will beprovided with back issues forthat calender year.• Back Issues 1995 thru 1999 areavailable for sale at $35.00 peryear in US funds. Specify theyear(s) you want when orderingback issues.• Renewals: Look at the top ofyour mailing label for the finalvolume number your subscrip-tion covers.Simply mail a check to RickLavoie each year to keep yournewsletter coming.

Subscriptions

Listed below are 4 options forsubmitting your text. Do not typeyour text in all caps. Please send usphotos and drawings too!1) Send it on a 3-1/2” computer disk(Mac or DOS). This saves us from re-typing all that text. Don’t formatyour text, just give us raw text, withno underlining, bold, or any othertype of formats. We also can take Zip100 disks.2) E-Mail your text file to me:rick@lavoiegraphics.com and pleasedon’t type in all caps.3) If you don’t have access to a com-puter, then we can scan in yourtyped page.4) If you print neatly so we can readit clearly, we’ll type it on our com-puter for you!Note: If you need your photos &materials returned, please include aself addressed envelop.

“Paid thru Vol ?” on your labelindicates the final volume yoursubscription covers.

Credit Card payment is available forInternational subscribers only.When paying with Master Card/Visa, be sure to include the following,printed clearly:• Name as it appears on your Card.• Credit card number• Expiration Date• Master Card or Visa?NOTE: On your statement, thecharge will be processed in thename of Lavoie Graphics

Delivery DatesQuarter: Mailed by:1st January 15th2nd April 15th3rd July 15th4th October 15th

Submission DeadlinesQuarter: Mail Date:1st December 1st2nd March 1st3rd June 1st4th September 1st