REFLECTOR: Successful first flight for N173VS

[Geoff Gerhardt]

Guys,

Just as I did with my wife, I'll tell you all first off that I had a
successful first flight today.  There were a couple issues, but nothing
serious (although one did cause some nervousness during flight).  I'd been
putzing around most of the week doing high-speed taxis and checking and
re-checking trying to build my confidence in this beast I built.  Finally,
today, after a couple high-speed taxis and hops I had no more excuses.  I'd
pushed it as much as I could on the ground without any issues, so it was
time to take it around the pattern.  I got a bit anxious on the climb out
and got the nose a bit high.  I've got a pretty "long" prop, so after I
realized I need to build some speed before climbing and put the nose down,
things got better (still not great climb, tho, but I suspect its what can
be expected from a 68x74 prop).  When I raised the gear, the gear unsafe
light stayed on.  I didn't think to turn around and look at the main gear
legs, I just figured something wasn't quite sitting right in flight.  I did
one loop around the pattern and when I prepared to land and lowered the
gear, all green.  With the speed brake down, I dropped it down in a tight
pattern and had a nice, smooth landing.  The airport ops guys know me here
(KORH) and heard on the radio I was doing first flight.  I had told them
I'd let them know when I was going to do it so they could get the emergency
gear ready (KORH is a real slow class D - they're looking for some
excitement).  I decided not to tell them, tho, as I didn't want any
pressure if I got to the runway and wasn't comfortable.  Anyway, they heard
me announce on the radio, so they scrambled the trucks - I saw them driving
back as I taxied in.

Oil temp was fine (it was only ~78F on the field, tho).  One cylinder got a
little hot, but cooled down fine when I leveled off - I'll have to keep an
eye on that.  Its all a bit of a blur now, I suspect I'll be noticing
things a bit more on future flights once I settle down a bit.  Took awhile
to stop smiling...

Geoff
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