Francis flew up from Birmingham to inspect the first (almost) complete RV-12 in Europe. He picked up a couple of workmanship issues. In particular, he thought the stabilitor cables were very close together as they disappeared under the seats. Subsequent inspection revealed the problem. I had originally got the cables 180 degrees out of sync so the stabilitor moved down when it should have moved up. An obvious problem, and quickly fixed by a 180 degree reorientation. In the wrong direction! I had the two cables wrapped around each other. To date I had not tensioned the cables so the seat floor could be removed, and the error was not obvious. Detailed examination with a torch and a very small inspection mirror (my wife works for a dentist ;-)) identified the problem.
Francis intends to raise the following points with Vans:
* design of the inspection panel in the fuel tank * sensitivity and strength of the AST assembly * requirement to remove the fuel tank for annual inspection * no drainage from carburettor drip trays
He also noted lateral movement of the wings (seal strip not yet in place) A little slack in the control stick (workmanship - ideally needs replacement bushing) A little stickiness in the flaperons at one extreme of travel (workmanship, not quite parallel tubes, a drilling inaccuracy I think).
Bottom line, he intends to issue a request to flight-test document, and has approved the use of our local examiner as a test pilot for the initial fligh(s).
