california wine country fly-in in this issue

Velocity Views14th Quarter 2001

In this issueCalifornia .........................1Events ...............................3Production News .............4

Split kit notice, Continentalengine, epoxy life, NewFaces, more

Factory News ...................6Brazilian wings, XLTrainer, Cooling, VGs,Matco brakes, more

Safety Corner ...................8Accident & IncidentReports and MaintenanceService Difficulties

Factory KPCs .................10Kit plans changes to keepyour manual up-to-date

Maintenance Notes ........11Mike shares maintenancerelated tips

A&P Talk .........................12Brendan talks aboutMaintenance FARs

CFI Notams.....................13Nathan’s suggestions forimproving flight safety inyour Velocity

Electric Buzz ..................14Avionics & Electrical Tipsfrom Wayne Lanza

Builder Forum ................15Tips, information & letters

Buy Sell or Trade ...........18Marketplace ....................19

Volume 28

Folks who live near the Sonomaand Napa County regions of north-ern California certainly have some-thing special. While the rest ofCalifornia baked in the summer heat,the airport at Santa Rosa, California,host location for the Second AnnualWest Coast Velocity Fly-In, was acomfortable 80 degrees with brightsunshine. Duane and Bonnie Swingand Scott Baker were on hand togreet about 35 Velocity owners,builders, and enthusiasts on bothSaturday and Sunday during theLabor Day weekend.

Finding the EAA Chapter 124facility on the “far side” of the airportproved to be an exercise in crosscountry (land) navigation ... but, oncethere, was an excellent location tohave the program. Many thanks go tothe good folks at Chapter 124 forallowing Velocity, Inc. the opportuni-ty to use their meeting rooms, picnictables and BBQ grilles.

Duane and Scott fired-up thecharcoal grilles and cooked up BBQ

chicken and hot dogs for everyone onSaturday. We are still trying to figureout how 35 people managed to eat 70 meals ... it must have been onehungry crowd!

Sebastiani Vineyards in down-town Sonoma was the scene of awine tour, tasting and picnic dinneron Saturday. Though the wine tastingbuilding was closed for renovations,the hospitality folks at Sebastiani dida wonderful job of dressing up asecluded picnic area, complete withwine bar, which included a wideselection of Sebastiani wines. Withglasses in hand we toured nearbyvineyards and listened with interestto our host who spoke about the win-ery and how grapes were grown toproduce the special wines from thisregion. After a gourmet picnic dinner(it really was delicious!), we wereinvited to browse through an areawhere Sebastiani wines were storedand to purchase wines direct fromthe winery.

Continued on next page

California Wine Country Fly-inBy Scott Baker

Velocitites gathered for the

California“Wine Country”

Fly-In on Sept. 2nd & 3rd

at the Santa Rosaairport.

Velocity Views 2 Volume 28

Wine Country Fly-incontinued from page 1

On Sunday we heard from BobVan de Wille, who is an exceptional-ly talented graphic artist who hasbeen involved in the development ofseveral Velocity paint schemes. Bobpresented hand-outs for the paintschemes of David Karas’ XL-RG(David conducted his first-flight ofhis aircraft about 3 weeks ago and iscurrently in the Phase I fly-off), andof the new factory XL FG (see photoat bottom of this page). Van de Wille

Bob Van de Walle talks about Velocity paint schemes at theWine Country Velocity Fly-In

New factory XL FG paint scheme by Bob Van de Walle

is able to work with you by tele-phone and email - and is able todevelop a custom paint scheme (inmost instances) in less than 4 hours.If you are wondering just what paintscheme to choose for your Velocity,you might want to give Bob a call forinspiring ideas. Contact Bob Van de Wille at: [email protected].

Big “thank you’s” go to TimCrawford and Doug Shell, who flewtheir Velocity aircraft to the program.Brendan was delayed by weatherand many people were beginning to

wonder if there was such a thing as a“flying” Velocity. Because of variouscircumstances, all 6 of the nearbyVelocity aircraft were unavailable toattend the fly-in. We are especiallythankful to Tim and Doug for havingtheir aircraft on display.

A special thank you also toDavid Karas for volunteering a lot of his time and energy to help coor-dinate the fly-in. David, your timeand efforts are greatly appreciated!

••••

Doug and Jean Shell proudly display plaques recognizingtheir First Prize award for their Velocity at the Fresno Fly-In.

Tony Babb fantasizes about his newly purchasedVelocity Standard FG


Velocity Ground Schoolat Sacramento

Velocity, Inc. recently hosted aground school training program atMather Field in Sacramento,California. Velocity instructorsBrendan O’Riordan and Scott Bakerconducted the program, whichincluded instruction in aircraft sys-tems, a review of operating limita-tions, check lists and pre-flightinspections, and weight and balanceexercises. Those who complete thecourse now meet the insurance com-pany requirements for the groundschool portion of the Velocity FlightTransition Training Program (facto-ry check-out). The program atMather was a first-time program toexamine the merits of offering flightand ground school training in aregional setting, making it more con-venient for Velocity customers toreceive training close-to-home.Based on the enthusiasm of thosewho attended the class inSacramento, we hope to offer moreregional programs in the future. Theflight-training portion of the pro-gram was postponed due to the latedate that the new XL-Fixed Geartraining aircraft emerged from the

Phil Hooper and Tony Babb inspect anF-16 on display at a local flight museum

paint shop. Stay tuned for a schedul-ing announcement as to when wewill return to the western region tooffer this important training.

••••

EventsAirVenture Oshkosh 2001

What beautiful weather! Forthose who did not attend Oshkoshthis year, you missed what manywere reporting as the best air showweather in years. No rain, tolerabletemperatures, a gentle breeze formuch of the day – lots of aircraft tosee, great air show performances …just another day in aircraft paradise!

Velocity, Inc. was in attendancewith the showing of the factory SUV,and Wes and Becky Roses’ beautifulXL-RG on static display at theVelocity tent. Doug Shell christenedhis XL-RG with a long cross-countryflight from Fresno, California toOshkosh – and then graciouslyallowed Velocity to show his aircraftfor several days. Brendan O’Riordanand Nathan Rigaud performeddemonstration rides using an XL-RGbelonging to Marty Horowitz (again,thanks Marty!) from the Fond du LacAirport.

About 100 Velocity owners,builders, and enthusiasts attendedthe Velocity Dinner. Duane Swingspoke briefly on the latest “happen-ings” at Velocity, which included theannouncement that Velocity hopedto begin an engine/propeller devel-opment program in cooperation withJabiru Aircraft. We hope to installtheir new 8-cylinder, 200 hp enginein the SUV in combination with anew composite 4-blade, variablepitch propeller. Duane also hintedthat there might be a twin-Velocitycoming up in the not too distantfuture.

There were no winners in thePhoto Contest. What was hoped tobe a great gathering of photographsturned out to be a big disappoint-

ment. Only one builder bothered tosend a few snapshots. Perhaps someother day …

It was great to reunite withVelocity friends and catch up on thelatest building developments. Itsounds like quite a few Velocity aircraft will be making first-flights inthe coming year!

Virginia EAA Fly-In

Velocity recently attended theVirginia State EAA Fly-In hosted atthe Dinwiddie County Airport inPetersburg. This was a first-timeevent for Velocity and we werepleasantly surprised at the level ofactivity and interest. Velocity hadplanned to bring two aircraft to theprogram, but the SUV was blockedby bad weather in northern Floridathat persisted throughout the event.Lots of folks saw the Velocity XL-RGup-close – and as always, the com-ments were most favorable! Look forVelocity to attend the Virginia pro-gram next year!

