jcmcdowell
Well Known Member
I am still flying off my insurance mandated 20hrs dual tailwheel time in the RV7 I bought after selling my RV9a kit over a month ago and my instructor, A&P, EAA tech advisor, soon to be DAR, and all around good guy, Vern Darley toured the state Saturday burning off 7hrs more of my required time and in general having a good day flying.
We started a Falcon Field (FFC) and were airborne right after 8am. The cheapest fuel closest to us is Thomaston (OPN). We flew over there to fill up and practice a few crosswind landings. I'm still working on the landings, I'm feeling more comfortable with my speed and glideslope, but I'm need to focus on rudder application once ON the ground to keep her centered down the runway.
After fill up, we flew south of Macon and then over to Waycross (AYS) to visit Dr. Cleve, who is building a RV9a. We were on short final over the numbers and lo and behold horseback riders ride across the runway! One go-around later were on the ground in the cool AC. Dr. Cleve and his building partner are making great progress. Vern performed a EAA tech inspection while we were there and they were knee deep in the canopy layup.
LOOKING GOOD DR. CLEVE- Keep trucking!
I am still working on resolving the heavy left wing. Moving the Vertical Stab helped a ton and centered the ball at cruise, but I still have about 3lbs of right stick force required for level flight. We decided to install a test aileron trim to see what effect it had. I cut a small piece of foam and duck taped it under the left aileron.
We departed from Waycross and headed towards Saint Simons Island (SSI) for lunch. A short flight, but the stick pressure was DOUBLED! I installed the trim on the wrong aileron! For heavy left wing- install trim tab under the right aileron.
We landed amidst big jets coming and going, enjoyed the cool AC of the FBO and headed out to the lighthouse in a courtesy car. After a nice cool lunch at the Sandcastle Cafe, we returned the car and departed along the coastline north.
I have a little house on an island just north of Saint Simons near Darien, Ga. I've been so busy, I haven't been there in over 6 months. Conversely, I haven't sailed the 33' sailboat docked in front of the house in about a year. We did a low pass and I could see the blue stripe below the waterline of the boat- she was still floating. And off to Baxley (BHC) for a fill up. The fuel prices (thanks to AirNav) were $3.55/gallon. Baxley is a nice little airport with the lowest prices of fuel in our area consistently.
We decided to head north and flew around the Bulldog MOA up past Athens and stopped briefly at a small airport so I could check my fuses. In route, just after departing BHC, I blew a fuse on the elevator trim in the lowest down setting (nose up). I think it was from holding the button while it was fully down blew the 1 amp fuse. We landed and I spent 5 minutes under the panel swapping out some spares to get the trim back up and running.
Just in time, a nasty looking storm was heading our way pretty quickly and we zoomed around the cell north towards Toccoa (TOC). We decided to climb to 8000 to lean her out and check the fuel burn/RPM/Airspeed. At 8000 ft, we were seeing 2500 RPM, 188MPH, at less than 8gal/hr. The clouds were a little low so we climbed on up to 10,500ft. Love that Air Conditioning at that height in a hot Georgia Summer!
We flew by Toccoa (TOC) saw the dam, and some other interesting features as we headed towards Rome (RMG). The plane with my little 6 inch foam trim tab was flying near hands free with no significant stick forces. I'll work on leg and gear fairings first, then airleron hinges- but the duct tape may stay for awhile in the meantime.
The winds picked up, but we landed into the wind at Rome with no problems. Rome is a great little airport, we borrowed a courtesy car a went down the road a country mile to a little Italian restaurant for an early dinner.
From Rome we made a short takeoff (strong headwinds) and flew at 6500 around the outer ring of Atlanta Airspace cruising at 185mph at approx. 8gal/hr. The flight was going along smoothly, GPS working fine, engine pumping along- when 'POOF' a parachute deployed about 300 yards off our left wing. That's a little close- we both had images of a jumper face first on the canopy, what a disaster that would be! Luckily, there was only one Jumper, no radio transmissions (not unusual). At almost 190mph- you're out of range pretty quickly!
We flew along the outer ring of Atlanta, dropped down to 3500 and went direct into to Falcon Field. My best touchdown yet, only to spoiled by my hitting the brakes versus outer pedal of the rudder.
Back in the hangar by 7pm.
