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1st Flight N516SB

Way to go, Dave!! Fly safe and enjoy it...and c'mon down to SoCal when you get your hours flown off.
 
YEEEHAAAA!!!

Yeehaaa! What a thrill!! It Flies!!! :D

First flight was Saturday evening after a very thorough and professional inspection by Gary Sobek and lots of help form friends putting it back together.

First flight was uneventful (other than the thrill!) all engine temps and pressures in the green. It flies hands-off, no heavy wing, no rudder needed in cruise. First landing was a 3-bouncer (at least).

High speed run Sunday morning, no wind, temps in the 60s, 6000 ft, ground speed was 205 mph one direction and 210 mph coming back. Rpm 2550, WOT.

Stalls cleanly at 50-54 mph (just me and ? fuel). Climbs like a bat-out-of-****, I don?t recall the initial rate of climb but I was at 1500 agl before I turned crosswind on the first flight and I turned much earlier than normal to stay close to the runway.

I got some basic training from Gary Sobek and Randy Thorne on formation flying on Sunday ? way cool, another thrill!

Airplane info:
RV 7 Slow-build, 5 years
1051 pounds empty
IO-360-B1B (o-360 lyc converted to bendix injection)
Hartzell blended airfoil constant speed
Dynon D10A EFIS, Dynon D10 EIS


I have a few minor squawks:

Elevator trim adjustment ? can?t trim out all back pressure on final
Idle mixture adjustment still not quite right
Pop, pop, pop from the engine when I pull the throttle back to idle to slow down in the pattern and on final.

I?ve been waiting five years to say this: Keep pounding those rivets!!! It is well worth all the effort!!!

Dave Clinchy
RV-7 N516SB
Sacramento, CA
 
Trimming...

Congratulations! I know you're still brimming with joy and amazement...as I am almost a year later!!

Interesting observations on your trim...

I've spoken to a number of people who also say that it's difficult to trim all the back pressure out of the control system on the 7s...my plane is the same way as well. It's not a big deal given the light control forces required on the RV's, but it is noticeable and is one of the perceptible differences between the 6's and 7's I've flown, along with a little more float in the flare and perhaps slightly lower roll rate than a 6.
 
Dave C said:
Idle mixture adjustment still not quite right
Pop, pop, pop from the engine when I pull the throttle back to idle to slow down in the pattern and on final.
Click to expand...


Congratulations Dave - Way to go!

A quick thought for you - you may not have an idle mixture problem - in fact you may not have a problem at all. Just check to make sure that when you are fully warmed up and idling at about 800 rpm, slowly pull the mixture to idle cut off. You are looking for only a 50 rpm rise.

You probably already did that, but just mentioning it for the record.

If you got about 50 rpm and still have that popping problem, then it is just one of those things you might have to live with. I have an RV-8 with a Hartzell BA CS prop and the Silverhawk (i.e. new Bendix) injector. It does the same thing. What is happening is that the throttle plate is near or at closed and the CS prop is still trying to maintain a higher RPM so it is sucking in unburned fuel at that RPM and not processing it causing it to load up on fuel and flash it when it hits the hot internals of the exhaust - causing the popping sound.

It doesn't hurt the engine per se, but over time will hurt the exhaust system. Solution? Just leave in a little throttle (tiny bit to get the throttle plate open) all the way down to the round out until the prop starts to slow up to a real idle and then you can fully close it.

Hope this helps.

Enjoy your new bird,

Rob
 
Dave Clinchy's N516SB RV-7 1st_Takeoff

Here is a VIDEO clip of the takeoff. This is a video taken with a digital camera and not a video camera.
 
First Flights Update

All,
I'm still thrilled and amazed! these are amazing airplanes. I've had several flights since Saturdays first flight. As I climb above the airport to do Phase 1 testing I get to 6,000' in what seems like a just a second or two, it climbs so fast it makes my ears hurt.

An update on the idle mixture and popping on final: I finally hit the "sweet spot" on the idle screw and idle mixture linkage. The popping is gone and the idle is just right. I found that I was adjusting way too much on the screw and linkage - it only takes about a 1/8 turn on either one to go from bad to good.

Gary: Thanks again for the great inspection and all the help! The photos and video are great, your camera's resolution is amazing.

Dave C
RV-7 FLYING!
 
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