REFLECTOR: Successful first flight for N173VS

[Mark Magee]

Congrats Geoff! Major Accomplishment.

Mark Magee
N34XL

On Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 6:10 PM, Geoff Gerhardt <geoff.gerhardt at gmail.com>wrote:

> 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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