RE: Flight Review.....

[fstringham7a]

This AM I had my biannual flight review. It was the first time

I sat left seat in a real long time. Boy did it show!!!!!! Landings were less than stellar!!!

But what was so special about this otherwise oh hum 2 year activity was the person giving me the work out.



Next week Cliff Chaney will be 92 years young. He has a first class medical, ATP rated (he is a retired United Captain and flew just about every plane in the commercial fleet), CFIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, you name it to carry on has a first rate flight instructor and probably has close to a bizillion hours of flight time. And oh boy is he smooth flying the plane. He taught me a ton of stuff in our two hour flight. I will be doing some more work with him to prepare for my first go at my 7A.

Here is a picture of the two of us at the conclusion of the ground information part of the biannual interagation.



First flight should be next week!!!!

Stay Tuned

Frank @ 1L8 ...RV7A... Airworthy Cert in hand wating on insurance!!!!

[rvbuilder2002]

Glad to see you were able to get current and acquire some valuable training from someone with lots of experience.

Excuse me for being so direct but I can't help but ask...since it sounds like you have not been current for PIC in quite a while...what are you planning for RV familiarization training? An RV-7A is not difficult to fly, but it is a long ways from being a C-172

[fstringham7a]

Originally Posted by rvbuilder2002

Glad to see you were able to get current and acquire some valuable training from someone with lots of experience.

Excuse me for being so direct but I can't help but ask...since it sounds like you have not been current for PIC in quite a while...what are you planning for RV familiarization training? An RV-7A is not difficult to fly, but it is a long ways from being a C-172

Scott

Great ????

I will be doing the typical transition by getting instruction from those in the know and with the capability to teach me what I need to know and DO....

Now for my question: I have heard and read from a bunch of good folks with skills in many different planes and especially time in the RV family of airplanes. Each in one way or the other have said, "An RV-7A is not difficult to fly, but .......different"......So whats the difference???

Frank @ 1L8 ...RV7A...

[L.Adamson]

Originally Posted by fstringham7a

Scott

Now for my question: I have heard and read from a bunch of good folks with skills in many different planes and especially time in the RV family of airplanes. Each in one way or the other have said, "An RV-7A is not difficult to fly, but .......different"......So whats the difference???

Frank @ 1L8 ...RV7A...

Items I can think of...

If you have a fixed pitch prop, you must begin slowing down much farther out, than a 172. Otherwise, you'll be far down the runway before getting it to settle.

If you have a constant speed, then of course, you'll need to know how to use it. The constant speed has a lot of braking effect. This means you need to watch airspeed closely; because it diminishes so fast, that the plane will drop out from underneath you. I know that 6's & 9's will do it; and I'll assume the same for the 7. Just be close to the runway when airspeed drops. Or add some throttle.

Make sure you stay on top of the right rudder. It will be more than a 172. My 6A is a lot more (short tail & no offset) and even get's quite "torqued" on that last 1/3 of throttle (C/S prop).

Naturally, you'll be a pattern height before the end of the runway! If flying the pattern, just be thinking of flap speeds for landing, way ahead of time.

I'll assume that you're use to the differential braking. Not that difficult, but make sure your foot is off the brake on the takeoff roll.

Watch that nosewheel. On my first landing, I let nosewheel down to fast, and got the "shimmy". These day's I taxi with the stick back. As I make the roll down the runway, I add forward pressure as airspeed builds, to maintain a light nosewheel attitude.

As a general rule, my patterns are far tighter than typical 172's, especially 172's with students and 747 patterns. If the airport is crowded, you really have to watch it, as the RV is flying a lot faster before you know it. I'll be thinking in terms of an RV, and expect a 172 to be on final, when it's actually just mid-field on the downwind. They appear as "turtles"!

And that brings up another point. If a 172 or Archer takes off ahead of you, then give yourself some good leeway. Otherwise, you'll be eating their tail before you know it!

L.Adamson --- RV6A

[Brantel]

Originally Posted by fstringham7a

"An RV-7A is not difficult to fly, but .......different"......So whats the difference???

Frank @ 1L8 ...RV7A...

In no particular order........

