[Greg Arehart]

I'm happy (well, more than happy) to report that I got a pink slip today of the good kind from the FAA at 1:30 pm local time. By 3:30 pm I was in the air. The first flight of N7965A (formerly known as kit # 91614) took place today from Reno-Stead airport. Bob Mills flew chase in his Super Six. The airplane flew great, with only a few minor squawks to deal with.

RV-9A
Superior IO-360
Dynons 100 & 120, Garmin 495, SL30, GTX 427
Total (quick)build time 16 months, ~1300 hours

I had great support from my wife Julia (who shot lots of rivets), and the local gang of RVers: Mike Barrow, Dan Ross (who let me spend a couple hours flying his similarly-equipped 9A) and Bob Mills as well as visits and advice from EAA Techs Bill Wallace, Tracy Rhodes, and Ron Sutton.

As others have said: keep pounding those rivets, its a great day when it finally flies!

Greg

 

[Bob Brown]

Congratulations!

Glad to hear everything performed as expected! Sorry we missed in Reno, hopefully we'll be flying down there soon.

 

[dlomheim]

RV-9A (91614) first flight

The first flight of N7965A (formerly known as kit # 91614)... As others have said: keep pounding those rivets, its a great day when it finally flies!Greg

Congrats Greg!!!Sometimes I wonder if mine (90116) will ever get finished and fly?! Maybe next summer...

Fly safe!

Doug Lomheim
90116, Mazda 13B FWF, canopy, elec., etc, etc,

 

[frankh]

is that...

6000 and 1?..

Congratulations Greg

 

[RV7Guy]

Good work

Enjoy!! Fly safe and have fun.

 

[rvmills]

Greg's RV Grin!!

Congrats Greg...what a GREAT day!

You're airplane looked great on the ground, and even better in the air! Still very impressed you built her in 16 months! Nice work, and great job taking her to the skies!!

Here are some pics that Mike and Scott took with my camera. Can't wait to see the ones Julia took from the air!



Preflight prep. If you had butterflies, they sure didn't show...quite the professional!

N7965A is Airborne!

There goes Greg!

Coming home after a very successful first flight!

Chirp, Chirp...Safe on deck!

Greg's RV Grin!

Greg and Julia relishing the moment!

5 Thumbs Up! Greg and the Gang (R-L, Mike Barrow, Dan Ross [VAF's guccidude1], Greg [with the biggest grin], Julia, and some knucklehead [with a cool VAF fleece]).

Congrats again!! Woo hoo!!

Cheers,
Bob

 

[EAGLE BOB]

Hi Greg,

Congradulations, all that hard work paid off. Stay in touch and say hello to Julia.

Bob

 

[Rupester]

Congratulations, Greg !!!! I'm dripping with envy. ) I look forward to some test reports in the near future.

 

[rv7boy]

Congratulations, Greg! What a great day! I met you at the races (RenoRVRendezvous).
Don

 

[airguy]

Congrats!! I was there at the race gathering as well, I'm glad to see you in Phase I!

Please let us know what gremlins you find (if any) pertaining to the engine choice - that's my chosen route as well.

 

[Greg Arehart]

videos

Videos taken by Julia can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=first+flight+n7965a&search_type=&aq=f

(found at youtube under First Flight N7965A)
but these were her first videos so a bit shaky at times.

A few air-to-air photos.







I got out again today for 1.5, testing some steep turns and continuing to break in the engine. Very happy with the engine so far - runs very smoothly and yields 2450 RPM at full throttle at 9000 ft MSL. OAT was about 50F and CHTs only got above 400 on takeoff (highest was #1 at 413 for about 5 minutes, all others below 400). Full power between 5500 and 11000 ft MSL gave me CHTs running around 360-390. Oil Temps running about 170-200. Trim seems ok, might be a little heavy in L wing, but that might be fuel distribution etc. so not tweaking anything yet. Typical groundspeeds naked (no gear fairings) around 172 mph.

Incredibly sweet airplane! Worth the wait. Now I just have to wait for this bunch of storms to blow through to fly again....

greg

 

[dhusk]

Congrats!

Great to hear about another 9A flying. Fly safe and enjoy the fruits of your labor!