January 4, 2025 - Hanging the RV10 Engine
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Saturday was the engine hanging party day, so Friday was spent getting everything ready. First thing to do: get the engine out of the box.
Here Nhu-An looks inside the box for the first time.
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The box lifts off from the pallet. All you have to do is remove the staples holding the box to the pallet.
Here we go....
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| It's done! |
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| There were three boxes stored next to the engine. |
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| Nhu-An looks under the pastic sees her RV-10 engine for the first time. |
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She likes it!
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The O540 is different from my O360 in that you have to bolt on the four mount brackets. We did the top two. The bottom two will be done when the engine is suspended in air.
The O540 is also different in that it has two "hooks" instead of just the one on my O360.
There is one other, minor, difference. The O540 has six cylinders instead of the O360s four.
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Because of the two hooks, Nhu-An bought this engine hoist leveler from Harbor Freight for $40. It was perfect for the job.
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| She also bought these "bullets" to help with the installation. We couldn't figure out how to get them in the long mount cup and ended up not needing them anyways. |
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A good look at the new O540 engine with top mount brackets installed and torqued. (But before putting torque seal on them).
Notice the oil dip stick left of center -- also different than what I am used to.
As you can see, this engine has fuel injection and uses two E-Mags for ignition.
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| We dusted off the firewall, and attached the oil cooler. We are ready to hang the engine! |
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The next morning, Saturday, was cold and windy. No matter, the engine will be hung.
Right away, we ran into a challenge. The engine hoist rollers would not fit under the pallet which was resting on some dollys. We solved this problem by using a little bottle jack to jack up the pallet enough to remove the dollys and replace them with cinder blocks and wood blocks. Then we were able to get the engine hoist rollers under the pallet. Then we were able to lift the engine. As you can see, the engine hoist leveler was perfect for the job. It even has a screw mechanism to adjust the tilt of the engine.
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| There wasn't enough room in the hangar to hang the engine with the doors closed. So we opened the doors and let in the cold. |
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We hoisted the engine high enough so Nhu-An could attach the bottom mount brackets.
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| Then it was time for lunch. Chuck hosted an engine hanging lunch party in his, heated, hangar where a nice spread was laid out. Check out his new propane-gas stove. |
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The menu featured gourmet hamburgers with all the fixins, including carmelized onions.
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| Enjoying a delicious lunch. |
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Then it was back to work. This picture shows one of the bottom mount brackets.
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We decided to attach the Monkworkz backup alternator -- actually, it's a generator -- before hanging the engine. It's an easy install, fitting into the vacuum pump pad. Well, tightening the notorious lower left nut is not easy, but Mark finally got it done with a 90-degree wrench.
The little Monkworkz generator puts out 30 Amps!
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| Finally, it was time to mount the beast. We rolled the engine hoist up to the plane. |
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| Our plan was to do the top mounts first, then the bottom. |
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| Having fun! |
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Not sure what I am doing here.
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| Maneuvering the engine into position. |
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We were able to get the top tow Barry Mounts in but just barely with the nuts -- no washer -- only tightened a couple of turns.
Amy, who is an A&P and works on Maryland State Police helicopters was a major player. This is her fifth engine install, after a 172, Cherokee, and RV-8 (twice). Mark, at right on the otherside of the hoodie, who built an Oshkosh award-winning RV-8, was also a major player.
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| We had to raise and lower the engine a little, but with the hoist and with the hoist leveler. |
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| Then we were able to get the two lower Barry Mounts installed. This time we got the washers on, and were able to tightened the nuts properly. |
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| With the lower mounts done, we revisited the upper mounts, took the nuts off, put the washers on, and then put the nuts back on. We tightened all four nuts, everything looked good, so we went ahead and torqued the nuts to the proper setting for an AN-7 bolt. And that was that. It took less than an hour. |
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The happy crew after the successful engine hanging.
Left to right: Moi, Amy, Mark, Gunnar the airport dog, Nhu-An, Charlie, Brian, Amy's boyfriend, Don.
The O-540 doesn't look so big now that is attached to that big RV-10.
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The happy owner.
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It was really windy today, but nevertheless Brian and Charlie both towed banners in the Chickenhawk -- the 172 pictured below -- prior to the Baltimore Ravens football game.
It was an amazing sight to see the 172 dive towards the banner pickup poles, then pull up sharply, into the strong winds. I've never seen a 172 climb at such a steep angle. The Chickenhawk simply levitated upwards. Heading towards M&T Bank Stadium, into the wind, towing the draggy banner, Brian said his groundspeed was down to 18 kts at one point, so slow that the transponder stopped working because it thought he was on the ground!
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| A cold, blustery day at Essex Skypark. |
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