Dan Langhout
Well Known Member
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"!
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"!
Last edited: