I received my Whirlwind 200RV prop on schedule. I got it as part of the VAF group buy last spring. Very nice looking. I had a non-blended airfoil Hartzell on the RV-8 and it was fine, but I’m expecting to like this one even more.
I’ve been using LogShare as a pilot logbook for a couple years now. It’s a nice, basic, logbook and until recently free. But now it’s use has been rolled into a Weathermeister subscription, which I have, but I don’t maintain a paid status since my flights are few and far between while I’m building the RV-7. So without paying for Weathermeister again, I can’t log additional flights to LogShare. I can’t blame the owner of LogShare for doing this. He has no obligation to give LogShare away free forever. But, the fact that this change was made without warning to LogShare users seems a little “impolite”. Without a current backup, or help from another paying WeatherMeister user, LogShare users are not even able to export existing data. It doesn’t seem right.
Anyway, I had a recent backup, and another user captured a complete export for me, so after a bit of scrambling I had all my log entries. Where to now? I searched the tubes and found several possible options. I was looking for a free web-based logbook with currency reminders. Those specs narrowed the field considerably. I ended up going with Zululog. It has four different levels of service, the basic one being free. This level doesn’t provide data import though which was a potential show-stopper. Then I saw a coupon code on their web site for a free 3-month trial of the Platinum level, which does allow imports. Perfect.
I had to manipulate the format of my LogShare data a little to be compatible with the ZuluLog import, but after a little tweaking, one false start (user error), and some prompt email support from Roger at ZuluLog, all my data was in, including the most recent flight that prompted the change to begin with. So far, so good. Thanks ZuluLog!
I liked the Infinity grip in our RV-8, so I am going to do the same in the RV-7. I fit it to the stick after cutting off 3.75″, so the overall length of the stick is unchanged. The switches behind the blue and green buttons were swapped to match what I had on the RV-8 (on/off vs momentary). I put a 5/16″ socket in the vertical lathe (drill press) and machined down to .41″ diameter to get to the nut on each switch. Later, I’ll consolidate all ground wires inside the grip to minimize size of wire bundle exiting the grip.
Several people have reminded me lately how much I suck at keeping this site updated. I have to admit it’s true, sometimes. Despite this, I have been making some progress on the plane.
I just upgraded this from a TruTrak ADI Pilot II to a DFII-VS a couple months ago. Now I sent it in for firmware updates and the latest screen, which is easier to read. Lots of changes to an autopilot that has yet to fly…
