A bit of a delay in posting about our first flight, but you all know how quickly airplane time passes!
After 9 years of building we took to the sky at KAZO in Kalamazoo Michigan for first flight this past July 10th. The project actually began in 1999 with the first builder, he passed away in 2017 and I took over the project from his estate. It was in a pretty decrepit state at that time, much of what had been worked on to that point, was un-airworthy and had to be discarded (see the project post). But we knew this when we took over.
I was fortunate to have an Ex-Military pilot and RV-8 owner (Terry L.) who graciously offered his time and skills to coordinate and accomplish the first couple of hours flight time in the plane. He had visited ahead of the first flight date with another experienced RV builder and we again checked out 1AC over a number of hours. His attention to details and safety surrounding the initial flight was impressive, and reflects his extensive training and experience.
When he landed back at the field after that first flight, his comment was, "You have a plane"!! I was thrilled as you might imagine.
I have gone on to complete 12 hours of the Phase 1 flight testing. There have been no significant Squawks to this point, mostly adjusting alarm limits and such, (and learning to land.....).
It's darn cold up here now in Michigan, as I'm digging out my north facing hangar after some recent lake effect snows.
But we'll continue on from here and we'll keep on grinning!
After 9 years of building we took to the sky at KAZO in Kalamazoo Michigan for first flight this past July 10th. The project actually began in 1999 with the first builder, he passed away in 2017 and I took over the project from his estate. It was in a pretty decrepit state at that time, much of what had been worked on to that point, was un-airworthy and had to be discarded (see the project post). But we knew this when we took over.
I was fortunate to have an Ex-Military pilot and RV-8 owner (Terry L.) who graciously offered his time and skills to coordinate and accomplish the first couple of hours flight time in the plane. He had visited ahead of the first flight date with another experienced RV builder and we again checked out 1AC over a number of hours. His attention to details and safety surrounding the initial flight was impressive, and reflects his extensive training and experience.
When he landed back at the field after that first flight, his comment was, "You have a plane"!! I was thrilled as you might imagine.
I have gone on to complete 12 hours of the Phase 1 flight testing. There have been no significant Squawks to this point, mostly adjusting alarm limits and such, (and learning to land.....).
It's darn cold up here now in Michigan, as I'm digging out my north facing hangar after some recent lake effect snows.
But we'll continue on from here and we'll keep on grinning!
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