First flight--Eagle's Nest One!

This evening at 6:13 local EN-1 put air beneath her wings for the first time. I offered Jeff Malcomb (11,000 hour pilot with lots of GA time, plus RV-12 transition time) have the honors. The plane was signed off this afternoon by the FAA and the kids jumped on it to get all the inspection plates in place, etc. Some of the paint (fiberglass especially) will have to be touched up after Oshkosh, but it looks and flies great.

I have to say there was as much satisfaction watching a first flight as there was when I did my own RV-9A. I got to watch the kids as they saw THEIR creation take to the air. It is a special kind of joy.

The pilot report says that we need to increase the pitch of the prop, but there was NO heavy wing tendency. It needs a very slight tab to correct about a one-half ball to the right.

The last few weeks have had their ups and downs, hoping to make Oshkosh. Nothing is guaranteed, but we should make it. That will be one of the proudest moments in the lives of ten high school age builders, and I imagine in my life, too. I remember two years ago when I asked for money for tools to build this thing, and you guys gave generously. You can be proud, too.

Bob

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!

videobobk said:

This evening at 6:13 local EN-1 put air beneath her wings for the first time.

Bob

Click to expand...

Bob, excellent news---thanks for sharing

Congrats Bob, what an amazing accomplishment!

Congratulations

Outstanding Bob - something these kids will remember for a lifetime.
It saddens me to see the demise of the local hobby shop. At one point, on any given Saturday they would be filled with kids buying plastic models, or slot cars, or balsa airplanes and rockets. Eight, 9, 10 year old kids would sit down with plans or blueprints and start building. I have to believe that in a significant way these experiences helped to drive the innovation in technology that made this country so great. You've accomplished something quite remarkable with these kids, and I'm sure they will inspire many other young men and women to follow.

Bob, that is awesome! Will it be on display at the North Vernon fly-in?

Matt

mmeredith said:

Bob, that is awesome! Will it be on display at the North Vernon fly-in?

Matt

Click to expand...

Absolutely! We plan on not only displaying, but demoing. I expect a lot of the kids from EN-1 and EN-II to be there, and I hope a good group of RVers come over. BTW, it flies really nicely, and it was cooler at 6000'. We have the ball back in center, and hopefully the prop much closer to the right pitch (gotta try that one.) I hope to be able to make all my landings as good as the first one was, but that rarely happens! All in all, a very nice flying plane.

The Airport Awareness Day is August 11, with a rain date of August 12. It is an all-day affair, and we have $.50/gallon off on our all ready low fuel prices! Identifier is OVO, Southeastern Indiana, not far from Cincinnati.

Bob

Av8torTom said:

Outstanding Bob - something these kids will remember for a lifetime.
It saddens me to see the demise of the local hobby shop. At one point, on any given Saturday they would be filled with kids buying plastic models, or slot cars, or balsa airplanes and rockets. Eight, 9, 10 year old kids would sit down with plans or blueprints and start building. I have to believe that in a significant way these experiences helped to drive the innovation in technology that made this country so great. You've accomplished something quite remarkable with these kids, and I'm sure they will inspire many other young men and women to follow.

Click to expand...

Ohh don't worry about that. There are still plenty of us who haunt the hobby shops.

But seriously, great job to the Eagles Nest crew. Hopefully we can get ours done this fall.