First Flight!
11/24/2006
Well today is the day we've all been waiting for. Last night I spent time reviewing checklists and the numbers to fly by. The plane's instruments are in knots, and I did my training with Mike Seager in MPH, so I wrote down all the V speeds as knots on a cheat sheat for my knee board. I also wrote all the airport frequencies and some sort of plan. Basically, the plan was to fly 3 laps of the pattern, and on the third attempt a landing, and if succesful, to then terminate the flight.
When we got up I looked out the window and it was like pea soup. You couldn't see more than 50ft. Great. I was hoping to fly by 10am, but at 9am it was still the same. Ted was flying in from Ohio too today for this occasion. He said it would be foggy where he was and that he'd leave IFR as soon as he had 1 mile vis called out by ATIS. I decided to head out to the airport anyways. The temperature was rising pretty quickly so it would burn off sooner or later. Mike was also planning on flying in for the event, but he was in the same situation with the fog, although it cleared for him a lot sooner than it cleared for us. Mike made an attempt to get to YIP, but turned back home when he saw it was still fogged in. Luckily he's only 10 mins away by air!
I met Clayton at the FBO and we inquired as to Ted's whereabouts. Tower had been in touch with him, but he didn't divert to PTK, instead choosing to circle for a while to see how the fog was. He was up there for an hour when eventually he touched down and taxied to the ramp.
Ted, Clayton and I went back to the hangar to preflight the plane. Then the plan was to taxi the plane to the ramp, meet Mike and our in-laws at the FBO then we could go and start the flight. Well, would the plane start? Nope. Marky here had forgotten the night before to put the battery on charge, so there was barely enough juice to crank it over after messing around checking out all the electrical stuff over the past days. I removed the top cowling and connected the charger to it. From there on it was a waiting game again. We decided to have a cup of tea.
Eventually we got it started and I taxied around to the ramp. That's about when we started the photos. Here it is sitting patiently waiting on the ramp for some action.
I got the ATIS info, tuned to ground and taxied out to runway 23L as a flight of two with Ted flying chase and camera ship with Clayton and his demon camera. One of the nice things about having a chase plane is the fact that they can help you in many ways... One for me was a reminder to put my flaps up! Thanks Ted!
Lift Off! Boy, the tail came up and before I knew it she was flying! Holy smokes this thing is FAST! I could've probably done a better job of maintaining the runway centreline, but I was up before I had chance to do anything!
Here's a cool in flight pic. Clayton made some 'adjustments' to bring out the plane. It looks pretty cool. It also looks like there's snow on the ground, but it was 50 degrees and hazy by the time the fog had lifted.
Another in flight pic.
And another, turning crosswind.
Since everything appeared to be working as it should, I continued the plan and flew the two laps at pattern altitude. Then on the third, I was cleared for the option, so I landed and terminated the flight. Looks like I'm holding that centreline pretty nicely this time eh?! I did bounce though, just a little one.
Here I'm taxiing back to the ramp. Everything went really well. I think I was a little behind the plane, but familiarity will help as I fly it more. I need to get used to the EFIS display too. That was a bit alien when actually flying because I'm used to the old steam gauges. I did seem to look at the steam gauges more than the EFIS for this flight! I do have the RV Grin here, but I'm squinting some because of the sun!
Lucy looks pleased to see me! She's been quite tolerant through the years of building bless her. Thanks Totty!
A happy builder turned pilot! WOW is all I can say really. The feeling defies words.
Time for the Credits.......
Obviously my wife Lucy for putting up with all of the spending and time at the hangar! I can spend more time with you now Totty! Well, until the next project... Hmmmm..
Dave for getting me into this in the first place. I would never have dreamed of doing anything like this if he hadn't have suggested build instead of buy.
Mike for being there to bounce stupid ideas off and then give me shit about it later! You've been a great help Mike, and I probably would never have finished this thing without you're help, inspiration and piss taking (I'll show him this thing will fly in his lifetime!)
Cameron for the help he gave me while he was here, forcing me along with deadlines to paint and beating us into the air with a slowbuild kit!
Clayton for keeping me company and boosting my enthusiasm at the hangar for many, many Sundays over the last couple of years, with your complete disregard for OSHA and the photos you've taken of the momentous occasions along the way. We will make a pilot out of you yet.
Keith for helping me with all that fibreglass toward the end, and loaning me materials and the cool tools to do it! Also for the help and scales for the weigh in.
Aart, Harm, Pim and René for saving my bacon with the FADEC SBC-100 for the first engine start. I would still be at that point had I waited for Aerosance!
Ted for the chats in Oregon over dinner about building, flying and training with Mike, then flying up in the fog to fly chase for the first flight and circling for so long! Clayton got some great shots thanks to you flying chase. Oh yeah, and the flaps tip too!
Mike Seager for the invaluable training. It gave me the confidence to make the first flight, and also removed the pilot somewhat from the already high workload by reducing the stress of not knowing what I was supposed to be doing!
All the other people I've met, communicated with over the web, got tips from, help from, etc.
A big, big THANK YOU to you ALL!
Here are the first flight day crew... Mike, Me, Clayton and Ted.
Here is a family picture. Dad, Linda, Carlen (with Whitney the dog), Me, Lucy and Jack. They seemed pretty happy that I made it safely back to terra firma.
