anticipating vs having

[Mel]

Originally Posted by prkaye

That's canadian regulations for the first 25 hours in an amateur-built. Actually this past saturday was the first time I ever landed my -9A at an airport other than my home base.

Man, Sorry to hear that. Must be really frustrating to a guy with a Glasair III or Lancair IV.

[N8RV]

Phil, you are not alone. And yes, winter sucks.

I have about 130 hours on Smokey now, and, like you, are getting quite comfortable and worrying far less about when the engine is simply going to stop running when I fly.

However, I've often noted the boredom that hits when taking a trip somewhere more than an hour away. I level off at cruise altitude, trim it out and set the AP. Then sit back, listen to XM radio and ... and ... get bored.

After 13 years of building and living with the nagging thought, "Why am I doing this? I haven't been flying and don't really miss it ...", I've been in your doldrums.

However, one thing that I have planned that won't help you any is that I intend to take some more aerobatic training as soon as the economy picks up. Most of my flights are just local enjoyment flights anyway, so why not enjoy them to the max, right?

When spring comes and you can fly more often and explore more, I'll bet you'll find your comfort zone and begin to enjoy your plane within its limits.

As for maintenance, like Brian said, it's an ongoing thing. I actually enjoy planning changes I want to make, and I don't have to pay a mechanic to do the experimentation I want to do! Like the ejection seat I'm working on ...

Hang in there, bud.

[MikeJ 7A]

Some have said that flying is "hours of boredom punctuated with moments of stark terror".
I have 2500+ hours of military flying which included long hours of high altitude cruise as well as formation acrobatics, I've concluded that I like formation and acrobatics better than cruise. You may not be able to do acro in a -9, but if you get some training I think you might find your flying is much more stimulating with some formation buddies.

(And stay on your toes, those "moments" are coming too...)

[jjconstant]

It's really common to have a big let down after long preparation for a big milestone event. In my line of work, practicing for a big concert or audition can take months, if not years. There is almost always a big let down, especially when it's an adrenaline-producing event. Bear in mind, that the adrenaline is not only going in a big shot at the event, it goes in smaller shots every time you THINK about the event in advance, so there is going to be some withdrawl for a long period.

I also had/have similar experiences with the focus on testing/trusting the airplane. I have made a point of really trying to split my brain between focusing and enjoying.

As far as flying/testing in the winter, a Lancair friend of mine who also did his first flight and testing in the winter warned me that the first hot day, you think the airplane is broken!

As a complete aside, I grew up in Waterloo! I know there is an RV6 builder from there who did some notable high altitude testing (Terry Jansen?) but for a town that small it's pretty cool to now know of 3 folks who built RVs from there! Must be the air (pollution)

Jeremy Constant
RV7A down for first annual

[N8RV]

Originally Posted by jjconstant

... a Lancair friend of mine who also did his first flight and testing in the winter warned me that the first hot day, you think the airplane is broken! ...

How true! I flew off my Phase I hours over last winter's clear, cold days. I was able to keep my hangar warmed a bit (40*), so it wasn't as bad as Phil's dilemma. However, I'd SWEAR that Smokey was off the ground in less than 200' on those cold days with half fuel! Loved those days. And did indeed what was wrong with my plane when summer came and I would take a passenger along and used what seemed like half the runway to get off the ground ...

Too funny.

[ConneryIsTheBestBond]

Reminds me of the earth to the moon miniseries. One show covers apollo 12 crew. They wwere the second crew to land on the moon. After they were back in the command module on the way home, al bean looks at pete conrad and asks "is that all there is?"

[Bavafa]

Each installation and build can be different with various results. There are two other RVs in my airport that we started flying close to the same time, but there has been more tweaking required on their plane then mine nevertheless we all enjoy it very much. I just hit my 300 hour marker yesterday and its been 20 months since the first flight. It has been nothing but fun these last 300 hours. In fact the more I fly it the more I want to go flying and part of it has been that I have been taking more lessons and expanding my horizon on flying and that opens the door a fair amount to enjoying it.

[Russ McCutcheon]

Hi Phil,

The reality is that some of us love flying and some of us don?t. I love flying weather it?s in a Cessna 150 or my RV-4, I love flying just for the sake of flying, I?m addicted, I also relate owning my own airplane to the maximum in freedom, I decide when and where I go and answer to only myself, no mother may I rent your airplane and fly X place etc. Most of my flying is local and solo; I fly the same places all the time and never get enough, about 1100 hours in the past 5 years. I see that ?Turbo? has 3800 hours on his RV in the last 10 years; I?d say he is an addict also! I also like the occasional cross country to AZ or CA with the wife, and no auto pilot for me, I want to fly the airplane all the way!

As to maintenance,,, I did not build, I bought an old -4 from a good friend, it was old and neglected and seldom flown, in the first two years I seemed to repair or replace everything that could go wrong but since then (knock on wood) about all it needs is gas and oil.

Give it a couple years, if it just ends up sitting maybe it?s not your passion or maybe you will get hooked, no shame either way.

[flyboy1963]

Phil,
some good advice here, but I think just as there are some folks who like building better than flying, or jogging over sex ( endorphins?) there are some personality types that are simply going to have less 'fun' per gallon than others. ( Me & you!)
Cruise..... boring?.....I can hardly unclench my cheeks while looking for emergency landing spots, ( when there aren't any!)
Is the weather ever CAVU on a weekend? My longest trip has been :40 for that and other reasons. ( now I know why guys get their IFR ticket).
I look aroung the cabin.....why didn't they make it 2" wider? ( and 2 knots slower, who cares?)
...how the heck am I going to get out if I hit something on rollout and turtle this thing? ( better install that reverse ejection seat eh?)

Give yourself some time to reach your comfort level. Every plane, ( heck, everything in life really) is a compromise, and if you can't reach a comfort zone with your plane, and can identify the issues, you may have an RV10 in your future??

[eric_marsh]

I've been down the road of disappointment after a lot of anticipation many times, though it was usually for a motorcycle or hot rod that I spent a year or more building. Eventually I realized that after that first moment when they come out of the shop all new and shiny, it's all down hill from there. Dirt, minor dents, this and that. Things wear out.

I guess that my emotional response is to just not get so spun up in the anticipation part. Building and modifying vehicles (and houses or whatever a person is into) should provide it's own satisfaction. I enjoy the build process.

This reminds me of a co-worker who used to road race motorcycles. When he bought a new bike the first thing he did was whack it in the gas tank with a ball peen hammer. He told me that's so that he won't feel so bad about the inevitable damage that the bike will experience in it's racing career.