On Sunday, I had the great pleasure of flying with Terry Kohler in his RV9A. But that is just part of the opportunity Terry provided. I was at the airport at 9am. I looked Terry's plane over closely and took lots of pictures that will come in handy as I complete my plane, also a 9A. As I was looking it over, Terry went through his list of things to watch for as you build and things he would do differently. The list will be a great help in my build.
He also introduced me to the local DAR and a couple other builders who were at Oakland-Pontiac Airport on Sunday. I'm thinking of taking my plane to PTK when the time comes because of the support network that is there.
After about an hour going over his list and me asking questions, it was time to go flying.
What an amazing airplane. We took off and before I knew it we were at 5500 ft. Terry foolishly turned the plane over to me. I moved the stick slightly to the left and we were in a quick bank. I couldn't believe how responsive the plane is. I'm sure I had a premature RV grin. He had me do a stall, and the plane just sort of stutters (can't think of another way to describe it) and loses altitude. There isn't any real break. I kept the stick back and it continued to stutter, but never dropped a wing or nosed over.
We landed at St. Clair County Airport and Terry demonstrated how to properly land a RVxA. Then he let me do a TOL. Really foolish of Terry, but I managed to land reasonably well. We took off and headed back to PTK where I got to do another landing.
What a great airplane. A joy to fly. Terry's plane is beautiful, white over a dark red and a terrific paint job.
After landing, we visited a few more hangers, one with a RV6 and one with a RV7A. We also visited with the builder of a Defiant and his hangar mate who has a Grumman turboprop Goose. Then we spent another hour talking RVs.
It was an amazing day. I can't thank Terry enough for the hospitality and patience to answer all my questions. I look forward to moving my plane out to PTK when the time comes. Having my first RV flight provides a little more fire to get my project done.
He also introduced me to the local DAR and a couple other builders who were at Oakland-Pontiac Airport on Sunday. I'm thinking of taking my plane to PTK when the time comes because of the support network that is there.
After about an hour going over his list and me asking questions, it was time to go flying.
What an amazing airplane. We took off and before I knew it we were at 5500 ft. Terry foolishly turned the plane over to me. I moved the stick slightly to the left and we were in a quick bank. I couldn't believe how responsive the plane is. I'm sure I had a premature RV grin. He had me do a stall, and the plane just sort of stutters (can't think of another way to describe it) and loses altitude. There isn't any real break. I kept the stick back and it continued to stutter, but never dropped a wing or nosed over.
We landed at St. Clair County Airport and Terry demonstrated how to properly land a RVxA. Then he let me do a TOL. Really foolish of Terry, but I managed to land reasonably well. We took off and headed back to PTK where I got to do another landing.
What a great airplane. A joy to fly. Terry's plane is beautiful, white over a dark red and a terrific paint job.
After landing, we visited a few more hangers, one with a RV6 and one with a RV7A. We also visited with the builder of a Defiant and his hangar mate who has a Grumman turboprop Goose. Then we spent another hour talking RVs.
It was an amazing day. I can't thank Terry enough for the hospitality and patience to answer all my questions. I look forward to moving my plane out to PTK when the time comes. Having my first RV flight provides a little more fire to get my project done.
