Yesterday (12/12) was clear and sunny, temps here in Virginia Beach at 30F at 0800, and N621TR which started as kit 24808 in 1996 was ready to go after 13 years in the making. I'm a low time pilot (80 hours) and not looking to start the "who makes the first flight wars" will venture to say that I wanted to do this myself if at all possible. I went to Florida and had transition training with Jan Bussell (highly recommended) and stayed with Ed D'Arcy from the RV Hotel (thanks again Ed!). I was a bit apprehensive (as a reasonable person should be) but took the plunge. I had planned the first flight with my flight advisor previously. My 5 person ground crew was briefed, a kiss for luck planted by my wife, and after coaxing the engine to start in the freezing temps, I taxied out to runway 23 at KCPK with an empty pattern. One of my crew was stationed at midfield to get that picture of the mains first departing the ground (boy was that a mistake)
. Gradually applying throttle had me off the ground in 5 seconds, way before full throttle, and although I don't know the distance, boy was it short! Here's what it looked like before the mid-field decision point.
After reaching cruise climb speed of 125 mph, I throttled back to 75% power and was still climbing at 1500 fpm with my new O360 (ECi kit engine). While circling and checking out engine parameters I quickly passed thru my planned 3000 ft altitude and leveled out at 4000 ft. The engine was operated at 75% power for 20 minutes, then a few minutes of checking out slow flight at 65 mph and varying flap settings, then another 25 minutes at 65-75% as recommended by ECi for the first flight. The plane flew hands off, no sqawks or trim issues. I guess it should be about right after 13 years
! Descended for initial landing with the pattern still empty. My plan was to keep everything tight and land long such that if anything should happen, such as the engine quitting when reducing power, I could make the runway from any point in the flight. As I lined up with the runway, I seemed to be doing a lot of hunting and was higher than I liked, so I aborted that first approach and tried again. The second time had just the picture I had in mind and as I "swooped" about 3 feet off the ground and held back pressure on the stick (just as Jan instructed me) N621TR settled to the ground with no complaints. Here's what it looks like afterwards:
Back to the hanger, pull the cowling and still no issues. Couldn't get any better than this
. Put the cowl back on and then made the second flight for engine break-in. 2.2 hours for the day!
Now for the list of thank yous!
After waiting for 5 weeks to get the FAA to review my medical, I noticed the EAA had a members service associated with this. After 2 e-mails, Susan Sedlachek had the issue resolved and faxed a copy suitable for use until the genuine article arrived in the mail. Thanks Susan for getting me off the ground! If you're having an similar issues- check her out.
Thanks again to Jan and Ed for the transition training.
Thanks to everyone who participates in this site for the help and comradarie in helping to create these fabulous machines.
Thanks in closing to Doug and the moderators for creating and maintaining this site and providing the forum to enhance our learning and flying. The $25 spent to help DR be able to continue this effort has to be the best value there is in constructing our airplanes. Van should have you on his payroll as I'm sure at least 90% of my questions are answered here, greatly reducing the time I need to consult with the experts there.
In closing, all I can say is what a club! I'm honored to be associated with you all!
N621TR First Flight
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Linear Mode