We spent 11 hours in route with 7 hours in flight. We flew from Peachtree City to the Atlantic Ocean to the Georgia Mountains and back. We flew over 1100 miles!
Another 10 hours of dual and I might know how to fly this airplane!
We started a Falcon Field (FFC) and were airborne right after 8am. The cheapest fuel closest to us is Thomaston (OPN). We flew over there to fill up and practice a few crosswind landings. I'm still working on the landings, I'm feeling more comfortable with my speed and glideslope, but I'm need to focus on rudder application once ON the ground to keep her centered down the runway.
After fill up, we flew south of Macon and then over to Waycross (AYS) to visit Dr. Cleve, who is building a RV9a. We were on short final over the numbers and lo and behold horseback riders ride across the runway! One go-around later were on the ground in the cool AC. Dr. Cleve and his building partner are making great progress. Vern performed a EAA tech inspection while we were there and they were knee deep in the canopy layup.
LOOKING GOOD DR. CLEVE- Keep trucking!
I am still working on resolving the heavy left wing. Moving the Vertical Stab helped a ton and centered the ball at cruise, but I still have about 3lbs of right stick force required for level flight. We decided to install a test aileron trim to see what effect it had. I cut a small piece of foam and duck taped it under the left aileron.
We departed from Waycross and headed towards Saint Simons Island (SSI) for lunch. A short flight, but the stick pressure was DOUBLED! I installed the trim on the wrong aileron! For heavy left wing- install trim tab under the right aileron.
We landed amidst big jets coming and going, enjoyed the cool AC of the FBO and headed out to the lighthouse in a courtesy car. After a nice cool lunch at the Sandcastle Cafe, we returned the car and departed along the coastline north.
I have a little house on an island just north of Saint Simons near Darien, Ga. I've been so busy, I haven't been there in over 6 months. Conversely, I haven't sailed the 33' sailboat docked in front of the house in about a year. We did a low pass and I could see the blue stripe below the waterline of the boat- she was still floating. And off to Baxley (BHC) for a fill up. The fuel prices (thanks to AirNav) were $3.55/gallon. Baxley is a nice little airport with the lowest prices of fuel in our area consistently.
We decided to head north and flew around the Bulldog MOA up past Athens and stopped briefly at a small airport so I could check my fuses. In route, just after departing BHC, I blew a fuse on the elevator trim in the lowest down setting (nose up). I think it was from holding the button while it was fully down blew the 1 amp fuse. We landed and I spent 5 minutes under the panel swapping out some spares to get the trim back up and running.
Just in time, a nasty looking storm was heading our way pretty quickly and we zoomed around the cell north towards Toccoa (TOC). We decided to climb to 8000 to lean her out and check the fuel burn/RPM/Airspeed. At 8000 ft, we were seeing 2500 RPM, 188MPH, at less than 8gal/hr. The clouds were a little low so we climbed on up to 10,500ft. Love that Air Conditioning at that height in a hot Georgia Summer!
We flew by Toccoa (TOC) saw the dam, and some other interesting features as we headed towards Rome (RMG). The plane with my little 6 inch foam trim tab was flying near hands free with no significant stick forces. I'll work on leg and gear fairings first, then airleron hinges- but the duct tape may stay for awhile in the meantime.
The winds picked up, but we landed into the wind at Rome with no problems. Rome is a great little airport, we borrowed a courtesy car a went down the road a country mile to a little Italian restaurant for an early dinner.
From Rome we made a short takeoff (strong headwinds) and flew at 6500 around the outer ring of Atlanta Airspace cruising at 185mph at approx. 8gal/hr. The flight was going along smoothly, GPS working fine, engine pumping along- when 'POOF' a parachute deployed about 300 yards off our left wing. That's a little close- we both had images of a jumper face first on the canopy, what a disaster that would be! Luckily, there was only one Jumper, no radio transmissions (not unusual). At almost 190mph- you're out of range pretty quickly!
We flew along the outer ring of Atlanta, dropped down to 3500 and went direct into to Falcon Field. My best touchdown yet, only to spoiled by my hitting the brakes versus outer pedal of the rudder.
Back in the hangar by 7pm.
We spent 11 hours in route with 7 hours in flight. We flew from Peachtree City to the Atlantic Ocean to the Georgia Mountains and back. We flew over 1100 miles!
Another 10 hours of dual and I might know how to fly this airplane!
