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First Time Soloing an RV poll

Prior to Soloing an RV I....

  • Flew in a friends RV and learned by watching

    Votes: 33 15.7%
  • Took transition training with a CFI

    Votes: 140 66.7%
  • Jumped in, closed the hatch, and took off!

    Votes: 46 21.9%

  • Total voters
    210
  • Poll closed .

drone_pilot

Well Known Member
Regarding first solo flight in an RV, Im curious as to how many in this forum made their first solo flight in an RV by first.....

A) Flying along in a friends RV prior to soloing (no formal training)
B) Getting dual instruction/transition training with a CFI prior to solo
C) Soloing involved strapping in and going(aka cold turkey/seat of the pants/learn as you go)
 
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What I did doesn't fit your questions.

I flew a friend's -6 from the right seat. That included takeoff's and landings.

He sat there and watched and made sure I didn't bend his plane, which I didn't.

Oh, and he is not a CFI.
 
I voted option 1 since it was the closest. I got "transition training" from my dad (who is not a CFI) in his -6 until he was happy I wouldn't bend his new airplane.

The plan for my -7 is to borrow it and fly my butt off for a month or two before first flight.
 
What I did doesn't fit your questions.

I flew a friend's -6 from the right seat. That included takeoff's and landings.

He sat there and watched and made sure I didn't bend his plane, which I didn't.

Oh, and he is not a CFI.

Same for me Bill.
 
Insurance, and the fact that I needed a BFR, dictated my choice which was also B.
 
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choice not available

Test flew from back seat with owner in front.
Completed deal; seller flew home with me in back. I got in & flew back to my home airport.

I did learn to fly in a Luscombe 8A, then owned a Thorp T-18, then ~200 hrs in a 200 HP Swift.

So, not a typical 'jump from a CessPer in to an RV' situation.

Charlie
 
This doesn't qualify as a first flight for the plane but it was for me. A lot easier when it's all trimmed out and proven.
C: Cold turkey. 1300 hours in a 172 for the most part. All trikes. 2 hours for my tail wheel endorsement in a Scout. Didn't have much choice the way things worked out when I picked up my RV6. (I didn't want to wait:rolleyes:) Not suggesting it was the smart thing to do, but as long as I don't endanger anyone else?... it sure made it fun!! I am 55 and it made me feel like a kid again:D I have to admit it was very scary taking off into the unknown. I did fly it with the builder that had a very bad experience in the past demoing an RV4 and was not going to let me land or take off. I understood after hearing his story. He's lucky to be alive!
I am building an M14P powered Murphy Moose, almost done and I am definitely doing my first flight. Sorry, but it'd be like letting someone else take the wife on my honeymoon:eek:
 
None of the above. I was checked out in my new plane by a friend who was both an experienced RV builder and had about 1000 hrs in nosewheel RV's.
 
It was B for me. Glad I did. It gave be more confidence for that once in a lifetime first flight.
 
I wouldn't recommend my first RV-4 flight as the best way to start!

Picked it up from a retired farmer in Malmo Sweden. Took off from his farm strip under a 800' ceiling which cleared half way across Denmark and landed 2 hours later in Bremerhaven Germany. Another 4 hours flying got me to Nottingham, UK just as the sun was setting.

I had about 1000 hours tailwheel at the time and the -4 isn't much better than a single seater with regards to dual instruction.

I would have got dual in a -6 if that option had been available.
 
What I did doesn't fit your questions.

I flew a friend's -6 from the right seat. That included takeoff's and landings.

He sat there and watched and made sure I didn't bend his plane, which I didn't.

Oh, and he is not a CFI.
That is basically how I did mine. Flew a friends RV-9A for 2hrs to include stalls, steep turns, engine failure, landings and takeoff's. It was everything required during a BFR, so he signed it off as one since he was a CFI.

:cool:
 
What I did doesn't fit your questions.

I flew a friend's -6 from the right seat. That included takeoff's and landings.

He sat there and watched and made sure I didn't bend his plane, which I didn't.

Oh, and he is not a CFI.
Me too ...
 
Cold turkey on the -10 first test flight

but had been flying the -8A for some time. The -10 treated me nicely and took care of me during the 40 hr phase 1.