A special thanks goes to JackSheehan for volunteering to helphost the Velocity area. Jack lives inthe Yorktown area and is presentlybuilding a XL-RG.

Northwest Regional EAAFly-In

Number three in size behindOshkosh and Sun ‘n Fun is theNorthwest Regional EAA Fly-In,which is hosted at Arlington Airport(just north of Seattle, Washington).Velocity instructor Nathan Rigaudand Mike Snyder (Inspector and thelead A&P in the Velocity ServiceCenter) teamed up for a “west coastadventure” – which was a first timewest-of-the-Rockies flight experiencefor the both of them. Says Mike dur-ing a take-off at an airport with a5,000’ density altitude ”Ahhh…Nate, shouldn’t we be airborne by



now?” Those of us who have flownin the western states smiled at theirstories and wished we had a few 100-mile visibility days here in Florida!

Nathan performed a dozen demon-stration rides during the program(was the aircraft ever on static dis-play?) and, with the cooperation oflocal controllers, ended each flightwith a fly-by over the field.

••••

EventsContinued from previous page

Production Newsby Scott Baker

Important Announcement tothose who have purchased aSplit-Kit

Velocity, Inc. offers customerswho have purchased a Split-Kit,price protection towards the pur-chase of the second part of the splitkit for a period of 12 months fromthe delivery of the first kit. After atwo-year stay, Velocity kit priceswere increased an average of $2,000per model on August 1, 2001. Tothose who have purchased theirSplit-Kit and have yet to exercisetheir option to purchase the secondpart of their kit within the time peri-od allowed, we would like to extendthe deadline to October 15, 2001 inorder to give you a little extra time tomake your purchase without beingsubject to the price increase. Pleasecall Duane Swing or Scott Baker for

more details on moving ahead andsaving money on the second half ofyour Velocity building project.

Continental 310hp Engine

Development work on theContinental IO-550N engine contin-ues as molds are made to fabricatethe engine cooling plenum; enginemounts are constructed; and a newexhaust system is put together. Wewere hoping to have this powerplant first flown in the new factoryXL-RG demonstrator, but it lookslike Sonny Eymann (see photoabove) from Key West, Florida, isgoing to beat us to the punch. Sonnyis working on completing the finish-ing touches of his XL-RG at theVelocity Service Center – whichincludes the installation of the newContinental. For those who plan afuture visit to the Keys, be sure tolook up Sonny Eymann, owner andoperator of Sunny Days Catamarans,a first-class operation that specializesin providing day trips to the DryTortugas and snorkel trips to thereefs south of Key West.

Epoxy Shelf Life

Do the epoxy components thatcome with the kit have shelf life?Yes, they do! The manufacturer ofthe EZ84 hardener (the caramel col-ored liquid) says that the producthas a one-year shelf life - adding,“...however, it typically will continueto perform long after that.”Hardener tends to become thick andeven crystallize after long periods ofstorage, especially at temperaturesbelow 100 degrees F. If the hardenerbecomes thick, lumpy, or crystal-lized, you might want to try to put itback into solution by heating theproduct in a “hot box” or hot waterbath. Bring the temperature up to100 to 130 degrees and allow theproduct to warm overnight. Stiroccasionally. Inspect the bottle tomake sure that the entire productgoes back into solution. If it appearsto be lumpy or to have a consistencyof thick syrup, then discard the hard-ener and purchase new components.If everything looks “normal”, be sureto mix several test batches to makesure the components mix togetherand cure properly. Let your testbatch cure in an elevated tempera-


Sonny Eymann from Key West, Florida with his Continental IO-550N engine


Production NewsContinued from previous page

ture (80 degrees or higher) overnight– and give it the “scratch test” thenext day. If you are able to scratch agroove in the surface of the curedepoxy, you should be “good to go!”The guidelines for the DER324 resinare much the same as the hardener. Ifthings don’t look “normal” afterreheating, be suspect. If in doubt,replace your old epoxy with freshcomponents.

Brazil Wings

As Duane mentioned in hisreport, the fastbuild molded wingshave been structurally tested andflown on the newest addition to theVelocity fleet – an XL Fixed Gearmodel – which will be used as theprimary transition training aircraft atthe Velocity Service Center. Weexpect to begin shipping the newwings in October. Our first priority isto fulfill the needs of our several cus-tomers who have had their wings onback-order. It is important to notethat the pre-molded winglets haveundergone an extensive redesignwith respect to their internal struc-tures. The finished shapes of the rud-ders were also altered to providemore loads on the winglets. Thewinglets will be detached from the wings to make things easier forshipment.

••••

Velocity welcomes our new officereceptionist, Tonya Hiscott. In addi-tion to telephone duties, Tonya isresponsible for Info Kit andMerchandise sales. She is also yourcontact person for ConstructionVideos and Construction Manuals.

Rhonda Simmons joins Velocity, Inc.as our bookkeeper and accountspayable person. Rhonda recentlycompleted her academic education,earning a degree in accounting fromthe University of SouthernMississippi.

New FacesWe would like to introduce

Tonya Hiscott and RhondaSimmons. Both are employees whoyou will be dealing with in theVelocity front office.

Daren Johnson and Jim Parrott work-ing on fastbuild wings

Dave Griffin sanding a canard spar

Time to Renew for Your 2002 Calendar Year

Newsletter Subscription!

See Invoice on Page 17 of this issue (or the last page of anyissue) for details.Payment is due no later than December 15th. Renewalsreceived after December 31st will be assessed a $5 late chargefee.Thank you for your support!Rick Lavoie


Brazil Wings

In the last newsletter weinformed you that we had completedthe load testing of the new wingletsfor the Brazil wings. This was accom-plished by standing the wing onedge (winglet horizontal at the top)and stacking 1080 lbs. of concrete onit. The calculated lift on the wingletunder the worst case in flight wouldbe about 200 lbs. We loaded it toOVER FIVE TIMES what it will eversee flying. We also tested for twistingstrength to insure a flutter-free sur-face.

Flight tests to well over 200 knotshave confirmed our calculations andwe will soon be sending out the newwinglets as soon as they arrive fromBrazil. For those waiting for theBrazil wings and winglets, your waitis just about over. Again, as soon aswe receive the new winglets, every-thing will be coming your way.

New XL Trainer

N271TC is now flying and willbe used for demos and flight train-ing. This is a fixed gear Velocity with

by Duane Swing

dual throttles and dual airspeed indi-cators. One special feature is theRetract Gear control panel. Ourinstructors have complete control ofwhat lights come on, when the gearhorn blows and generally can makeyour life miserable if you fail to putthe gear switch down and confirmgear down and locked. This featureis, of course, for those of you whohave an RG Velocity and come to usfor training.

NACA Engine CoolingSystem

We have been criticized for hav-ing an inferior design on our NACAdesigned cooling ducts and thatsome of our customers were experi-encing very high cylinder head tem-peratures as a result. The NACAducts and plenum system in our newtrainer is stock, out of the box systemand is being used on a Fixed Gear XLVelocity. Installation is probably themost important element of any cool-ing system and we were not clearenough on the importance of sealingthe plenum and all the component

parts to insure that all the air avail-able for cooling is actually passingthrough the fins and not blowing outsome holes. This is especially true oncylinder #6 (co-pilot side closest tothe firewall) where it is necessary toprepare an aluminum baffle to coverthe fins on this cylinder. The plenumcould not be installed with the cylin-der cover built into the fiberglasspart. We will be revising the instruc-tions to clarify these points. On ourfreshly overhauled Lycoming IO540260 horsepower engine, we see maxi-mum cylinder temperatures of 380degrees in cruise and no more than405 degrees in prolonged climb. Redline on the Lycoming IO540’s is 500degrees. These measurements arewith a JPI EDM 700 gauge with aguaranteed error no greater than 4degrees.

