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Sharing the RV Grin

planenutz

Well Known Member
It was with pure joy that on the afternoon of 10th August we stood beside the runway at Cromwell, South Island, NZ, and watched as ZK-XTC (RV-6 S/N: 23173) lifted off the ground for the first time. Too many years were spent hiding in the garage and I'd all but given up on the dream of seeing this thing fly. Sam Chartres (RV-6, ZK-SRV) did the honours and it was fantastic to be able to share the RV Grin with him at the end.

This aircraft is powered by a Superior IO-360 driving a Sensenich 72 x 85 FP Prop and weighs in at 1116 lbs. As at this weekend we have 5.6 hours shared between Sam and myself and I can see its going to be a battle over who draws the short straw for each flight during this Phase 1 test period. That said, as much as I'm enjoying the flying of it myself its fantastic to be able sit and watch somebody else take it away and have some fun too.

Typical of any RV the left wing was a little heavy however this was easy to rectify. All the systems are running as expected but I've got a lot to learn as this is really the first time I've flown with the GRT EFIS gear after a lifetime of using steam gauges. The IO-360 is providing heaps of grunt... maybe too much... I'm a little concerned that we can achieve more than 2800 RPM at full throttle and I was expecting this prop to be better suited to the engine.

My wife and kids are chomping to get into the right seat for a fly therefore the pressure is on to get through the 40 hour test period so we can start taking PAX. My daughter went solo in the Bolkow Monsun a couple of weeks ago and she's already eyeing up the RV-6 but I told her she's got to have 200 hours before I'll let he take it. Incentive to get her PPL out of the way.

Here's to a future full of RV Grins! :D
 

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Well done!

(I should mention that in North America most folks won't properly understand the qualifications listed in your signature line. Here "lame" means, well, pretty much useless. Of course in your part of the world LAME means Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer - definitely not a useless qualification!)
 
Well done!

(I should mention that in North America most folks won't properly understand the qualifications listed in your signature line. Here "lame" means, well, pretty much useless. Of course in your part of the world LAME means Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer - definitely not a useless qualification!)

Thanks C_J. Maybe I was expecting too much to assume the North Americans would have understood that.

And thanks Mike S... its a great achievement and I'm sure you know the feeling well.
 
Congratulations Mike. I am over at Waimate with a Rv 14 that I completed In 2019. May be we can catch up one day.
Your rv 6 looks great. Enjoy the test flying it’s a great part of the process.
Roger.
 
Congratulations Mike. I am over at Waimate with a Rv 14 that I completed In 2019. May be we can catch up one day.
Your rv 6 looks great. Enjoy the test flying it’s a great part of the process.
Roger.

Thanks for that.

I remember seeing photos of your machine posted when you got it flying, Roger. I'd love to have a look at it. Maybe a brew at Omarama one day? It's as far north as we can go on the current Phase 1 restriction.

Sam and I have both done Phase 1 testing on other RV's and its always proven to be some of the most enjoyable flying we've done. I'm looking forward to making progress on my own machine.
 
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