REFLECTOR: N19VA

Sun Mar 6 13:24:43 CST 2011

Thank you to all for all the congrats!

I thought I should go I to greater detail as to my prep for the flight/hop. This I hope helps with my thought process and answers some of the discussion. 

First I went to the factory a little over a year ago and did a couple of hours of ground and just over an hour's flight with John Abraham in Sebastian. 

Once again did a weight and balance, needed 50 lbs of ballast in front of the passenger's seat and half fuel to get me in the center of the flight envelope. 

Did a full preflight of the aircraft followed by a 2 minute full power run of the engine. That I figured would allow me to climb to 1,000 feet and be turned back to the airport. (Reason for the run to make sure the fuel would get to the engine without the boost pump at full power.)

Then it was let the engine cool down. 

Reviewed the plan for the first flight in complete detail should the plane become airborne and indeed it became the first flight.

Complete run up at the end of the runway before the first high speed taxi test to lift only the canard off the ground. After the canard test, pulled the plane into the hangar and did a toe in check. (I do recommend cleaning your air vents before making your first high speed run as I hit the speed to lift the canard I had complete white out inside the cabin as all the dust, micro, and fiberglass made it IFR inside the cockpit.)

I left the plane to cool down over lunch. 

I then spoke to Duane at the factory to go over the first high speed taxi lifting the main gear off the runway and if it ended up being the first flight what were his recommendations. (He recommended removing the gear doors even though the factory had tested RG doors as 180kts, so I did.)

Then before getting in the plane, another preflight (cannot do enough of them) and another run up. 

(The wind was strong and gusty but not too far off of the runway.). The first run of the afternoon I accelerated to the point of lifting the canard off the ground using 1/2 to 3/4 power and pulled the power out to see if the mains would lift off, they did not so I taxied back to the hangar and did a full check of the plane again. Following the check taxied out to the runway. 

Another run up and lined myself on the runway. (The tower did not mention at that moment that the wind was swinging.) I repeated the run down the runway but this time the aircraft lifted off the ground. I was immediately hit by a 20kt gust of wind and the plane weather veined about 45 degrees off the centerline of the runway. At that point it was shove everything forward and fly the plan we had briefed before. 

The plan was a straight out to 1,000 ft full power, pitch and mixture. After 1,000 ft a reduction in power and orbiting the airport, climb to 3,000 ft. During the climb at 105 to 120 kts, logging oil pressure and temperature, along with EGT & CHT temperature. 

At 3,000 ft checked the low speed handling (down to 68 kts) and varied the setting for the engine for about 30 minutes. At this point, the winds were starting to align with one of the runways so I descended gradually and setup for a 3+ mile final. Had everything stabilized on final and landed. 

YOU CANNOT OVER PLAN. Do everything you can think of and then do it again and again. 

I highly recommend this book from ASA:

Flight Testing Homebuilt Aircraft. 

http://www.asa2fly.com/Flight-Testing-Homebuilt-Aircraft--P750C6_product1.aspx

Richard

Sent from my iPhone 4

On Mar 4, 2011, at 6:07 PM, "Richard J. Gentil" <richard at naples-air-center.com> wrote:

> Well it took a little over 7 years to complete the SERG. She went for her first flight today. I was not planning on flying today but I did have a plan for if the test did not go as planned and I ended up flying. 
> 
> It was supposed to be a quick hop down the runway but when the plane broke ground I was 20 feet in the air and with the wind, the plane veered to a 45 degree angle relative to the runway. At this point I had used up more then half the runway and I had to make the decision to go to full power and keep flying. 
> 
> I spent the next 30 minutes flying over the airport at 3,000 feet doing all the checks we had planned for my first flight and logged all the pressures and temperatures of the engine. 
> 
> The landing was smooth and when I got out, still had my heart in my throat, hands shaking and my knees were a little wobbly. 
> 
> My wife did manage to film the landing on her iPhone. If the video is any good I will post it. 
> 
> Richard
> 
> Sent from my iPhone 4
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