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First Flight: RV-10 959RV

9GT

Well Known Member
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I started building the tail feathers of #40637 in January of 2006. I then took a 2 year hiatus to finish the Cozy MKIV I was building and had sold to a friend. After the Cozy MKIV was flying in Phase 2, my buddy came out every weekend on a Saturday to help me finish building the RV-10. The first flight was pretty accidental as I was doing final taxi testing at lower rpm settings due to how fast the RV-10 reaches take-off speed. A little too much back pressure on the stick and she was off the ground. I added full power and as I had expected from my transition training with Alex De Dominicis, 959RV started to climb like a home sick angel. The plane was WAY out of trim but once I was 2500' agl and sticking close to the airport I was able to trim it to fly pretty mush hands off. Some obvious squaks: The airspeed is not reading correctly on the G3X or Dynon screens pegging out at 36-38 knots, and the MP readings dropped to 11" although the engine ran exceptionally well. U used the GPS ground speed to fly and land the plane coming in a little hot for a safety buffer. I flew for .8 hours too feel the plane out and let the engine EGT and CHT readings stabilize. 959RV is officially in Phase 1 and there is obvious trouble shooting to keep me busy in a cold hanger.
 
Congrats David!

I had a fuel pump die on my first flight, so I can relate to some of the issues you experienced. You'll get things figured out. Just keep at it. I managed to finish Phase I Christmas afternoon.

Bob
 
Congratulations

Congratulations David! Major milestone. And such a beautiful RV-10.

Looking forward to getting up to see it again and more RV talk.
 
The first flight was pretty accidental as I was doing final taxi testing at lower rpm settings due to how fast the RV-10 reaches take-off speed. A little too much back pressure on the stick and she was off the ground. I added full power and as I had expected from my transition training with Alex De Dominicis, 959RV started to climb like a home sick angel. The plane was WAY out of trim but once I was 2500' agl and sticking close to the airport I was able to trim it to fly pretty mush hands off. Some obvious squaks: The airspeed is not reading correctly on the G3X or Dynon screens pegging out at 36-38 knots, and the MP readings dropped to 11" although the engine ran exceptionally well. U used the GPS ground speed to fly and land the plane coming in a little hot for a safety buffer. I flew for .8 hours too feel the plane out and let the engine EGT and CHT readings stabilize. 959RV is officially in Phase 1 and there is obvious trouble shooting to keep me busy in a cold hanger.

I've got to say this. This was an accident waiting to happen here. Be careful out there guys and girls.. I don't say this lightly nor to be mean. Much has been written about planning and preparing for first flights, both for the pilot and the plane.

Congratulations to you and your plane on surviving your first flight.
 
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I've got to say this. This was an accident waiting to happen here. Be careful out there guys and girls.. I don't say this lightly nor to be mean. Much has been written about planning and preparing for first flights, both for the pilot and the plane.

Congratulations to you and your plane on surviving your first flight.

You may be right for those without transition training or a long gap of no flying, but not in this case. I am sure he was as prepared as I was to fly after transition training by David Maib.
 
Congrats on the first flight.
Van himself cautions about high speed taxi tests, for obvious reasons. I am glad you were prepared. I have a question about the airspeed; my DAR insisted on pitot-static and transponder tests before he would issue A/W. Did yours? It was never clear to me if this was a universal requirement, or because I'm within a mode C veil.
 
(a) No person may operate an airplane, or helicopter, in controlled airspace under IFR unless...

See 91.411

I had mine done for vfr only. It does not test pitot/airspeed.

Most of us xc fliers are required to have transponder tested(see 91.413) every 24 mo. They still use the same test equipment connected to static to test encoder accuracy, so may as well get both signed off.

So, it depends on where he flies out of and his DAR/FAA. My FAA guy did not mention it. I also had 430W/496 GS displayed on first flight like David.
 
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FSDO didn't even ask about the pitot static system during my inspection.

I thought it was working, but I did a series of taxi tests before first flight making sure I didn't go over 40 knots. I wanted to see the airspeed come alive on the EFIS before the first flight. I too used GPS ground speed to monitor my speed.

It turned up two issues. I had a problem with the throttle cable and the pitot line came uplugged. Both were easy to resolve and were done before first flight.
 
My DAR did not request a pitot/static test, just the VFR transponder cert which was dead on per the avionics shop that did the test. My airspeed never "came alive" until about 34 knots and maxed out at around 38-39 knots and I didn't want to push it any more for fear of getting air-born. It always "felt" that I was going faster than that though. I guess I wasn't paying attention to the GS the G3X displayed during my runs. My buddy flying the Cozy MKIV has a Dynon Skyview now that replaced 2 Blue Mountain screens. He stated his airspeed never came alive until around 30 knots on both systems so I thought that it was just the way they work. I used the Safe-Air kit for fittings and lines and am not crazy about how stiff the lines are and wonder if they are sealing properly. I am also beginning to wonder if I may have reversed the pitot and AOA lines at the Dynon pitot tube? The MP was working perfectly for all my ground runs and testing. There may be the possibility of oil/moisture causing an obstruction or freezing in the line from the engine to the MP sensor mounted on the FW. We are away for the Holiday but I plan to get to the hanger Thursday to de-cowl the engine and start trouble shooting,,,,,even in these frigid MI temperatures.
 
Congrats!

Sincerest congratulations on the first flight. What a way to end this year and start a new one!
Good for you for keeping your head in the game to insure a successful outcome. While I believe there is a time and place for taxi tests, I also recommend that anytime the aircraft is moved out of the chocks and onto a runway, it has ALWAYS and COMPLETELY been prepped for flight. This would include securing all items/belts in the cabin, and all flight controls/engine controlstrim/radios/doors/fuel systems be set to their proper position, and a takeoff checklist that has been properly completed.

Just my advice/opinion. :)

Happy New Year!

Vic
 
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