Ah that's something good to bring up....I'm 6'1" so I need to see if I'll fit in a -4. I've heard they are a close fit.
My budget cap would probably be about $45,000. I would use it to commute to and from work. Right now I commute via "plane pool" with a fellow employee in their Lancair 320. It's the perfect plane for it. It's about a 25 minute flight each way. In the end with split costs of fuel, its about 100 bucks a week. Not too shabby. Of course that doesn't count all the other operational expenditures but since it's experimental its easier on the maintenance costs. But Lancair's, even the 230, aren't cheap to come by. Ultimately I want something fast, economical, and fun. I'd love to buy a Pitts S-1, it's easily attainable and high on the fun scale and I could race it in Reno, but low on the economical scale and in between in fast the fast scale. So I've had quite a few people talk about the RV-4. In the starting research I've done so far, it's pretty good all around in speed, economics, and fun. I'm not Mr. Moneybags quite yet so I've got to be a realist and look for the best combination that will fit me best.
I'm 6'5", Never noted any headroom issue in a Cherokee 4, but where it gets you (or me) is the legs. Not all 4's though, I think the Archers... maybe and a few other variants I've actually been comfortably surprised to fly and operate from the right seat a handful of times (and the left seater in this case wasn't any shorter than you, and thought of this particular 28 as his one of the most comfortable ac).
By single point, I assume your talking about a drive gear that they sit on opposite sides of?
I pulled them both for an over haul. At least Alternator and vacuum pump are very low time (50 hours or so).
Also does anyone know for sure, when switching to the L on the mag test with a key switch, is that grounding the left or right mag?
HiTech
Yup, a dual magneto is a single unit mounted to the engine, it houses a single primary winding (driven by a single shaft) that revolves between two independent secondary windings (and thus how they "pass" the dual ignition rule). Regular single mags and a single unit mounted to the engine with one primary and one secondary winding each, and to comply with the FAA you need two of those.
Dual:
Single:
Confirm with Golfer, you're grounding the primary winding in a magneto to safety (cold) it, so "L" on the ignition switch grounds the right mag, "R" position ground the left mag, off grounds both. This is why the P-lead is so important but not easy to spot a problem with, it is the "P"rimary to ground. No P-lead = no ground = hot magneto = hot engine.
Visually inspect P-lead and connections whenever you're near it and/or are working on an engine (much like when in or near the mag switch in the cockpit, give the P-lead a check when under the cowl). And when disconnecting, disconnect the P-lead last and connect it first, before any leads/harness.
If you have some Bendix magnetos, get these filters you can install on the p-leads (if you don't already), they really help radio quality/issues for relatively cheap (this trick won't work on slicks though).
I still have a bruise on my right knee from Hitech doing his control check in that Cherokee. Being tall sucks.
Next time he comes in to land (or TO) pop the seat rail lock and slide the seat on the rails back past the last lock, gives ya a few more inches if really needed.
Prepare yourself after he's gotten comfortable with it, expect nose high wheelies on most your landing rollouts.
