What VS/power/speed on final/1st flight

Hi ya'll,

I'm about a week and a half away from flying my RV-7A. My plane is equipped with an O-360-A1A and a Hartzell CS prop.

I'm currently making up my flight test plan and I've recently completed my transition training with Mike S.

My rough plan for the first flight (based on talking with other RV folks, flight advisor, Van's test plan etc...) is:
1) Climb up to 6Kish AGL
2) Do some low bank angle stuff/check trim
3) Extend flaps in steps/check trim & controlablity
4) Do a couple approach to stalls and record this IAS as a preliminary Vso. Record 1.4 Vso as the speed for final (Vf for this discussion)
5) Fly a mock pattern to find the power level that will give me a 400/ft min descent rate when the IAS is Vf.

So my question to ya'll (especially O-360/CS types) - what vertical speed/power level/airspeed do you typically see on final. I'll certainly use numbers based on my test plan, but it would help to have some tenative numbers included on my flight card.

Kevin

Let the engine dictate

Kevin,

My 2 cents is...climbing to 6000' on the first flight might not be the best idea. You may not have a problem, but you should keep a close eye on engine temps, assuming you're breaking in the engine. If your CHTs and oil temp are all in the green, then go for it. But you might get to 3000' and see high CHT and oil temp.

As far as climb speed goes, again, let the engine dictate. Keep your airspeed up in the climb to help provide as much cooling as possible. 120-140mph in the climb is what I would recommend, personally. This is not a very steep climb, but that's the point.

Your indicated airspeed on final depends on the accuracy of your installation and gauge. This is why a chase plane comes in handy on that first flight. It's ideal if you can fly alongside the chase plane while you're doing a slow flight test, and cross reference indicated airspeeds with the "known good" on the chase plane. If the chase plane is indicating 70 and you're indicating 92, well, then you know you need to adjust your expected speed on final accordingly.

Have you done any transition training in RVs? Transition training should give you all the perspective you need on nailing airspeeds.

I could rattle off speeds that I use, but everybody has different opinions on that stuff. Just fly how you were trained.

)_( Dan
RV-7 N714D
http://www.rvproject.com