Vortex Generators

One of our builders called meand mentioned that the plastic VG’swere breaking off quite easily andperhaps some of the materials werenot up to specification. After checkingsome of them here on our ramp, itwas discovered that the sun’s ultravi-olet rays destroy the compounds inthese VG’s. Conclusion: If you havenot yet installed the plastic VG’s,rough them up with some Scotchpads and give them a good UV-protecting paint prior to installation.If you have already installed the VG’sand find them to be brittle, removethem and give us a call and we willreplace them with a new set at nocost. Remember the new ones alsoneed a UV-protected paint.

Matco Compound Brakes

After a great deal of testing of theMatco Compound brakes, we wish toreport that there are some unresolvedproblems with their function.Stopping power is just fine and weare able to control the (low) transferof heat to the fiberglass gear leg. Themajor problem is that the heat build-up internally causes swelling of majorcomponents and creates a dragging

Continued on next pageFactory’s new XL FG to be used for demo flights and flight training


Factory NewsContinued from previous page

brake. After just several months ofuse, we found that our take-off rollwas increased by a good 30% – dueentirely to distortion of internal com-ponents that caused the brake todrag. We have yet to identify thecause of this problem with Matco –and so we do not know what the“fix” is at this time. Pending the finaloutcome with our discussions withMatco, we suggest that builders whohave ordered the Compound brakesplease keep them in new conditionin the event that they must bereturned to Matco. For those who areoperating the Matco Compoundwheel and brake, we suggest thatyou monitor the performance ofyour brakes and frequently clean thebrakes to ensure that brake dustdoes not build-up and become com-pacted. We are testing the MatcoW600XT brakes with semi-metallicbrake pads and the Grove twin puckbrakes on two different XL’s and willlet you know which of them gives usthe best brake for the buck.

Replacement Tires

One of our builders had an inter-esting (and costly) thing happen tohim. He replaced the main tires onhis XL RG and did not do a retracttest prior to flight. You guessed it...the tires were slightly larger than theones that came with his kit and stuckin the wheel wells. He tried every-thing to get them down but it wasjust not going to happen. The costand time to repair the damage to theairframe is not much. The cost ofrepairing the M-T constant speedpropeller, however, is high. Severalof you will probably point out thatLycoming requires a complete teardown inspection of the engine forany prop strike. Keep in mind thatLycoming is making the assumptionthat you are flying with an alu-minum propeller and it is the alu-minum propeller that can do dam-age to the crankshaft and cam gear ifa prop strike happens. The cost of acomplete tear down inspection canrun as high as $5,500. We have yet to

see any damage to a Lycomingengine as a result of an M-T propstrike. Remember the M-T uses awood core for the blades.

The warning nature of this story isquite clear: Do a retract test everytime you replace the tires on your RGairplane.

Service Center News

We have seen four Velocities taketo the skies after completion in theService Center. We have four morethat are very near to completion andat least one, possibly two, of themwill have flown by the time you readthis. These are airplanes that havespent their entire life here at theCenter and most are being workedon full time.

We have also worked out a gooddeal on having the airplanes paintedin a large paint shop near us. Theyspecialize in large corporate jets,however, we have a great workingrelationship with the manager whohas worked for us in the past andlikes the Velocity. The primaryadvantage of having the work doneby this company is that he will moveus up to the front of the schedule. Inthe past, we would have to give thepaint shop at least a three monthadvanced notice for painting. Most ofus don’t know closer than a yearwhen our airplanes will be done andready for paint. Price of a paint jobwill vary with the complexity. Expectto pay close to $4000 for a three-colorprofessional job. If a lot of filling andsanding is required, expect to paymore. He also has a computer gener-ated paint scheme that his girl canwork with you to design exactlywhat you want and be able to see itin color on the screen before you givethem the go-ahead. Look at our latestpaint colors and scheme for our XLFG on the web site to see what kindof work he can do. Our newest XLdesign was done using an Applecomputer and a special program.

Insurance Stuff

Avemco is still offering insurance

on the Velocity, as before, but it hasbeen reported that their rates are justtoo high. We have found yet anothersource for insurance. This companydoes not cover in every state andyou would have to give them a callto see if your state is OK. The majordifference is that the premiums aremuch lower due to the deductiblebeing much higher.

Expect deductibles to be 10% ofyour insured hull coverage. The lia-bility was also quoted lower thanAvemco. Expect the same pilot train-ing requirement and airframeinspection as before.

Call Pam at AUA Inc. 1-800-727-3823for a quote.

Unlisted Builders Number

Don’t forget to use the 561-589-0309 number when calling on theweekends, after hours and holidays.We will not answer the 589-1860number except during regular work-ing hours.

Parts Orders

Please don’t call for parts after4:00pm ET. All our production andshipping people leave at this timeand someone who knows nothingabout the parts department willprobably get your order messed upor you will not get it at all. Many ofyou know first hand what I am talk-ing about. While I’m talking aboutparts, please don’t expect Scott,Brendan, Nathan, me, or anyoneexcept our parts department to fillout your parts order. If your call isfor tech support and you also needparts, ask whoever your talking to,to switch you over to the partsdepartment. This will create someproblems for you if you’re calling ona Saturday for tech support and alsowant to order a part. I highly suggestyou wait until Monday, in this case,to place that part order. Remember,all the tech support people are in adifferent building and it isn’t easyfor us to fill parts orders.

••••


Safety CornerAccident & Incident Reports,Maintenance & Service Difficulties

Service CautionSecondary Door Lock

We have had another customerlose the co-pilot door due to improp-er latching prior to take-off. In thiscase the door stayed attachedthroughout the pattern work andmade the airplane almost uncontrol-lable. A safe landing was made but inall the excitement, the pilot did notlower the gear and a gear up landingwas the result.

I just inspected an XL that had nosecondary latch on the pilot door.The builder (not the owner) told methe owner absolutely did not wantthe 3/16” rod sticking through thedoor and refused to let the builderput it on. From our point of view, theairplane will not get an insurance OKunless some sort of secondary lock isprovided. If you don’t like the 3/16”rod idea, then come up with some-thing of your own but provideSOMETHING.

I would suggest strongly that adoor unsafe warning light be placedin plain view of the pilot to insurethat the locking pins are fullyengaged and the secondary latch is inplace. We do this by installing amicro switch at the base of the lowerrear steel pin retainer on each dooropening and connect them in serieswith a ground wire to a light. Thelight is wired to a 12 volt source. Ifeither door pin is not fully engaged,the warning light will be illuminated.Short wooden pegs are necessary togap the distance between the bottomof the pins and the micro switches.They can be trimmed to the rightlength to activate the micro switchesthat are mounded just under the steelretainers.

Another practice that we enforcehere is to leave the doors open at alltimes. If, for some reason, the doors

must be closed, it is important thatthe co-pilot door be closed ANDLATCHED. It isn’t difficult to seewhat would happen if the pilot gotin and went flying thinking the doorwas latched but in fact it was onlyclosed and only partially latched ornot latched at all. Believe me, we allknow about checklists but things likethis will happen to the most cautiouspilots.

