First flight

[DeltaVee47]

Good morning
We flew N557GB for the first time yesterday-twice actually.
The plane flies perfect straight and level hands off. A real testament to the Vans folks that a rank amateur can assemble a plane that flies great right off.
Two questions
1)The manifold pressure was reading about 30 inches on takeoff where I was expecting maybe 28.5 at sea level. I do not see that there is a calibration ability for this in my G3X touch system. I have dual p mags with a tee junction for the MAP tubing. Could a slight restriction somewhere cause this reading or should I look elsewhere?
2)I love the sensitive control inputs but pitch seems almost too sensitive and when I put the nose down and speed built up the control forces became very heavy. I reduced power to avoid pulling too hard. Normal for this bird? I actually hope so and I will learn to use the touch of a surgeon.
Otherwise perfect flight. We found nothing amiss under the cowl after so we buttoned up and flew again because why not?
Thanks everyone for this and all the support over the years
Greg Beckner

[Bavafa]

Congrats, certainly an exciting time and it only gets better.

Your experience with the control is normal, specially if you are not use to a RV.

[bkervaski]

Awesome Congratulations!

[2of5]

Congratulations!

[mturnerb]

Congratulations on your first flight!!

Pitch trim is sensitive in the -14. You can set pitch trim speed to be very slow at higher airspeeds which helps.

[kbalch]

Congrats!!

As others have said, RVs are pitch-sensitive and the trim motor speed can be adjusted. This should all have been covered in your transition training... :-)

[RV8JD]

I would replace the word "sensitive" to "responsive" when talking about Van's control response.

[lr172]

Originally Posted by DeltaVee47

1)The manifold pressure was reading about 30 inches on takeoff where I was expecting maybe 28.5 at sea level. I do not see that there is a calibration ability for this in my G3X touch system. I have dual p mags with a tee junction for the MAP tubing. Could a slight restriction somewhere cause this reading or should I look elsewherer

It's not a restriction, just not overly accurate sensors. Most are built for EFI systems that don't require tight tolerences (being off an inch is pretty common). You need to do some math to convert the local altimeter setting to actual barometric pressure at your altitude, then compare with G3X with engine off. If you are at seal level, the local altimeter will be barometric pressure. You can then see how far off the sensor is. You can build a custom table in the G3X to match your sensor. The problem is that you will need to get various readings and match them to actual pressure levels, as well as the voltage output at those levels to build a curve. Not likely worth it if it is only off an inch or so. You can do it on the bench with a vacuum pump and vacuum gauge, but requires some math.

Congrats on your first flight.

Larry

[kbalch]

Originally Posted by RV8JD

I would replace the word "sensitive" to "responsive" when talking about Van's control response.

Sure, though that won't be the first thought of anyone coming from the spam can side of GA. Unless someone has a bit of time with other "thumb and two fingers" control pressure (not movement!) airplanes (Pitts, Extra, etc.), it'll be awhile before they've acclimated sufficiently to enjoy the responsiveness.

For those of us who learned to drive without power steering/brakes, remember how sensitive those systems seemed at first. I sure wasn't reveling in their responsiveness, that's for sure!

Anyway, those first moments of acclimatizing to a new airplane's control characteristics are accounted for by proper training in advance of one's own airplane's first flight.

[RV8JD]

Originally Posted by kbalch

Sure, though that won't be the first thought of anyone coming from the spam can side of GA. Unless someone has a bit of time with other "thumb and two fingers" control pressure (not movement!) airplanes (Pitts, Extra, etc.), it'll be awhile before they've acclimated sufficiently to enjoy the responsiveness.

For those of us who learned to drive without power steering/brakes, remember how sensitive those systems seemed at first. I sure wasn't reveling in their responsiveness, that's for sure!

I often hear non-RV folks and folks that have one or two flights in an RV comment that RV's are "sensitive", like that is a bad thing. I choose to recast the conversation in terms of "responsive", and not promulgate the misconception. The word "sensitive" has a slightly negative connotation as opposed to the word "responsive", which seems more ... well ... delightful!