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One Man's First Flight

DarylT

Well Known Member
This past weekend I did my transition training with Alex De Dominicis. And I am proud to say I one of hundreds of pilots on his list of students. What a pleasure it was to fly with Alex. We have all had those instructors that say just jump in and lets go fly but I really enjoyed his way of doing things. Alex has a very relaxed style of instructing and discusses with you first about his approach to training and what you are going to do during the flying portion. As a builder just getting back in to regular flying again I found this approach worked well for me. His pre and post flight discussions after each flight made it possible for me to make this transition much easier.

His operation is first class in all aspects. All 3 planes look like they are off the show room floor complete with A/C. And when doing low level flying doing the repetitive touch n go thing I cannot emphasize enough how much this really helps. If you are a builder and getting ready for your first flight do yourself a favor and go fly with Alex. The confidence you will have after will be well worth it.

On my drive back to Houston on Sunday I spent a lot of time thinking about what Alex and I discussed and what I needed to work on going forward. I really wanted to do the flight when I got back in to town but I did not want to rush things just to get it done but I still made up my mind I was not going to wait very long. In my case I had a good friend with a lot of flying experience including RV's do my actual first flight exactly 31 days prior to my day. I know many folks dream of the day of flying the plane they built themselves but remember your first flight is still "Yours". I decided this approach was the best one for me and I am so glad I did. After seeing my plane fly for 3 plus hours you can only imagine the increased confidence I had in the plane.

So this past Tuesday Sept. 24, 2012 after work I did my first flight. What an experience. I got a bit of a late start and didn't want my first landing to be after dark so the total flight time was around 40 minutes. With the time on the plane now I am seeing the CHT temps dropping and I think breakin is just around the corner.

Anyway I wanted to share my approach with others getting close to completion. I know as you are in the shop building you spend time thinking about this very special day and there are many ways you can do this first flight thing. Just give it thought about what you think will work best for you and your situation and be safe and don't rush it. Also many thanks to John, Jim and Alex for helping me with this process.

As everyone says.... Keep pounding those rivets it is so worth it!!!
 
Great job Daryl - as I always tell folks, your first flight is always going to be YOUR first flight! Nothing can make it less special.
 
Congratulations!

It is a good feeling looking out at those wings you built high above the earth on that first flight. Start planning some trips. Come NE to visit.
 
So this past Tuesday Sept. 24, 2012 after work I did my first flight.

And there was much rejoicing, yeaaaa!!!! But enough of that, get back out there fly that sucker some more! You have a date with a paint shop to keep...
 
Way To Go

Daryl, nice job. I've been following your progress over the years and am happy to see you achieve your goal. Congratulations !
Neal Pannell (Gary W's neighbor in PTC, GA :)
 
I'll second the comments about Alex. I also did my checkout with him. He's a great instructor and a class act. I highly recommend him!
 
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