••••

Service WarningBy Scott Baker

In the last 12 months we knowof 3 incidents where pilots havestarted flights with a door notlatched and at least 2 flights wherethe landing gear on retract aircraftwere not extended for landing.Thank goodness, there were noinjuries – however, in each instance,substantial damage was done to theaircraft.

Are we becoming too compla-cent in our piloting behavior that weare forgetting some of the funda-mentals of flight safety? It happens.And when it does, the consequences(more often than not) are costly andsometimes life threatening.

When we jump in the left seat ofour Velocity (or any other aircraft),we become what the FAA describesas the “Pilot-in-Command” …theperson responsible for the safe oper-ation and outcome of the flight.What an awesome responsibility!Are we too focused in family busi-ness or job business, that we areexcusing attention to piloting business? How well have you prepared yourself to act as Pilot-in-Command?

Are you able to reply

“Affirmative” to the following basicquestions?

• Am I safe to act as PIC of thisflight? Is my Medical Certificate cur-rent? Have I had my Flight Reviewwithin the last 24 months? Am I feel-ing okay physically? Am I takingany medication that might affect myability to safely conduct this flightand make the right decisions? Am Ialert? Are weather and flight condi-tions within my piloting capabilitiesand those of my aircraft? If I am tofly at night or carrying passengers,have I logged the flight experiencewithin the last 90 days as outlined inthe FAR’s?

• Is my aircraft safe and legal to fly?Has it been properly maintained?Have I done a thorough pre-flightinspection using a checklist? Is thereenough fuel on board – have I per-sonally checked the level and veri-fied that the caps are secure? Have Ichecked the fuel sump for water?Have I checked to make sure thepitot heat and aircraft lights work?Are the tires inflated to the properpressure? Are the tires and brakes ingood condition? Geesh!…When wasthe last time I checked the brakefluid level?

• Am I following safe habits in thecockpit? Is everyone wearing a seatbelt? Are the doors safety latchedbefore flight? Are my charts and air-port guide stowed within easyreach? Have I conducted my pre-flight checks according to a check-list? Have I reviewed emergencyprocedures before beginning myflight? Am I looking out for othertraffic? Do I practice a “sterile cock-pit” within 5 miles of the airport(total focus on flying; passengersquiet and looking for traffic)? Am Itotally in control of the approach andlanding – or would it be better to go-around?

Obviously this is just a samplingof the many things that we should bedoing as pilots to make our flightsmore safe. I would encourage each



Factory Authorized Insurance InspectorsPlease make note of these individuals:

Name - Location Home Phone / Work Phone

Brian Gallagher - Murrieta CA 909-461-9990 / 909-696-0160Barry Gibbons - Colorado Spr CO 719-683-8659 / 719-572-8627Don Pearsall - Owasso OK 918-272-5551 / 918-474-2610Mike Pollock - Sachse TX 972-530-8400 / 972-728-2725Glenn Babcock - Tampa FL 813-677-2543 / 813-604-2637Wes Rose - Grand Rapids MI 616-772-7235 / 616-530-0255Jean Prudhomme - Boca Raton FL 954-559-4988Mack Murphree - Dayton NV 775-246-9364

Flight Check!Be Safe!

Velocity Service Center Inc.offers flight training forbuilders/pilots to safely learnhow to transition into flying aVelocity. Get a Flight CheckOut prior to your first flight!Flight training is availablefrom:• Nathan Rigaud, CFII• Brendan O’Riordan, CFII• Scott Baker,CFIIThe following instructorshave also been approved byAvemco Insurance:• Sam DaSilva• Mike Gunvordahl• Mack MurphreeDon’t take a chance, getchecked out prior to your firstflight. Please note that youshould be current in someother type of aircraft prior toyour Velocity check out. Thepurpose of the “flight check”program is to transition youfrom flying other aircrafttypes (like a Cessna) to acanard pusher (Velocity).

PleaseRenew Today

for your2002 Calendar Year

Subscription toVelocity Views

Newsletter

Send in your check today.See page 17 of this issue orthe last page of any issue fordetails.Thanks...

Safety CornerContinued from previous page

of us to do more to prepare our-selves to be better pilots. Developchecklists – then follow them! Hirean experienced instructor to fly withyou – to make observations – and tosuggest areas in need of improve-ment (don’t just chip away at therust – remove it and make yourselfshine). Be critical. Practice and drillemergency procedures. Close youreyes … can you touch and identifyevery switch and control knob in theaircraft … or did you just turn onthe pitot heat instead of the fuelpump?

This is a friendly reminder andadmonition that we all can be better– and by that I mean more profes-sional – in our pilot responsibilities.Don’t be a complacent pilot …a safepilot is always learning!

••••

Visitthe Factory’s

Official Web Site:

velocityaircraft.com

We need yourinput for thisnewsletter tobe a success!

• Builder Forum Input

• First Flight Photos

• First Flight Stories

• Velocity Flying Adventures

• Velocity Fly-in Suggestions

PLEASE!

Send your photos / stories toRick Lavoie for the nextnewsletter!26 Marshview DriveSt. Augustine FL 32080USA


It has come to my attention thatsome of our customers have hadproblems cooling with the downdraft system using the armpit scoopsand fiberglass runners. If you havethis system and are having problems,please let us know. I have been incontact with some of you with goodresults but very few with poorresults. What I mean by good resultsis having temps under 400 degrees. Italked to a customer yesterday thatadded an extra outlet in the bottomof the cowling and is running in the350 to 360 range.

The engine installation instruc-tions do not outline the importanceof sealing the plenum or flanging therunners. One of the reasons we wentto a plenum chamber was to elimi-nate the problems of poor baffle seal-ing. If we are going to have consis-tent results with cooling we felt thata plenum would be the answer. Well,we still need to follow some basicrules. First, the plenum needs to betight and secured to the engine sothat, when pressurized, it doesn’topen up. We have found that manyof you have not secured the frontand back flanges of the box to thecylinders. Even without the heat theplenum can be very easily pulledaway from the cylinders. This can bedone with a small hole in a cylinderfin wired to the plenum, or with sili-con around the plenum. Also, the 4wraps that are called for in theinstruction are not actually necessarybut the one on the passenger sidetoward the firewall is, since there isno fiberglass there to keep the airfrom leaving. We couldn’t mold thatIO540 plenum with that area built in.In any case, think about your instal-lation and what you are trying to do

by Scott Swing

Kit PlansChanges“KPCs”

Note: Check the date at the bottom ofyour page. If it matches the “Date ofChange” shown in the KPC, your manu-al has already been corrected.

