Well, it’s time to do the first condition inspection on the RV-12. A lot of the work to be done has already been done as I did various repairs and upgrades, but nonetheless I’m going through the entire inspection from start to finish so I don’t miss anything.
Last night I started out by removing the external panels needed to do the inspection. Inspection covers, top and bottom cowl and the tail fairing all came off. I’ll do the wheel pants after the plane is up on the maintenance stands, which will be after I get a helper to help me pull the wings yet again. I pulled and inspected all eight spark plugs – no surprises there, they look fine with a little bit of lead deposits. No oil, no carbon, good color. I didn’t measure the gap but will do that before pitching them.
I measured the coolant hoses I’ll need to replace, and ordered what I hope are all of the firewall-forward parts I’ll need. This is not only the first condition inspection I’m doing, but also the 5-year point for the engine. Rotax specifies a lot of parts to replace at the 5-year mark. While these part replacements are not mandatory foe E-LSA, but I plan to do them in the interest of safety and reliability. I have ordered new conductive Teflon fuel lines, a new mechanical fuel pump, new coolant hoses, the 5-year carburetor replacement parts, etc. Today I’ll order the hose clamp tool I’ll need, as well as some upgrade parts I want to install during the annual.