The Evoke team says they should be done by about March 20th. I had hoped they would be done around the first of the month. I know it will be worth waiting for. Here are some pictures taken today (February 26th).
A Bit Delayed, but Real Progress
I Wanted a Way to Check the Tire Pressure Without Taking the Wheel Pants Off
Like all airplanes, the RV-10 tires will lose a little bit of air pressure over time. It’s easy to let the tires get soft because it is a bit of a pain in the ass to remove the wheel pants just to check the tire pressure.
I asked Evoke to modify the wheel pants to include a small access door to make checking the pressure and adding air easier. I had seen some that had a small hole with a plug in it, but I like the solution that the Evoke fiberglass guys came up with better.
Here is a picture.
It will of course look better when they are painted.
A Very Slight Change to the Paint Scheme
After seeing the very cool looking faded carbon fiber look that Evoke can do, I asked Autumn to suggest any ideas on how to add that look to my scheme. Not too much, just a little.
Getting Closer
These pictures were taken by Autumn Baugh from Evoke on February 5th. The airplane has the base coat on it. Striping, paint, and clear coat will be starting soon. Hope to be done around March 1st.
The Plan is to Fly to Sun N Fun 2026
The airplane will be done at the paint shop soon. My plan is to fly it to the airshow at Lakeland, FL in April. While I didn’t build this airplane, I am planning to enter for judging at the airshow. If it were to win an award, it will be properly credited to Lester (the builder).
I wrote an e-mail to the Sun N Fun organizers to confirm that the airplane was eligible for judging since it flew before last year’s show. They said that there is no requirement that the airplane be “new” to be eligible.
I really don’t know if it is award worthy, but I know it is an extremely good build. With an Evoke paint job, it will be one of the nicest RV builds I have ever seen. Stay tuned.
Another Picture from Evoke
It is now in the paint booth. Still a lot of work to go including final prep, base coat, striping and clear coat. Maybe 3 to 4 weeks.
Changing the Tail Number from N10LP to N662F
When I decided to sell my RV-14A in early 2025, the buyer and I agreed that I would keep the N662F tail number and he would change the airplane to N662E. When (if) I bought a new plane I would change its N Number to N662F. The reasoning was that I owned the domain name 662Fox.com, and had the g-mail alias 662Fox@gmail.com. Even the license plate on one of my cars was 662Fox.
How hard could it be to make a simple swap of N numbers?
Well, the answer is that the FAA found a way to make it a torturous ordeal. It would take about six months and dozens of phone calls and e-mails. I sent them about $70 (it should have cost $20, but they beat an extra $50 out of me just to keep the process moving forward).
First, I had to reserve the new N Number for my old plane (N662E) — that was $10. Then they said I had to request it be transferred to the new owner — $10. Then they said the new owner had to request it –$10. Then I had to request the old number (N662F) –$10. Then I had to release the existing number on my new plane (N10LP) –$10. I actually sent them $10 a couple more times because they said they weren’t sure that another agent would see the previous payments and would reject my request.
This sounds like it should take a solid two weeks — but it took six months. Every transaction has to be processed which takes about 30 days. Not to worry though, the FAA has a new portal that you can use to do this online. Except it doesn’t really work and the agents will tell you they hate it even more than I do.
So, it has now been nine months. The transfer is mostly approved. The only step left is to have the local FSDO approve my new air worthiness certificate that shows the new N number. This is done by one guy who works remotely and takes two to three weeks to reply to e-mails.
More Pictures from Evoke
I spoke to Jonathan McCormick from Evoke. He told me that the airplane was moving from the body shop to the paint booth this week. He expected the painting to take 4 to 5 weeks!
Here are some pictures taken a couple days ago.
The Garmin G3X System is Unrivaled
The RV-14A had a two screen G3X system with the GTN-650xi navigator. The autopilot was the GFC-500. It is an amazing system that I came to really love during the three plus years I flew with it. Fantastic capabilities and a modern user friendly interface.
The RV-10 has a three screen G3X system with the same navigator and autopilot.
I have a couple hundred flight hours with the certified Garmin G-1000. It is clunky and un-user-friendly. Lots of ways to get lost in the interface. Several inconsistencies such as the map zoom feature which is exactly backward from the entire rest of the world. In it’s defense, it is much older than G3X. I think it first showed up around 2005. The G3X came out in 2014 (I think).
I briefly toyed with the idea of buying a recent vintage Cirrus SR-22, but the cost, on-going maintenance costs and the G-1000 avionics made buying the RV-10 a much better choice.
There have been rumors that some follow-on to the G3X was in the works but Garmin is not saying anything. The G3X is still remarkably good after eleven years. Of course, I would buy the newest thing if it is drop-in replaceable but that is just because I am a tech nerd.
There are only two very minor issues with the panel in the RV-10:
- There is not enough lighting down low to illuminate the switches. I plan to fix this with a row of blue LEDs mounted under the lip of the upper dash (idea stolen directly from Jon Mulder).
- The flaps control is on the panel rather than on the stick where it belongs. I don’t plan to fix that one.
The Airplane Needs to be Painted
Before I had even bought the new airplane, I knew where I would want to have it painted. My RV-14A was painted by Evoke in Gadsden, AL back in 2021. They did a magnificent job. I definitely wanted this new plane to get the same treatment. The only problem is that they have a two year waiting list.
I reached out to Jonathan McCormick at Evoke hoping to get a little sooner spot since I was a two time customer. Turns out that Lester had already reserved a spot for the fall of 2025 and I could keep that spot. Woo hoo!
I won’t sugar coat it, Evoke costs a lot of money and is not fast. Having said that, there is no doubt in my mind that they are totally worth every penny and the long wait. They are meticulous in their prep work and are true artists with paint. There is a reason that the planes they paint win awards at the big airshows (Osh Kosh and Sun n Fun) every year.
Besides the great results that they create there is another reason why I would never take my airplane to any other paint shop: Customer Service. I got to work with Autumn Baugh who is one of their very talented designers. She offered lots of suggestions and even was willing to tell me when one of my ideas wouldn’t look good. She sent me countless revisions and made all the tiny changes I asked for. When it was time to take the plane to Alabama, I got to meet with her and Jonathan and review everything. We had a great lunch at Local Joe’s BBQ. Jonathan commented that my new plane was one of the best RV-10 builds he had ever seen (I wonder if he says that to every customer).
BTW, Evoke has a YouTube channel and they do some really cool videos that document what it takes to paint airplanes. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/@EvokeAviation
Here are pictures of the airplane in Gadsden (Sept 2025). I expect it to be ready by February 2026.
Local Joe’s BBQ is really good.
In case you are wondering what the paint job will look like…
I asked them to use the same colors and scheme that they used on my RV-14A. I made a few very minor changes but it will look almost exactly like my old airplane. While perhaps not as edgy as some of the designs they have done, I really like the classic under-stated design.