KPC 146Affects all non-XLs with overheadcabin vent system.Manual section 15.2.6Date of Addition 9-11-01

Overhead fresh air duct affectsall aircraft. The XL was the first air-craft to be shipped with an overheadvent system. We have since startedto supply overhead vent system onall kits. We supply the original XLsystem to non-XL aircraft and sup-ply a new shallower style with theXLs. The main reason for the newstyle is that it is shallow enough toclear the overcenter linkage of themain gear without being modified.Also, this one comes with a flangethat allows most of the overheadduct to be glued in instead of glassedin like the other one. In any case, ifyou have the top NACA and ductand do not have plans for it and can-not figure it out, we can send yousome. You would have to mentionwhich plane you have. The change isbasically for the XL since there areno instructions for this in the othermanuals. First paragraph - The over-head duct comes to you flanged andalmost ready to install. It should fitfrom against the firewall to the over-head switch panel. Sixth paragraph -Fit the duct into position over theNACA scoop and overhead carbonbeam. Trim the rear of the duct sothat it butts up against the firewallnicely and notch the duct to fitaround the beam. Insure that theTriax lay-up for the upper enginemount is installed on the aft side ofthe firewall, (fuselage completionchapter). Trim the front so you onlyhave about 1/2” of flange left. This

by Scott Swing

will leave a little more room for theswitch panel housing. If that is notalready into position, check to seehow the two fit together. In the back,you may have to trim the flangeaway to insure that the forward sec-tion of the flange lies onto the topfuselage all the way. When satisfiedwith the fit, cleco the duct into posi-tion. Remove the duct and sand thecontact area of the fuselage and duct.Also sand the rear of the duct forglassing later. You should have atleast 3/4” of flange (except for thefront). Mix up some adhesive andinstall the duct with clecos. Addadditional clecos as needed. Sandwhere needed and glass around thecarbon beam onto the duct andaround the back end to the firewall.You may also need to micro andglass over any area back there whereyou removed the flange. This ductneeds to be fairly sealed especially atthe back to ensure that water doesnot enter the cabin. The back of thisduct at the firewall needs to havesome tubing installed to drain it ofany water that may accumulate in itwhen parked outside in the rain withno cover. Use 1/4” or 3/8” tubingglassed onto the duct at the back andrun it down to the floor and out. Itcan be flush with the outside. Makesure it doesn’t interfere with theoperation of the gear system. Theonly thing left to do is to mount yourvents and lights. It is up to youwhere you want to install thesethings but obviously they should befunctional for the front and rear seatpassengers.

••••


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Builder Hints andInformation

Continued from previous page

and you should be in good shape.We have added an extra outlet onthe bottom of the XL cowling to letmore air out. This is not necessary onall installation but it sure doesn’thurt. Our new XLFG trainer hastemps in the 360 degree range withno modification made. We did putthe extra outlet in this cowling. Thisairplane does have the NACAscoops in the top of the fuselage.

We are working on the engineinstall instruction to try and stan-dardize things. When we supply anengine install package, we have toassume a few things about yourengine and what you already have.Because of this you may end upshort a few things or have a fewthings left over. This has to do most-ly with fittings. We have just startedto supply the #4 servo fittings thatgo to your spider valve and to yourfuel pressure sender. We also supplythe #4 45-degree fitting that goes toyour oil pressure sender. Both thefuel pressure fitting and the oil pres-sure fitting must be welded shut anddrill out with something less than orequal to a 1/16” drill. The reason forthis is that, in the event of blownsender, you wouldn’t lose all youroil and pressure right away. If youare flying right now and you havenot done this to your fittings, wehighly recommend this as a safetymeasure. Only the fittings to thepressure senders should be done likethis. If the fitting for the fuel pres-sure sender accidentally was used inthe fuel outlet to the spider, yourengine will most likely not run cor-rectly and, if it seems to, will runvery lean.

The fuel pressure fitting and the45 degree AN 823-4 fitting for oilpressure need to be welded shut anddrilled out to no bigger than 1/16”.You may be flying your aircraft nowwithout this being done. If you arenot sure that your fittings for thesesenders have the small hole in them,

you need to check them. The reasonfor this is that if your senders springa leak, you won’t dump all your oilor fuel. Obviously there is a fire issueas well.

Some of you have made yournose access covers removable with alatch mechanism and no screws. Ifyou are not using 4 screws to holdyour nose access cover on, youshould stiffen the cover so that itcannot flex and pop off. This can bedone by gluing 1/4” x 1/4” foamstrips around the perimeter of thecover on the inside. Micro the foamwith a small radius and glass overthem with 1 BID. This should stiffenit sufficiently.

Please do not drill the fixed nosegear for installation of the fairing.Because of the hardness of the gearleg, there is always a chance of thehole causing a stress riser.

We have had some reports of thebushing in the nose fork wearingprematurely. Please check yours forwear and maintain that wholeassembly as far as slop, dampeningpressure, lubrication, etc.

One of our builders was havingtrouble rotating the aircraft for takeoff. Turns out, his nose tire was verylow on pressure and when loadedwith people would flatten out. Onthe walk around you should putsome weight on the nose to find outif pressure is low since there is littleweight on the tire when the aircraftis empty. Low air pressure canincrease your take off distance signif-icantly so maintain those tires aswell.

One of our XL customers wastrying to lower his CHT’s and triedtwo VG’s placed about 1” forward ofthe inlet ramp. He said it loweredthe temps by 50 degrees. Word ofcaution, if you do it on one youshould do it on the other. You maybe able to generate enough pressureto push air out the other scoop. Moreon this later.

•••

I would like to offer some hintson Installation and Operation of yourRG system.

The nose gear casting that youreceive in your kit has some sharpedges. I would suggest you sand andpolish all the edges to provide a 1/8”radius to eliminate any stress risers inthe casting. Stress risers are micro-scopic flaws and cracks that are nor-mally found on all rough castings. Soby providing this 1/8” radius youeliminate any microscopic cracks onyour fork. This operation can be donein about 1/2 to 1 hour’s time. I wouldalso recommend this to those whohave flying airplanes. If you candevote more time you could sand outscratches and polish the entire forkfor the “show-plane” look.

When finalizing your mechanicalinstallation of your retract systempay careful attention to the lengths ofthe bolts you use. For example, thebolts used for attaching the over-center linkage to the gear leg. Makesure that the rotating parts are bear-ing on the shank of the bolt, not thethreaded section. Refer to publicationAC43.13-1B chapter 7 which all ofyou should have a copy of.

In final assembly, lubricate all

MaintenanceNotes

by Michael J. SnyderPrivate Pilot, A&P, IA



A&P Talk

by Brendan O’Riordan, CFII, A&P

In the last views Nathan wrotean article on the basic operation ofthe Retract system on Velocities. Iwould like to go into a little moredetail on how the system works sothat you, as a pilot of a Velocity, willhave a better understanding of thissystem and be able to determinewhen the system may needunscheduled maintenance.

The basic components of the RGsystem are 3 hydraulic cylinders, 2overcenter links and a pump/motor.When the gear is down and lockedwe have two forces keeping it down.First we have 550 pounds of pres-sure that the hydraulic pump putsinto the system after the gear hasreached its down position. Thedown pressure switch comes fromthe factory with this limit preset forus. The down pressure switch is onthe right side (furthest inboard)looking at the pump from the front.The second thing keeping our geardown are two overcenter locks, onefor the nose the other for the maingear. The main gear OC link is setfrom the factory and just needs to beinstalled as is. The nose however hasa stop that is made of 1/4” thick alu-minum that is 1” wide and is bent atboth ends to be able to fit in the keel.This stop has to be positioned sothat when your nose gear is downthe joint between the shock and theOC link is allowed to go between1/8” and 1/4” up (overcenter.) Thiswill keep the gear down even if the

550psi of down pressure is lost.

There are no uplocks on aVelocity. The gear is held up by1050psi. Once the gear reaches its uplimits (the up travel is set by stopsthat are put around the shafts of thecylinders, not by your gear hittingthe top of your wheelwell) the sys-tem continues to pump pressureuntil 1050psi is reached. This willassure the gear will stay tucked upeven in turbulence.