Ron
 
I had 3 hrs with a Vans approved transition training RV7. Then my next flight was the real deal first flight of my RV7! I sure wished Id had a friend I could have flown with some more!
 
quite a cold turkey

The seller stuck me in the left seat and we went flying. He was quite senior (citizen that is) and I am a CFI-I... so I just flew it by feel. Of course it is a 9A and there isn't much out there that is simpler to fly. Slowing down a few miles from touchdown was the lesson to learn though.
 
None of the above.
I flew left seat in a friend's -6A. The friend was in the right seat. Numerous T&G's, slow flight, stalls, turns, ground ref maneuvers, etc.
 
I made a few flights with Jesse Saint prior to my first solo. Not a CFI but he made a great instructor and made sure I was ready for possible problems. Glad to say none have come up (yet).

If you don't live in the Dunnellon Fl. area your missing out on a great RV resource :)
 
Insurance dictated my choice which was number 2.

Same here. Insurance company only required an hour for me in an RV-9A. I got that (and more) with John Musgrave at Blue Sky Aero, who turned out to be an excellent choice. I learned a TON of useful stuff about the RV in a very short period of time.
 
In mine after build

I did 3 trips around the pattern in right seat with a friend in his -6, then a couple months later made my first "solo" in my -4 that I had just completed. I was self insured, so didn't really have any of that time in type,ect. to worry about.
 
Another "None of the Above". For the first flight of my RV-12, I had S/N 18, there was no transition training in an RV-12, so I got a couple of hours in a Tecnam Sierra and called it good. Perhaps not ideal, but it worked out.

For my RV-4 I got transition training with Mike Seager and was glad I did.
 
"All of the above" for me in little segments.
I had experience in tail draggers and aerobatics from yrs earlier, but it had been a while.
The day came and it was "go for it". After T/O and when my brain caught up with the plane I think I was on a down wind leg over the patch. That's when it occurred to me that I might not survive the landing. I did all the task to get a feel for how the bird flew and all seemed fine. I still had reservations on the landing though! After 5 yrs of building I decided to get the MOST out of my flight. Thats all I'm going to say. The landing was one of my better ones (Go Figure)
 
A bit of A and a bit of B for me. I had a fair bit of "in the air" time as I did a bunch of flying as a check pilot while a bunch of RV owners were learning formation work. When I bought my own, I did 5 hours of transition training with one of them who was also a CFI and retired airline captain. The first time I flew an RV solo was in the plane I purchased, taking off from an unfamiliar airport on a two hour flight to bring it home... :)
 
For my RV-10, I did four hours of training with a CFI. He only had 5 hours of RV-10, but that was enough for my insurance company.

Even though I had zero RV time and zero high performance time, I found the 10 a very easy transition.
 
Poll

I voted #1 as best option. In reality, was lucky to have a fair amount of back seat time in a friend's RV-8 including several landings. Then Jeff Point flew me in his -6 where he had me do landings until we were both satisfied. He wouldn't even take gas money. I need to pay him back or pay it forward, hopefully this year. RV owners are very kind and generous people in my experience.
 
In 2001 Paul Rosales gave me a half hour of right seat stick time and one landing as a "voice-activated autopilot" in his RV-6A. About 6 years later I got an hour and three landings from a CFI in an RV-6 I was considering buying. Nine years after that (last summer) I got an hour of dual in a friend's RV-6A (from a CFI who only had a few hours in RVs) to satisfy his insurance company's requirements for my being added as a named insured. I now have 25 hours total in that airplane and feel fairly comfortable flying from either seat, but I'd still like to get some "official" transition training from a more experienced instructor.
 
combo of 1 & 3. flew with a friend and then dove in. i remember the feeling of bliss as i entered the rv world. still clear as the day i flew. :)

pic taken in 1999. all rvs were located at my home airport. the oldest guy is lin laurence, 90 at the time, a cfi and the man who gave me my third rv flight and insurance sign off.

img362.jpg
 
I took my tailwheel training in a citabria and when I got my 4 done I taxied up and down the runway a lot and eventually just took off.
 
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