AX-O
Well Known Member
First, I want to say that I am in no way trying to damper the awesome feelings of a first flight nor the magnitude of the accomplishment reached. I don?t know the owner of the video posted nor do I intend to hurt anyone?s feelings. I am addressing this post from a safety point of view and safety concerns only. First flights (regardless if there are 7,000 RVs flying today) are dangerous and somewhat higher risk than normal. I took a long time to type this and even longer trying to figure out if I should post this. If at least I keep one person from doing something that can potentially put their life in danger, then the flak that I will receive from this post is worth it.
Like many of you I watched the video of the first flight located on the front page. The video does not show what occurred before the first flight so I am aware that I don?t have all the data available and data may be skewed. I conduct flight test on high performance airplanes and helicopters for a living. As I watched the video, the hairs on the back of my neck kept standing up. All I kept hearing were my instructors at Test Pilot School and my dad saying don?t do this and don?t do that.
I don?t know the background of the pilot, I am sure he is well qualified and experienced based on the flying skill observed on the video. However, I think we should address some things.
-I never saw the use of a checklist during the entire flight (maybe it was on the EFIS). First flight is a time that your nerves are potentially on edge and a time were you are potentially task saturated with all this ?to dos? in your head. One of the best mitigation for minimizing a mishap is the use of a checklist.
-The aircraft was started and almost an immediate taxi to the grass followed. Were the brakes check? I assume they were.
-Was the engine warmed-up enough prior to departure? I am assuming that there was a ground test performed prior to the video and the engine was within operating temps/conditions.
-Were controls checked? I saw a quick aileron/elevator check. I am assuming the rudder, trims and other controls were checked for proper functionality before the video.
-Were the mags/engine/prop checked prior to take off?
-Was the backup altimeter set to field elevation prior to take off just in case an electrical failure occurred and the glass cockpit went dark? I assume it was.
-Seconds after the first time the wheels left the ground for the first time under its own power, we see a ?look mom, no hands on throttle?.
-I saw a very nice roll during the first flight without much previous ailerons control checks. This one is ? I will leave it at that.
-A quick low pass with shallow dive (looking outside and no apparent cross checks with instruments, Vne? Engine rpm?).
There are some plusses:
-Stall checks prior to coming in for landing, verifying slow airspeed handling qualities in potential landing attitudes and airspeeds.
-Nice long stable final to get settled in on parameters.
-Nice smooth landing profile and landing.
I am not pretending to know everything about RVs or flight test (I know I am a pup compared to others) and I do have the luxury of Monday morning quarterbacking but the point is; flying is dangerous, first flights are more dangerous, not reducing risk by using common know aviation practices is very dangerous and introducing maneuvers that can have higher negative outcomes to a first flight is extremely dangerous. Why put yourself into that situation when your life or job does not depend on it?
Moderators, if this is not an appropriate post, please delete. Just want to get future pilots performing first flights on RVs to be aware of some potential hazards.
Like many of you I watched the video of the first flight located on the front page. The video does not show what occurred before the first flight so I am aware that I don?t have all the data available and data may be skewed. I conduct flight test on high performance airplanes and helicopters for a living. As I watched the video, the hairs on the back of my neck kept standing up. All I kept hearing were my instructors at Test Pilot School and my dad saying don?t do this and don?t do that.
I don?t know the background of the pilot, I am sure he is well qualified and experienced based on the flying skill observed on the video. However, I think we should address some things.
-I never saw the use of a checklist during the entire flight (maybe it was on the EFIS). First flight is a time that your nerves are potentially on edge and a time were you are potentially task saturated with all this ?to dos? in your head. One of the best mitigation for minimizing a mishap is the use of a checklist.
-The aircraft was started and almost an immediate taxi to the grass followed. Were the brakes check? I assume they were.
-Was the engine warmed-up enough prior to departure? I am assuming that there was a ground test performed prior to the video and the engine was within operating temps/conditions.
-Were controls checked? I saw a quick aileron/elevator check. I am assuming the rudder, trims and other controls were checked for proper functionality before the video.
-Were the mags/engine/prop checked prior to take off?
-Was the backup altimeter set to field elevation prior to take off just in case an electrical failure occurred and the glass cockpit went dark? I assume it was.
-Seconds after the first time the wheels left the ground for the first time under its own power, we see a ?look mom, no hands on throttle?.
-I saw a very nice roll during the first flight without much previous ailerons control checks. This one is ? I will leave it at that.
-A quick low pass with shallow dive (looking outside and no apparent cross checks with instruments, Vne? Engine rpm?).
There are some plusses:
-Stall checks prior to coming in for landing, verifying slow airspeed handling qualities in potential landing attitudes and airspeeds.
-Nice long stable final to get settled in on parameters.
-Nice smooth landing profile and landing.
I am not pretending to know everything about RVs or flight test (I know I am a pup compared to others) and I do have the luxury of Monday morning quarterbacking but the point is; flying is dangerous, first flights are more dangerous, not reducing risk by using common know aviation practices is very dangerous and introducing maneuvers that can have higher negative outcomes to a first flight is extremely dangerous. Why put yourself into that situation when your life or job does not depend on it?
Moderators, if this is not an appropriate post, please delete. Just want to get future pilots performing first flights on RVs to be aware of some potential hazards.