Most systems in airplanes willgive you signs when components arebecoming worn out and the VelocityRG system is no different. The firstthing a Velocity pilot must under-stand is that the RG system is alwaysunder hydraulic pressure. One com-mon thing you may find on your air-plane is after it has parked on theground for a day or so and you turnon the master switch you may hearthe gear pump kick on for a secondor so. What is happening is the 550psi is leaking out of the down side ofthe RG system and there are twoways it can go. First off you mayhave an external leak in your systemso check all your fittings and see ifyou can see any red fluid leakingout. The other place you may have aleak is internally in one of your RGcylinders. The cylinders works byputting pressure to one side of thepiston or the other, inside the cylin-der. If the o-ring that seals the pistonis leaking the pressure in the systemmay be allowed to leak past the pis-ton to the other side of the system.We have found that the small nosegear cylinder gets a lot of abuse in aVelocity and more times than not isthe cylinder that needs to be rebuilt.One other place to check is your“dump” valve. With it located on thepassenger’s side in most airplanes itmay get bumped slightly and justallow a little pressure to bleed fromone side of your system to the other.

Another common sign of wearin the RG system is your RG pumpturning on momentarily in flightfrom time to time. The reasons men-


moving parts with engine oil. I useengine oil because it penetrates intoparts where needed and has morebody than something like WD-40.After lubrication, have an assistantoperate the gear and inspect to seethat moving parts, in transition, donot foul or rub any hoses, parts, etc.throughout the complete travel ofthe gear. Also check to see that freefall cycle operates smoothly andlocks overcenter without any assis-t a n c e .

• • • •

Maintenance NotesContinued from previous page

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Publishing a newsletter withsuch a small subscriberbase is quite a challenge.Keeping cost (and hoursspent) down are important.Here are two things that youcan do to help VelocityViews:• Renew on time!When you renew late, youcause me all sorts of extrawork, as I now need toprocess each late renewalby hand. There is now a $5late charge fee forrenewals that come in afterDecember 31• Pay by check...Creditcard option is only for inter-national subscribers (tomake currency exchangeeasy). The time it takes toprocess credit cards is veryvery inefficient and costly.

tioned above are still applicable tothis situation. A smaller internal leakmight show up earlier when the gearis up because the pressure used inthe up system is twice that of thedown system. The pump coming onmomentarily every half an hour orso may not cause any problems andyour system will operate properlybut if you happen to be on a longflight and you have an internal leakyou could have trouble extendingthe gear. What happens is the pres-sure bleeds into the down system.The pump will kick on and the pres-sure bleeds down again. On a longenough flight you may bleed enoughpressure into the down system soyou now have over 550psi in thedown system. You go to select geardown and nothing happens. In thissituation you first need to hit thereset switch. This bypasses the downpressure switch and starts the pumprunning. Once there is flow in thesystem the pressure is relieved soyou do not have to hold the resetswitch. In the event that the pumpstill does not work you will need tofreefall the gear. Leave the RGswitch in the down position andpush your dump valve open. Thiswill relieve the pressure on the highside and allow the gear to freefallinto position.

The point of this article is“Listen to your airplane.” If thingshave changed since your last flight,investigate and don’t stop till youhave found an answer. This has todo with the entire airplane not justthe gear system. If you continue tooperate an airplane after you havenoticed changes in flight controls,engine temperatures or pressures orgear operation, you are puttingyourself, your passengers and peo-ple on the ground at risk.

••••

A&P Talk

Continued from previous page

CFI Notams

by Nathan Rigaud, CFII

As a flight instructor, I havebeen teaching since 1993 both prima-ry and advanced aerobatic trainingand have had the pleasure of flyingwith many pilots. I find that studentsthat come here for our transitioncourse into the velocity, are havingtrouble with the simplest maneuverssuch as slow flight, stalls, etc, thatpilots are not able to hold airspeed,altitude, heading. These are thebasics and you will loose the feel ifyou are not taking the time to staycurrent and train. Most builders takea year or more to complete their pro-ject and do not fly in the process, andthis shows in training.

At the Velocity Service Center,we require that you have logged 10hrs in the past three months. If youare building a velocity RG, werequire a complex sign-off before westart training you in the velocity. Iwould suggest more time if you havebeen away from flying for threemonths or more.

When you arrive for training atthe Velocity Service Center, we startoff with the basic ground school. Ihighly recommend looking over andstudying your operating manual. V-speeds are expected to be known offthe top of your head. If you needthese faxed to you, let us know. Wewill then have you sit in the trainingaircraft for us to point out all con-trols and instruments. I would thenexpect you to be able to touch andmove each switch and control with

no hesitation. The first flight willstart with the basics, turns, slowflight, stalls on and off, turning stalls,emergency procedures. We will thenreturn to the airport for full stoplandings. Some of the things I lookfor in the pattern are, entry, altitude,airspeed, and distance for the run-way, aircraft spacing. Remember weare VFR (visual flight rules), lookoutside and do not get buried in thecockpit.

The rest of the flight time willmost likely be in the traffic patternpracticing take-offs and landings, goarounds, and emergency procedures.

Do yourself a favor and practice,practice, practice. Aircraft rental atyour local flight school will be a bighelp. Take time to fly with a currentCFI and make the flight worthwhile,maybe he or she can let you in on afew pointers.

••••


November 3, 2001Factory Open HouseWorkshop Schedule

Saturday November 3, 2001 - Factory’s quarterly openhouse in Sebastian Florida (X26)9:00am Coffee and donuts10:00am Workshop: TBANoon Lunch1:00pm Workshop: Building Q&A3:00pm Demo rides in the XL

Please be sure to call the factory and RSVP! Friday arrivals can book a roomat the Key West Inn at Captain Hiram’s here in Sebastian. Call 800-833-0555and mention Velocity to get a corporate rate. When you call the factory toRSVP, let us know when you plan on arriving so we can make arrange-ments for transportation, etc.

Check velocityaircraft.com for up-to-date details

There are a few wiringissues that keep coming up that I’dlike to discuss. First let’s talk aboutcoaxial cable and some antennaissues. Coax cable is designed tomaintain a 50 ohm environment, thisis required for antennas in our gen-eral aviation type equipment. It isabsolutely imperative that the prop-er cable, connectors and preparationbe used in these applications. We useONLY RG58U/C cable to wire ouraircraft, it is 50 ohm, has platedshielding and STRANDED centerconductor. Avoid using RG58U withthe solid center conductor, it willeventually work harden and causean intermittent connection. An openon a transmitter antenna wire will inshort order smoke the RF powerfinals in the radio - big bucks!Another word of advise is to getsome training in the proper prepara-tion & crimping of coaxial connec-tors. The tools will cost you about$50 if you can’t find a set to borrow.There are impedance issues that Idon’t want to elaborate on but trustme when I tell you that you can’tsimply solder two pieces of coaxtogether and expect to maintain a 50ohm system. Oh yes, you will have agood continuity check but the RF“node” could cause ‘bad things’.Spend the money on the proper RF

Electric Buzz...by Wayne Lanza

wiring or face the woes of radioproblems... NEVER use televisiontype coax!!!!! It looks, smells andtastes the same but it if you eat ityou’ll get sick, so will your avionics.

Antennas are another issue forconsideration. As they are shown inthe plans, they work fine. But if youreally want to mess them up I’d sug-gest adding carbon where it is notneeded, using the wrong kind ofwire, not installing the ferrite cores,using 1/4-20 nuts instead of the fer-rite cores or using acid core solder orplumbing flux on the foil ribbon. Theacid flux is great for a down the roadproblem, it stays active and willprobably eat it’s way through the foilin 5-10 years.