Decent rate
Speed
Decent rate
The look over the nose in level flight
Deceleration rate
Castoring nose wheel
Decent rate
Very responsive but not twichy
Decent rate
Incredible climb rate
Decent rate
Much higher power to weight ratio

As you can tell, the thing that hit me the hardest as being very different from they typical spam can is the decent rate. Pull the power back and these things will come out of the sky in a hurry!

Second is the fact that you fly these things with your fingertips.

[L.Adamson]

I added more, but it got lost in a glitch...

If taking off behind a typical 172 or Archer; then give yourself room. Otherwise, you'll be on their tail before you know it. If worse goes to worse in crowded patterns, then leave it for a while. It will take some adjusting to get use to pattern speeds with slower airplanes.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

[shamer]

If you're rusty enough to have difficulty in a 172, I would question whether a weeks worth of flying is sufficient to prepare you to fly your RV. You have probably spent years building your plane so don't rush it now if you're not ready. The first flight is no time to be learning the feel of your RV and coping with something going wrong. Get some RV transition training and consider letting an experienced RV pilot fly it a few times.

Be safe and good luck. You're going to love your RV whether your first flight is next week or a few months from now.

[newtech]

Originally Posted by fstringham7a

Scott

Great ????

I will be doing the typical transition by getting instruction from those in the know and with the capability to teach me what I need to know and DO....

Now for my question: I have heard and read from a bunch of good folks with skills in many different planes and especially time in the RV family of airplanes. Each in one way or the other have said, "An RV-7A is not difficult to fly, but .......different"......So whats the difference???

Frank @ 1L8 ...RV7A...

I just flew my RV-7A for the first time last week. Most of my 120 hours was in Cessna's but the most important hours were the five I spent with Pierre Smith in his RV-6A. Not having flown for the eight years I spent building my plane I have no doubts that without the transition training I would have balled up by plane in the trees that lined the left side of our grass strip. I see where you say you will be "doing the typical transition by getting instruction from those in the know " but what I don't see is TRAINING IN A NOSE WHEEL RV. Please do your self a big favor and get some time in a nose wheel RV. My insurance company, AIG, required five hours in a RV-6A or RV-7A with a CFI. After the five hours with Pierre my first flight was a non event.

[hydroguy2]

Good job, Frank. I've got some great info from some of the ol' airport bums around here. Stuff that's just not taught but has to be experienced.

[rvmills]

Originally Posted by rvbuilder2002

Excuse me for being so direct but I can't help but ask...since it sounds like you have not been current for PIC in quite a while...what are you planning for RV familiarization training?

Originally Posted by newtech

I see where you say you will be "doing the typical transition by getting instruction from those in the know " but what I don't see is TRAINING IN A NOSE WHEEL RV.

Frank,

I had the same thoughts as the above two gents, who are asking good questions and making very solid recommendations.

Please don't take it as questioning your abilities, you're probably a great stick. But it almost sounds as though your transition training plan may be "hangar flying" with those "in the know", and reading about differences between what you have flown and your RV-7. If I'm reading that wrong, please accept my humble apologies.

However, after all the recent discussions in the Safety section of the forum, I think what you are seeing is some of us reaching out to you, and "speaking up" in order to "watch your six" and be a good wingman and safety advocate.

This may sound overly preachy, but what the heck...A first flight "in type" and a first test flight in the new machine that you've poured your life into for so long seems to me like a very risky combination.

I may be conservative, but in my case (in which I bought a flying RV), with 30+ years and 5 digits in the logbook (J-3's to F-teens to Boeings), as a humble RV newbie, I felt very strongly about proper training and preparation; so I did transition training with Jan Bussell, and did several flights with my seller (a friend who mentored...or was that tor-mentored me throughout) before I soloed my new machine. I'm glad I did...and sure do concur with Brian too...it comes down like a turd off a tall moose at idle! (Caveat: I have a clipped-wing Super Six). The 9A-s I've since flown float a bit, but Jan's straight Six came down pretty well too. No experience in a 7 to compare it to.

Just a data point, and please take it in the spirit of camraderie and safety that it's intended.

Good luck, be safe, and have fun!

Cheers,
Bob