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First Flight

C

ccryan

Active Member
On Saturday, July 19 at about 9 p.m. I flew RV-4 #4490 for the first time. Flew great. It was just a quick 15 minute flight where I stayed in the airport area.

Airplane has an O-320, Sterba prop, Dynon EFIS, and weighs in at 937 lbs. The only bad part of the whole thing is first thing on the 20th I had to start a 4 day trip at work!! This last 4 days has been torture!

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's answered my questions over the last 2.5 years on here. This site has been of immesurable help.

Take Care,

Chris Ryan

ryanlgoq4.jpg
 
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Thanks guys. Flew again today. Went and did the stall tests and 1 landing. The numbers matched perfectly on the airspeed indicator for stall at Vs and Vso.

The canopy is from Todd's Canopies. I cracked mine from vans and Todd gave me a great deal on this one. It has more headroom which will probably cost me a couple knots but I love the tint and it makes it look just a little different.

I'm going up again this afternoon again and cant wait to see what cruise is.

Thanks for all the congrats guys!

Chris
 
Let the games begin...

Chris,
Now the real fun begins...For your comparison here are my RV4 numbers with the exact same setup. 0-320/Sterba you'll gain about 12-15 knots from naked legs to completely faired including pants. My numbers after paint (added 5 knots) with a 68-72 prop were @ Sea Level: Full throttle level flight 2800rpm/169 KIAS. 2600/160, 2500/150, 2400/145. I planned approach at 60 Knots. Cross country I flight planned 150 knots at 8 gph. Over the years I changed props 6 times and went to 170HP and gained another 8-10 knots overall. You're going to love it...

Smokey
HR2

PS: They're never really done...
 
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Very COOL!!

I?m jealous, and I?m sure it was worth every hour. By the way, I will be available for rides at anytime.

Randy
 
Nice, clean looking airplane Chris.
Congrats on completing and flying it!
It is truly a major achievement in any pilot's life.
 
Well, the test flying is going well. Still taking it pretty easy. I've only put 3 g's on the airframe so far. Waiting for the engine break-in before I goof around too much. But I've of course done a couple barrell rolls to break the monotony. Only minor problems so far. Had a sick transponder...it was a bad RF connector.

Thanks for the numbers Smokey. They match almost perfectly what I've got so far. I just put my wheel pants and fairings on for the first time yesterday and definately increased my speed but it was so bumpy out that it was hard to tell how much, definately at least 10 mph. The lowest I can go is about 5500' here in Utah, so I'm having a hard time getting 75% power. I usually max out around 2550 rpm, at between 5500 and 6500msl, indicating usually around 150mph.

So far the thing is just a blast. I cant believe how much fun it is to go fly for an hour or so. I just come home in a good mood, give the wife a big smack on the lips, have a beer, and think about what I'm going to do in it next. I'm an airline guy and one of the last F/O's I flew with that I told I'd built an airplane asked me, "Don't you get enough flying at work?", and I remember feeling sorry for him because he though programing an FMS and reading the paper for 3 hours was "flying". Don't get me wrong, I enjoy flying at work too, but it's like kissing your sister compared to the -4.

I'll get a pic on here of my panel and the plane with some pants on as soon as I figure out how! haha. Any info would definately help.

Take care guys and thanks again for all the info and well wishes.

Chris
 
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