Yesterday, the RV-1 moved again under it’s own power for the first time in several years! It was a cold, blustery day in northwestern Fort Worth, with bumps and burbles in the air tumbling off of the hangars, raising havoc with airplanes trying to land on the single runway. (If you could have withstood the temperatures, it would have been quite entertaining to sit in a lawn chair and grade the various attempts at “returning safely to earth…”).
Experienced homebuilders will understand the scenario. Last week, we planned to have the Condition Inspection and a DAR visit completed this weekend. If everything worked out a hundred percent, it was not out of the realm of possibility to fly the airplane. Alas, everything worked out – except for the weather. Yet a good time was had by all, and we enjoyed the company of an EAA chapter visit on top of the usual suspects at RV Central. Finishing touches (panel labels, a few dabs of RTV) were being applied as we got back from lunch and Mel Asberry pulled out his clip-board.
We had already nixed the idea of trying to get the airplane off the ground due to the winter winds, but a few laps around the (taxiway) block were in the cards if we could only find all of the pins for the cowling! Mel finally applied the holy water, and the paperwork was complete – the RV-1 was once again a licensed experimental airplane with a hot pink airworthiness certificate. We held the traditional “Reading of the Limitations” ritual in Jay’s office, and proceeded to the next crucial step….finding the key (again)!
No, actually, the key was actually in a safe place – we just had to find the guy who knew where that safe place was. The real crucial step was finding out who would fit in the airplane – hence, the “Fairy Tale”. You know how the Glass Slipper could only fit on Cinderella’s foot? And how Goldilocks only found one bed and one bowl of porridge that were “just right”? Oh…and then there is that whole story of how only one man could pull Excalibur from the stone, thereby identifying himself as “King of the Britons”…. Yeah…fitting a pilot in the RV-1 is sort of like that!
The challengers tried, one by one. From children of EAA members to Walt Aronow, the tallest guy in the room, they tried. It seems not to be so much a matter of height or girth, but one of “in-seam” – the length of legs and how much of that is thigh versus calf. Oh yeah – shoe width is critical as well. Several worthy men tried and failed – they were well qualified candidates from an experience standpoint, warriors all…but bad words abounded as they tried to figure out how they could apply the brakes while trying to see over their knees. The winners seem to be those with reasonably proportioned legs and not too much height…sort of like the Original Seven Mercury astronauts – giants need not apply. Of course, the major question of the day was “How did Van fit into this thing?!” The answer, of course, is that we all know that historical objects shrink as time goes by….just walk into a pioneer’s cabin out west sometime, and mind your head as you duck through the entryway…
Success, however, was ours – several of us were able to get the little yellow plane started and take it around the block a few times. With brakes donated by a C-180, it would be no problem at all standing it on its nose (not an attractive posture, I can tell you!). We only found two problems that we are hoping to correct before flight – one is a worn out vernier throttle cable that makes precise control of the engine problematic (that, combined with the touchy brakes make it an “interesting” airplane on the ground). And, because we have the time, there is a little shimming that could be done to the left axle to correct a little toe-out that might make it “fun” in a wheel landing.
Even though this is a proven airframe, testing it a little at a time as it comes out of storage is important. Fixing the things we find wrong is essential. Hopefully, we’ll get this little squawks taken care of quickly, and will be looking for a hole in the weather soon.
I saw lots of cameras in action yesterday –I expect some photo of the festivities will be along soon….
Paul
Experienced homebuilders will understand the scenario. Last week, we planned to have the Condition Inspection and a DAR visit completed this weekend. If everything worked out a hundred percent, it was not out of the realm of possibility to fly the airplane. Alas, everything worked out – except for the weather. Yet a good time was had by all, and we enjoyed the company of an EAA chapter visit on top of the usual suspects at RV Central. Finishing touches (panel labels, a few dabs of RTV) were being applied as we got back from lunch and Mel Asberry pulled out his clip-board.
We had already nixed the idea of trying to get the airplane off the ground due to the winter winds, but a few laps around the (taxiway) block were in the cards if we could only find all of the pins for the cowling! Mel finally applied the holy water, and the paperwork was complete – the RV-1 was once again a licensed experimental airplane with a hot pink airworthiness certificate. We held the traditional “Reading of the Limitations” ritual in Jay’s office, and proceeded to the next crucial step….finding the key (again)!
No, actually, the key was actually in a safe place – we just had to find the guy who knew where that safe place was. The real crucial step was finding out who would fit in the airplane – hence, the “Fairy Tale”. You know how the Glass Slipper could only fit on Cinderella’s foot? And how Goldilocks only found one bed and one bowl of porridge that were “just right”? Oh…and then there is that whole story of how only one man could pull Excalibur from the stone, thereby identifying himself as “King of the Britons”…. Yeah…fitting a pilot in the RV-1 is sort of like that!
The challengers tried, one by one. From children of EAA members to Walt Aronow, the tallest guy in the room, they tried. It seems not to be so much a matter of height or girth, but one of “in-seam” – the length of legs and how much of that is thigh versus calf. Oh yeah – shoe width is critical as well. Several worthy men tried and failed – they were well qualified candidates from an experience standpoint, warriors all…but bad words abounded as they tried to figure out how they could apply the brakes while trying to see over their knees. The winners seem to be those with reasonably proportioned legs and not too much height…sort of like the Original Seven Mercury astronauts – giants need not apply. Of course, the major question of the day was “How did Van fit into this thing?!” The answer, of course, is that we all know that historical objects shrink as time goes by….just walk into a pioneer’s cabin out west sometime, and mind your head as you duck through the entryway…
Success, however, was ours – several of us were able to get the little yellow plane started and take it around the block a few times. With brakes donated by a C-180, it would be no problem at all standing it on its nose (not an attractive posture, I can tell you!). We only found two problems that we are hoping to correct before flight – one is a worn out vernier throttle cable that makes precise control of the engine problematic (that, combined with the touchy brakes make it an “interesting” airplane on the ground). And, because we have the time, there is a little shimming that could be done to the left axle to correct a little toe-out that might make it “fun” in a wheel landing.
Even though this is a proven airframe, testing it a little at a time as it comes out of storage is important. Fixing the things we find wrong is essential. Hopefully, we’ll get this little squawks taken care of quickly, and will be looking for a hole in the weather soon.
I saw lots of cameras in action yesterday –I expect some photo of the festivities will be along soon….
Paul
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