First Flight in an RV

[Bayou Bert]

I had my first flight this morning in an RV and I am still speechless.
I am a long time, low hour pilot. I have flown nothing but 30 to 40
year old rental C150/152/172's period, that's it. With that info, you can imagine the shock of flying with Alex De Dominicis in the RV10. When
he gave me the airplane and said, "finger tips only" I was not
sure. It didn't take long....WOW....what a solid, smooth, go where
you point airplane.
I have been in the waffle stage trying to decide if I wanted a Vans RV9A and
decided some time with Alex, being one of the Van's transition pilots, would
be the place to go. I can't say enough about Alex. He knew and was
waiting on my response to the airplane. He is great with his instruction.
We did some stalls and the increasing burble up to the stall is just super.
Turns, decents....man oh man...what an airplane
Enough ramble. I am done in now....time to get rolling on the RV9A and
now it won't be soon enough.

Bert

[SteinAir]

Good news! You think the -10 was fun, wait until you get your -9 done! Simply amazing to use the same approach/landing speeds as your previous plane experience, but then push the throttle forward and scoot along comfortably at almost double the speed and pretty much the same fuel burn! The -9 is an absolute jewel of a plane at both ends of the envelope...you will LOVE it!

Cheers,
Stein

[Vlad]

Oh yessss what Stein said. Congratulations and welcome to obsession!

[videobobk]

I took a guy for his second 9A ride today, and it amazed both of us. After almost six years, it still amazes me what an obedient, stable, docile and capable airplane it is. Everything you ask of it, it does beautifully. There isn't any work to it, just enjoyment. He reminded me how silent it was coming down final--so much less power than a 172 would take for the same glide, and so easy on touchdown. I tried to get it to do a power-on stall, and all we could get was for the rate of climb to drop off some, and a strong buffet. Love it!

Bob

[N941WR]

Originally Posted by SteinAir

Good news! You think the -10 was fun, wait until you get your -9 done! Simply amazing to use the same approach/landing speeds as your previous plane experience, but then push the throttle forward and scoot along comfortably at almost double the speed and pretty much the same fuel burn! The -9 is an absolute jewel of a plane at both ends of the envelope...you will LOVE it!

Cheers,
Stein

That about covers it! Welcome to the cult!

[sbalmos]

I swear I can't tell you enough how much fun I had today with Bob in his 9a. Really wish I could snap my fingers and have my build done tomorrow. Punching along dodging rain and barely sipping even a trickle of gas. And then to buzz by two of his friends' strips, only to climb out steeply... really reminded me these planes are so much fun, yet so responsive and stable, they should be considered illegal.

Thanks again for far too much fun today Bob. And thanks for reminding me how miserable I'm going to be for the next few years, flying around in 172s and Cirruses, until I'm done.

RVs... too much fun for an aluminum tube with wings and a fan up front.

[riseric]

So you were bitten by the RV bug!!!

I never even set foot in an RV and I'm sold....

Just getting comments from flyers, reading reviews here, and looking at the performance specs did it for me... (and the fact that building my own at this time seemed the right thing to do, what a challenge...)

I will get around to fly in one before I finish building, and I suspect it will only confirm what's said by everyone.