RV-10 First Flight

On Thursday, September 15, 2005, our RV10 took flight for the first time. Everything was as anticipated and we are looking forward to flying off the 40 hours required by the FAA for the test program.

Jim & Brent Headberg (Father & Son)
Wellington Aero Club
Wellington, Florida

Congrats Jim and Brent!!!

Hope the test period is a piece of cake!

Best,
Doug

congratulations, looking forward to picts and some more exciting news about how she flies.

Way to Go!

Congrats!

And I second the picture and flight characteristics request.

Good luck, and have fun!

Mark.

RV10 Flight Characteristics

So far, our test pilot has indicated a slightly nose heavy (forward CG) characteristic during takeoff and landing. He was only able to use about 50% flaps so far on landing, and reported that elevator control was back to the stops, and nose heavy, and a bit tedious, needing a little power in the flare.

Since then, he added some weight aft and the problem went away. Seems that solo flying needs some aft CG added on our plane. He also began stall tests, and could not get the plane to stall....hmmmm, do we have a stall proof aircraft?

The last pass over the field yesterday at 1500 feet indicated 185mph, not sure what % power he was running.

After every flight, his comments continue to indicate a very good flying aircraft.

I'll post photos this evening,
Brent (son)

Congratulations!

I peddling as hard as I can to catch up with you. Looking forward to seeing some pics of your RV10!

jimrhg said:

So far, our test pilot has indicated a slightly nose heavy (forward CG) characteristic during takeoff and landing. He was only able to use about 50% flaps so far on landing, and reported that elevator control was back to the stops, and nose heavy, and a bit tedious, needing a little power in the flare.

Since then, he added some weight aft and the problem went away. Seems that solo flying needs some aft CG added on our plane. He also began stall tests, and could not get the plane to stall....hmmmm, do we have a stall proof aircraft?

Click to expand...

Due to the nose heavy characteristic we are experiencing during landings, we have decided to make an adjustment to the horizontal stabilizer and remove some shims from the front to trim the nose up. The chase plane has reported that the elevator doesn't appear to be neutral during level flight...a little up. Hopefully this adjustment will improve the elevator control on landing.

This may also be why we don't have enough back stick to stall the plane.

I'll report back after the next flight, once these trim adjustments are made.