History
ZK-VRV's wings, fuselage and empennage were constructed by Frank in Feilding and then sold to Leonard in Wailkane who completed the construction, installed the engine and avionics and painted it. ZK-VRV first flew in 2006.I purchased ZK-VRV from Leonard in October 2012.
As of June 2026 the aircraft has flown 1,458 hours with me at the controls for almost 1,400 of those hours.
Engine
A Mattituck 180hp four cylinder horizontally opposed air cooled engine powers ZK-VRV and drives a fixed pitch propeller. That engine and propeller combination can pull the aircraft along at 158 knots (293 km/hr) and consumes 43 litres of fuel per hour. However, I prefer to fly a more sedate 145 knots (268 km/hr) where the fuel consumption is a more acceptable 35 litres/hr. At height and with the engine correctly leaned I can get the fuel consumption down to 29 litres/hr.Fuel & Endurance
100 octane low-leaded aviation gasoline (100LL) keeps the four pistons of ZK-VRV pumping. Fuel is stored in two 72 litre tanks; one in each wing.For flight planning purposes the standard tanks provide a safe endurance of 3.2hrs which includes a 30min reserve. When I want to go a bit further than that my 40 litre fuel bladder can be strapped into the passenger seat beside me. The bladder is sealed to prevent dangerous fuel fumes within the aircraft and extends the safe endurance to 4.3hrs.
Avionics
Late in 2022, I performed a major upgrade of ZK-VRV's avionics and replaced the mixture of analogue and digital instruments with a state-of-the-art Dynon Skyview HDX suite. Skyview HDX offers a powerful GPS coupled autopilot and is integrated with a Garmin GTR200B VHF radio. Clunky contactors and relays were replaced by a Vertical Power Primary Power System (PPS) and the array of circuit breakers that I used to have given way to a modern microprocessor controlled secondary power system (VP-X Sport). I couldn't be more pleased with the result.
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| Avionics Upgrade - Before |
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| Avionics Upgrade - After |