The transponder antenna can beeasily mounted in the nose of the air-craft but there might be some resid-ual radiation issues. The easiest andin my opinion best place to mountthis antenna is in the back of the air-craft either under or next to the sumptank. You can glue the ground planeto the floor and let the antenna stubstick through a hole in the belly, easy

to install and wire plus low radiationeffects. Putting the antenna out in theend of the strake is not recommend-ed for some transponders as the wirerun is too long. The GPS antenna isbest located just above the landinglight in the nose. You’ve got no metalor interference from A/C systems orother wiring and the wiring runs willbe fairly short.

If you are using a storm scope ofsome sort, special considerations willneed to be made for these systems towork properly. I am working withBF Goodrich regarding the installa-tion of several WX500’s in Velocitys.I will report on this effort in thefuture after we are confident with theoperation of the equipment.

••••

Editor’s note:

For a detailed electrical article (6 pageslong) about electrical wiring, switches,supplies, tools, etc., refer to Vol 3, page11 “Electrical System: Where Do IStart” by Martin Hadley.


BuildersForum

Builders Forum is full of tips, information and letters (“material”) supplied toVelocity Views Newsletter from individuals that are Velocity builders (or want to bebuilders). It is provided as “USE AT YOUR OWN RISK” material. NeitherVelocity Inc. (The Velocity Factory) nor Velocity Views Newsletter (Lavoie Graphics& Rick Lavoie) have endorsed this material, and disclaim any liability for the use ofthis material. Individuals who use this material for the operation, maintenance, orconstruction of their homebuilt aircraft do so at their own discretion and at theirown risk. Any variance from the builders manual is high risk.

“On Final” at the VelocityService Center

From Nate Gutwein

We were starting out on a newventure when we arrived at Velocityon January 2, 2001. And now – inour 30th week of experience build-ing our Velocity XL-RG aircraft – weare excited to report that we are inthe test-flying phase! Scott Swingperformed the (uneventful) firstflight of our Velocity on August 31st.This has been quite a thrill forRhonda and me. We can not wait tofinish the interior and painting ofour Velocity and to begin enjoyingflying and doing other things!

Working on our aircraft at theVelocity Service Center has been agreat experience! We have met newpeople sharing common goals – andwe have met many new friends. Ourwork week is normally Mondaythrough Friday, then we “vacation”over the weekend on the Gulf Coast.

Learning how to cut fiberglass,mix resins, do lay-ups, and workwith composites was new for us. Welearned a lot as we used the supportof the Velocity helpers, which wasavailable as needed. We made somemistakes and had to do some thingsover – which of course, made for abetter-built aircraft. My wife,Rhonda, did most of the fiberglassand lay-up work. She was very care-ful and did a great job!

It was great having my son and4 grandchildren helping us for aweek – at which time we were work-ing on the fuel strakes. This part ofthe project was quite strenuous andtime consuming, but they were allvery excited to help and anxious to

go flying.

Working in an atmosphere withother builders, encouraging oneanother and helping each other asneeded, was very good – as most ofus did not know much about thistype of work when we first started.Our first intention was to purchasethe Velocity XL-RG with fastbuildoptions – and to locate in a hangarconvenient to us to build the air-plane. In retrospect, this would havebeen totally beyond our time con-straints and capability! We arethankful that Velocity has the HeadStart Program.

We feel it has been a great expe-rience and we have learned a lotabout the function and operation ofour plane. This gives us a lot of con-fidence in the dependability andcapability of our Velocity.

••••

Franklin Engine & Ivo Prop UpdateFrom Rick Lavoie, St. Augustine Florida

I’m very pleased with both myFranklin engine and Ivo Prop combi-nation. I get quite a few e-mails andcalls asking me if I’d recommendthem. My answer is always thesame. I will not recommend whatyou should do, I can only tell youthat I am happy with my decision.

My engine temperatures areideal, as measured by my JPI instru-ments & EDM 700 engine monitor:9,000 ft altitude, barometric pressureat 30.10, Outside Air Temp 61° F,2500 RPM, 22.1” manifold pressure,speed 171 ktsCHT/EGT (#1 cylinder thru #6):#1: 324/1240, #2: 321/1180,#3: 322/1210, #4: 350/1190, #5: 315/1150, #6: 302/1130

Nate and Rhonda Gutwein with their new Velocity XL RG



Builders ForumContinued from previous page

Oil Temp: 171 degrees FOil Pressure 52 PSIFuel burn rate 10.7 gal per hourI now have about 550 hours on myHobbs meter.

As most of you know, gettingthings all “tweaked out” took timeand experimentation. If you are anew subscriber and interested inwhat I did to get these great results,you will need to follow the thread ofarticles from back issues:Vol 26 page 17Vol 24 page 14Vol 19 page 14Vol 14 page 13Vol 16 page 13Vol 13 page 15Vol 12 page 1 & 16

Just about any question youmight ask me about what I did isaddressed in these articles. So please,prior to calling me with questionsabout your Franklin or Ivo prop, readthese articles and the pdf file that hasthe correspondence with PZLFranklin. Once you have done this,I’ll be happy to share my experience.

••••

Why is N570 For Sale?From Rick Lavoie

Since I posted N570 for sale onexp-aircraft.com, I have been asked“why?” from Velocity builders,pilots, and wannabees. You deservean answer to that question. The reasons are both health- and finance-related.

About one year ago, I was diag-nosed with the start of maculardegeneration, an eye disease. This isunusual for a 48 year old. The proba-ble result is that, at some future time,I will have vision problems. It couldhappen soon, or not until I’m 70.There is no way to predict the pro-gression. At present, there is no knowcure for “MD”, but it’s a leadingcause of blindness.

Under the circumstances, I’vedecided to take the conservativeapproach and sell my Velocity. I’vealways found it’s best to sell some-thing when you do not have a gun toyour head. I still have my medicaland still fly. In the event that myvision goes bad, sooner than later,I’ll have already sold the Velocity,and invested the proceeds. Sale ofmy Velocity is just one of severalsteps I am taking to simplify my lifeand reduce my living expenses forthe long term. Thus I’ll be betterable, financially, to cope with a lossof vision. As a self-employed person,I must be conservative and assumethe worst case scenario.

Yes, I will still be publishing theVelocity Views. Yes, Judy and I arestill very close friends of the Swingsand of the many members of theVelocity family. Yes, I will still be atVelocity events and fly-ins. Yes, I’llstill be flying, so long as my vision isgood... it may be that I’ll show up ina factory Velocity instead of my own.

I’m going to be selective in who Isell my Velocity to. I want someoneto care and maintain it as I have.Thus I’m willing to spend lots oftime with the buyer to be sure thathe/she understands the uniqueaspects of this fantastic flyingmachine, as well as the proper main-tenance required. The buyer shouldwant to get a factory check out, and arecommended factory pre-buyinspection.

Will I miss N570?... of course Iwill. Anyone who goes through thebuilding process – and knows everynut, bolt, hose and wire – under-stands how attached you become.Owning, building and flying theplane has introduced me and Judy topeople and places we never wouldhave experienced and which will for-ever influence our lives. N570 is apart of me which can not bereplaced. I am grateful for the oppor-tunities the plane has given me and Iknow it can bring the same pleasureto someone else. That will give mesatisfaction too.

••••

Factory

Open

House

November 3rd 2001Saturday Morning

See Page 14 for more details

Please Note

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• Renew on time!When you renew late, youcause me all sorts of extrawork, as I now need toprocess each late renewalby hand. There is a $5 latecharge fee for renewalsthat come in after December31.

