Flight Training - September 2019 - 47

JARGON

Experimental

People often use the term "Experimental" interchangeably with "amateur-built," but this category
includes aircraft issued special airworthiness certificates for research and development, showing
compliance with regulations, crew training, exhibition, air racing, market surveys, or operating
amateur-built or certain Light Sport aircraft.

Detritus from the old instrument
panel is heaped in a corner of
the hangar during the avionics
upgrade. All of the AOPS Sweepstakes RV-10's original wiring
was replaced during the new
panel installation. It was a big,
complicated job that was streamlined by the "Advanced Control
Module" (ACM), a comprehensive
and unique power distribution
system that consolidates the
entire aircraft electrical system
in a single location. Flaps, trim,
autopilot, avionics, lights, and
other electronics are connected to
the ACM with pre-fabricated and
tested harnesses which eliminate
hundreds of failure-prone solder
connections. The result is a lighter,
simpler to operate, and self-diagnosing electrical system that's far
less time-consuming to install.

Benning gingerly adds full power and the RV-10 carrying
two people and a full 60 gallons of avgas smoothly accelerates
to its 65-knot rotation speed. With light back-pressure on the
floor-mounted control stick, we're airborne and climbing at
110 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS).
The ceiling and visibility are limitless, so the razor-sharp
delineation between blue sky and white ground is remarkable
in all directions.
Benning hands over the controls and I go through the
usual get-acquainted maneuvers: slow flight, stalls, steep
turns, and the full range of flap settings. The RV-10's thick
wing is incredibly benign with a gentle, power-off stall break
and slight left wing drop at just 48 KIAS. Normal cruise at 75
percent power was 172 knots true airspeed (KTAS) at 5,500
feet with fuel consumption of 11.5 gallons per hour. Economy
cruise at 65 percent power was 165 KTAS at 9.2 gph. Normal
approach speed at full gross weight is 75 KIAS.
The engine/prop combination is exceptionally smooth.
I brought an electrically heated jacket for what I expected
to be a cold and drafty cockpit but, perhaps not surprisingly,
this Canadian airplane was fitted with a highly effective
heater. In fact, I started to regret wearing a jacket at all.
After a few takeoffs and landings, there seemed no doubt
that this RV-10 was an excellent example of the versatile line
of Van's Aircraft designs that dominates the Experimental/
amateur-built market with more than 10,000 registered and

51 percent.

Portion of the aircraft that
an individual must build for
the aircraft to be registered in
the amateur-built category.
flying. That initial impression was confirmed the next day
when Benning and I made a short hop to Minot, North Dakota,
to clear U.S. Customs. Then we flew 1,350 wind-aided nautical
miles to Maryland in two legs that totaled seven flight hours.
Tucked away in a hangar at AOPA's home base in Frederick, Maryland, Benning patted the RV-10 on the cowl
and silently thanked it for helping him become a pilot, and
carrying him, his family, and friends on hundreds of hours of
memorable flights throughout their rugged homeland.
"I feel like the airplane just won the lottery," he said. "It's
a good airplane now. It'll be a great airplane when you're done
with it." FT
dave.hirschman@aopa.org
Learn more about AOPA's new sweepstakes RV-10: aopa.org/sweeps
AOPA.ORG/FT 47

http://www.aopa.org/sweeps http://www.AOPA.ORG/FT

Flight Training - September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - September 2019