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RV-3B First Flight

randylervold

randylervold

moderator
Add another RV-3B to the fleet. N223RL flew last Wednesday night at 6:30 pm... I've been too busy flying it and fixing squawks to post until now. As of this writing it has 8.7 on the hobbs. Here's a few pics...

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Test plane and chase plane ready to go

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Taxiing out for first takeoff

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In flight, all systems green

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Back to earth for the first time

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Yes, it's worth it!

There were a few squawks on the first flight, all of which have now been fixed. They included prop surging, heavy right wing, and landing gear shimmy on rollout.

In terms of speed, my hope was that I'd never need to have any of my O-360 powered RV-4/6/7/8 pals wait for me. So far so good, max cruise at 8,000' is 213 mph TAS and flat out at 1,500 feet is 220 mph TAS. What's really remarkable though is the climb -- it goes up like a scalded monkey! I was still seeing 1,800 fpm up passing through 6,000'.

Of course there's still more work to do with testing and further adjustments. Most significantly at this point is to relocate the battery aft of the seat (currently fwd of the main wing spar) to shift the CG aft a bit.

More details on everything on my web site, www.rv-3.com.

Cheers!
 
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congrats

Randy,

That is one beautiful airplane. I hear that the 3 flys better than all the other models. Is it true?
 
Excellent!

Congratulations Randy! As I told you at Oshkosh, your -8 site was a huge aid in the early days of decision-making on my build - glad for everyone that you documented your -3 build as well. Louise seems to think there might be a -3 in our future as well....

Have a great time flying Phase 1 !

Paul
 
Excellent job Randy! Been following your site. You have me thinking that an RV-3 might be in my future... with the RV-10 in the family, it might be nice to have something fun for me.
 
Congratulations Randy! I continue to check the RV-3 works frequently for inspiration for my "After the RV-9A project"! N223RL is one beautiful airplane!
 
Congratulations, Randy! I've also been a regular visitor to your RV-3 site, following along as you were building. It's a real beauty, and thanks for the new desktop inspiration!
 
Congratulations!

Randy,

Congratulations on the first flight. I wish I could have stuck it out on my RV-3B project, but it wasn't in the cards. I haven't given up the idea of an RV in my future, though.

I read the information on your site about empty weight. I knew yours would tip the scales a little because of all the goodies you were installing, but that figure even suprised me. I think I would have had a problem with the weight unless I built it bare bones.

Ken
 
Congratulations

Great job Randy! I was lucky to be a Van's on last Thursday and get to see it up close. The workmanship looked great to me. Way to go!

Tom Turnbull
RV-7A FWF
 
Randy, I really like you interior and Panel colors.
What type of paint did you use to finish it.
Nice Website by the way.
Thanks
 
TGRV7 said:
Randy, I really like you interior and Panel colors.
What type of paint did you use to finish it.
Nice Website by the way.
Thanks
Click to expand...
The interior is PPG Concept (DCC), same as the exterior but with some flattening agent added. The interior color is 35542 "Pennine Gray". I originally had my panel painted the same color/paint but rebuilt it yet another time and just went with SEM semi-flat black trim paint. It isn't as durable as the Concept but is fairly easy to repaint. More info on the painting it here.

Thanks everyone for the kind words!!
 
Oh well now that just does it. I simply must have one. Attaboy, Randy. I hadn't checked your website in a while then just a few days ago had this curious thought sneak up on me...I wonder if the next Grand Champion RV-3 has flown yet...

Clearly, it has!

Have fun.
 
Wow! What a beauty! Congratulations, Randy, on your marvelous accomplishment. Your work and excellent website continues to provide a tremendous level of inspiration. My goal is to one day fly off your wingtip in my own -3B. Have a blast!

Bob C.
 
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