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Thank you!


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Renew for the 2002 Calendar Year SubscriptionIf I already have your correct information (address, etc.) in my data base, then you cansimply mail me a check. Otherwise, please complete the subscription order form below(please print clearly).Payment is due no later than December 15th. Renewals received after December 31stwill be assessed a $5 late charge fee. Thank You!P.S. Yes, you can prepay future years as well...

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Factory Information

Velocity Inc.Factory & Home Office:

200 W Airport RdSebastian FL 32958 USA

Ph: 561-589-1860Builders Hot Line:

561-589-0309Fax: 561-589-1893

Builders HOT LINEPlease remember that on weekendsand after hours, we do not answerthe 561-589-1860 phone number.Our unlisted builders hot line is561-589-0309 and, if we are here,this is the only number we willanswer.

Internet web site:http://velocityaircraft.com

e-mail addresses:[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]

Builder assistance:[email protected] e-mail addresses:[email protected]@[email protected]

Velocity Service Center Inc.:f l i g h t t r a i n i n g @ v e l o c i t y a i r c r a f t . c o [email protected]@velocityaircraft.com

Buy Sell or TradeVelocity parts, tools, kits, flying

Velocitys: Free and exclusive to Velocity Views Subscribers.

P l a c e your ad here... FREE to allcurrent subscribers. Individualsselling parts, tools, kits, & flyingVelocitys. Your ad will run once persubmission. See last page fordeadlines. Please do not type textin all caps!

N570 For Sale:1997 Standard Velocity RG

Interior, Engine, Avionics, &Airframe are all “10’s”. Spoiled,pampered and hangared in St.Augustine Florida since birth! 550hours on Hobbs - all "tweaked out"with no problems. Scott & DuaneSwing have flown N570 and willverify that it is one of the cleanestand best maintained Velocitys fly-ing! IFR certified, new PZLFranklin engine with IVO Inflightelectric adjustable pitch prop, HSI,Strikefinder, S-tech auto pilot, PSengineering stereo audio panel,Stereo CD player/radio, Terraradios (2 com, 1 nav, 1 transpon-der), GPS moving map, JPI engineinstrument plus EDM 700 enginemonitor, and more... All manuals(Builder's Construction & OwnersFlight manuals, construction log &photos, Velocity Views Newslettercomplete set, all log books, etc.).lots of spare parts. Sales Price is US $130,000For a very complete description &lots of photos, go to:

http://lavoiegraphics.com/velocityrg/n570.html

e-mail: [email protected] Lavoie 904-461-6912

My reason for selling is healthrelated: see story on page 16 fordetails...

173 Elite Kit For Sale

Kit No. DMO333 Purchased Sep 95173 Elite RG, Wings assembled,not quite finished,Canard/Elevator Assy finishedexcept for tips, Bulkheads installedin Lower Fus Seat hardpoints, keelfitted, NLG fitted, battery supportinstalled, NLG doors installed,Hyd pump mounted, Speed brakefitted and hinged, Oil cooler, Riteangle AOA kit, Tip lights, landinglights, 1500 hours work and com-plete log book with pictures.Located in Land O Lakes, FloridaAsking $35,000Lloyd L Garner 813-929-9275

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• Builder Forum Input • First Flight Photos• First Flight Stories • Velocity Flying Adventures• Velocity Fly-in Suggestions

Send your photos / stories to Rick Lavoie for the next newsletter!


CustomInstrument Panel

DesignBy Treasure Coast Avionics

Specializing in Velocity Elite & XL Models

2974 Aviation Way, Ft. Pierce, FL 34946PH: 561/464-3148 FAX: 561/464-3197

www.treasurecoastavionics.comFAA CRS# YHLR983K

Not enough hours in your day?Need help building your Velocity?

ADVANCEDCOMPOSITE

TECHNOLOGIESCall us at (814) 445-3802

Experienced Velocity builders on staff, offering sub-assembly and builder assistance. Competitive laborrates. We also offer many minor modifications thatenhance future maintenance and serviceability. Callfor our brochure and references.

Marketplace Advertising Info

Commercial vendors wishing to place anad in the Velocity Marketplace (includesad on the internet web site) should contactRick Lavoie by:

E-mail: [email protected]: 904-461-3146

voice: 904-461-6912

Phone: 970-224-4404

Fax: 970-493-9266

E-mail: [email protected]

www.franklinengines.com

136 Racquette Dr., Fort Collins, CO 80524Your #1 source for Factory New PZL/Franklin AircraftEngines, replacement parts and accessories for certi-fied and experimental aircraft. Magnetos, carburetors,starters, alternators, propellers, governors, vacuumpumps, etc. Knowledgeable technical staff with over25 years experience in the aviation industry.

http://exp-aircraft.com

• Aircraft Guide • Classified Ads• Helpful Links • Library of Articles• Aviation Marketplace

Velocity Viewsis published Quarterly by:

Lavoie Graphics26 Marshview Dr

St. Augustine, FL 32080-5873Rick Lavoie,Editor904-461-3146 (fax)

e-mail: [email protected]

Velocity Views newsletter ispublished by Rick Lavoie / LavoieGraphics as an agent for VelocityInc. (the factory). Prior to printing,the factory reviews each volumepublished for accuracy.

Velocity Views newsletter mate-rial has been supplied voluntarilyfrom the Velocity Factory,Builders, & Vendors. This materialis printed for informational pur-poses only. Opinions expressed arethose of the author. LavoieGraphics & Rick Lavoie do notendorse and are not liable for thecontents of such material. Use ofthis material is at your own risk.Any variance from the factoryplans is a high risk endeavor. Anycontemplated modificationsshould be reviewed and approvedby Velocity Inc.

Velocity Views is a Trademark ofLavoie Graphics

Copyright © 1994 - 2001 LavoieGraphics All Rights Reserved.

No part may be reproduced or trans-lated, stored in a database or retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form byelectronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording, or other means, except asexpressly permitted by the publisher.

Rick Lavoie, Newsletter Editor26 Marshview DrSt. Augustine FL 32080-5873 FORWARD & ADDRESS CORRECTION

FIRST CLASS

• 2002 Calendar YearSubscription (Volumes 29-32):The annual cost is $35.00 for mail-ing addresses within the UnitedStates. For all other mailingaddresses, the cost is $43.00 in USfunds (covers air mail & specialhandling).

All subscriptions are sold on acalendar year basis. New sub-scribers joining mid year will beprovided with back issues forthat calender year.• Back Issues 1995 thru 2001 areavailable for sale at $35.00 percalendar year in US funds.Specify the year(s) you wantwhen ordering back issues.• Renewals: Look at the top ofyour mailing label for the finalvolume number your subscrip-tion covers.Simply mail a check to RickLavoie each year to keep yournewsletter coming.

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Listed below are 4 options forsubmitting your text. Do not typeyour text in all caps. Please send usphotos and drawings too!1) Send it on a 3-1/2” computer disk(Mac or Windows). This saves usfrom re-typing all that text. Don’tformat your text, just give us rawtext, with no underlining, bold, orany other type of formats. We alsocan take Zip 100 disks.2) E-Mail your text file to me:[email protected] and pleasedon’t type in all caps.3) If you don’t have access to a com-puter, then we can scan in yourtyped page.4) If you print neatly so we can readit clearly, we’ll type it on our com-puter for you!Note: If you need your photos &materials returned, please include aself addressed envelop.

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