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  #1  
Old 07-27-2014, 11:01 PM
Dan Langhout's Avatar
Dan Langhout Dan Langhout is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Huntsville, AL USA
Posts: 546
Default . . and Now the Payoff - First Flight N528DP

So the REALLY big day is finally here!

My wife Pam and I just got back Friday (July 25th) from a trip out to Lees Summit, MO where I got my final transition training from Bill Gill in his beautiful RV-7. I didn't want my training to get stale and the weather for Saturday July 26th looked pretty good so . . . . out to the Courtland (9A4) airport we go about 9:00 AM.

After dragging the plane out of the hangar and giving a thorough preflight, it was time to get in.



Strap in, start the engine . . . . .



. . . . and taxi out.



Thorough mag check, lots of butterflies, push the throttle up and then . . . .



How about that! It flies just like Bills out in MO! I can't stress enough the value of the transition training I received. The familiarity and feel was right there.
Flew in a circle around the airport for about 30 minutes at 3500 ft. Did a stall to get a feel for the airspeed calibration and then brought it in to land. Following Bills advice, I actually did a go around on my first attempt since I wasn't completely happy with my roundout. Did a pretty good landing on my second attempt.

After taxing back in, Pam and I couldn't resist taking this goofy selfie showcasing the RV Grin.



The plane does have a few issues. The prop governor is way out of adjustment (RPM too low). High cylinder head temps. Just a bit of a heavy left wing (maybe). But it was a thrill to finally fly it after 7 years of work!

Pam took lots of video and still shots. http://youtu.be/U4wGEgJRYHs is a link to a 3 minute edited down youtube video of the flight.

I guess I'm now one of those guys who can say "Keep pounding those rivets"!
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Dan Langhout
2020 =VAF= Dues PAID . . . . .
RV-7 N528DP slow build
First Flight July 26th, 2014
665 hours and counting . . . .
Now based at Moontown (3M5)

Last edited by Dan Langhout : 05-26-2018 at 11:04 AM.
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  #2  
Old 07-27-2014, 11:05 PM
rv7boy's Avatar
rv7boy rv7boy is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Austinville, Alabama
Posts: 2,458
Thumbs up First Flight Congratulations!

Congratulations, Dan! All that hard work really paid off. She is a beautiful RV-7. I'm hoping Doug sees this and puts it on the front page tomorrow morning (Monday).

P.S. for those that may not know... The Courtland Airport, built in World War II, was a training base for B-24 bomber pilots. Two of its original three runways are still in use. There are lots of open airspace and open fields around that airport.
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Don Hull
RV-7 Wings
KDCU Pryor Field
Pilots'n Paws Pilot
N79599/ADS-B In and Out...and I like it!

?Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights;
it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." Miriam Beard

Last edited by rv7boy : 07-27-2014 at 11:15 PM.
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  #3  
Old 07-27-2014, 11:26 PM
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RVG8tor RVG8tor is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: McKinney, TX
Posts: 1,261
Default Awesome

Congratulation!
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RV-8A (First Flight 12-12-12!)
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  #4  
Old 07-28-2014, 05:57 AM
Sam Buchanan's Avatar
Sam Buchanan Sam Buchanan is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: North Alabama
Posts: 4,301
Default

Very nice Dan (and Pam)!

If you ever see Dan's plane, take a close look at the immaculate paint. Matter of fact, scroll back up the page and take a good look at the photo...check out the shadowing on the N-numbers. What you are seeing is all paint, no vinyl. And Dan painted this plane in his basement shop! The rest of the plane is built with the same attention to detail....beautiful example of RV art.
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Last edited by Sam Buchanan : 07-28-2014 at 06:00 AM.
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  #5  
Old 07-28-2014, 06:11 AM
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Vlad Vlad is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Utah
Posts: 8,151
Default

Nice job eight delta pop! Congratulations!


PS; Original runways? On my bucket list
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Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей.
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  #6  
Old 07-28-2014, 06:15 AM
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RickWoodall RickWoodall is offline
 
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Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 1,452
Default Nice

Enjoy many years of great flights. Good job!
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9a -TMX io-320, catto three blade, dual dynon hdx with a/p. 900+ hrs in 8 yrs flying.

Flew to Osh 11,12,15,17,19. SNF 2013. West to Cali /Washington/Vancouver/crossed the Rockies north to Red Deer east to Moosonee and over to maritimes. South to Jekyll Isl, cedar key, and Key West etc. 6 trips and 17 islands of the Bahamas. Flown turtles and dogs for Pilots n Paws too. Love our Rv's
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  #7  
Old 07-28-2014, 06:52 AM
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MikeyDale MikeyDale is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Garden City Texas
Posts: 878
Default Wow!

What a great paint job and super nice plane! Was this your first one to paint?
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RV 7 FLYING SINCE 4/2015!
Garden City, Texas
First Flight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqgxhWH3pqA
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  #8  
Old 07-28-2014, 08:20 AM
miko38 miko38 is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: vermilion ohio
Posts: 83
Default

Great paint scheme!
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  #9  
Old 07-28-2014, 09:08 AM
BenNabors BenNabors is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Alabama
Posts: 127
Default

Congratulations, I cannot imagine the heart pounding excitement of a first flight after seven years of work. Your title "And now the payoff" is perfect! If you are giving tours of the final product sometime let me know. I would love to see it and show it to my son. We are in Huntsville.
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  #10  
Old 07-28-2014, 09:15 AM
David-aviator David-aviator is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Chesterfield, Missouri
Posts: 4,514
Default

Excellent, Dan!!

Nothing like that first flight, congrats on it and the build.
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