Jeff R
Well Known Member
N296JR made its first flight today after almost exactly 5 years of effort! I had hoped the first flight would have occurred on Friday July 7, but since the Orlando FSDO won?t allow DARs to issue temporary airworthiness certificates, I had to wait until the following Tuesday. But, that was the day I and my kids were heading to Comic Con in San Diego for a week, so my plane had to sit to await my return. That, and I still had a bit of transition training to complete with Jan Bussell of Okeechobee. Comic Con was fun, obviously, but I was happy to get back to Florida and pick up my airworthiness Tuesday and have Jan come back to complete my training today (Wednesday). We also did my biennial while we were at it, and reviewed slow fight, stalls and we did a bunch of landings in his RV-6A.
I had long debated with myself and others about me making the first flight. I have not flown much in the last few years and that was in either a C-152, C-162 or C-172. The C-162 (Skycatcher) was nice in learning to fly with an electronic panel but, of course, is nothing like an RV. Learning to fly Jan?s RV-6A wasn?t as difficult as I thought it might be, but that is more of a testament to his instruction than my piloting skills. Anyway, I was pretty confident that I could pull off the first flight given Jan?s training, but I still knew I would be very nervous, and nervous pilots make mistakes. Plus, with my relative lack of recent experience, I realized that what would be a minor issue to an experienced RV pilot could become major for me. So, I asked Jan to make the first flight and he agreed. So, after conducting a thorough inspection of my airplane, he hoped in and??
?.he went flying in my airplane!!!!
He was up for about half an hour, circling the airport, before he made a successful landing. The only issue he found was that cylinder 1 ran a bit hot during climb out, where it reached about 420F. In cruise they all fell below 400F (and as I have a new engine, I expect the temps to fall after break-in). On the ground, after opening the cowling, we found no oil leaks. We did note that the aft part of the engine baffling had bowed forward just a tad, allowing air to pass through, so I will RTV it tomorrow and see what that does. The engine did have a sticky exhaust valve prior to flight, but the engine ran smooth in flight so hopefully sustained operation will keep the value unstuck.
I will take her up solo tomorrow and official start the test flight program.
It was quite the thrill to see my baby finally fly. You spend years building these things and dreaming of days like this. What remains is to fly it myself, and then to actually start using the plane for its intended purpose ? to travel and have fun. It has been a long ordeal to get this plane built, with plenty of blood, sweat and even a few tears, but it was all worth it to see her fly today.
I had long debated with myself and others about me making the first flight. I have not flown much in the last few years and that was in either a C-152, C-162 or C-172. The C-162 (Skycatcher) was nice in learning to fly with an electronic panel but, of course, is nothing like an RV. Learning to fly Jan?s RV-6A wasn?t as difficult as I thought it might be, but that is more of a testament to his instruction than my piloting skills. Anyway, I was pretty confident that I could pull off the first flight given Jan?s training, but I still knew I would be very nervous, and nervous pilots make mistakes. Plus, with my relative lack of recent experience, I realized that what would be a minor issue to an experienced RV pilot could become major for me. So, I asked Jan to make the first flight and he agreed. So, after conducting a thorough inspection of my airplane, he hoped in and??
?.he went flying in my airplane!!!!
He was up for about half an hour, circling the airport, before he made a successful landing. The only issue he found was that cylinder 1 ran a bit hot during climb out, where it reached about 420F. In cruise they all fell below 400F (and as I have a new engine, I expect the temps to fall after break-in). On the ground, after opening the cowling, we found no oil leaks. We did note that the aft part of the engine baffling had bowed forward just a tad, allowing air to pass through, so I will RTV it tomorrow and see what that does. The engine did have a sticky exhaust valve prior to flight, but the engine ran smooth in flight so hopefully sustained operation will keep the value unstuck.
I will take her up solo tomorrow and official start the test flight program.
It was quite the thrill to see my baby finally fly. You spend years building these things and dreaming of days like this. What remains is to fly it myself, and then to actually start using the plane for its intended purpose ? to travel and have fun. It has been a long ordeal to get this plane built, with plenty of blood, sweat and even a few tears, but it was all worth it to see her fly today.
