REFLECTOR: N19VA

[David Scharfenberg]

Congratulations on the first flight!

Your first flight went almost exactly like mine.  I was warned not to  
try the crow hop, but tried it anyway.

For those nearing the first flight, I would strongly recommend NOT  
trying the short flight in ground effect and then set back down.  Had  
I continued to try to land out of my "crow hop" I feel sure that my  
plane would have been damaged badly.

I'm glad you made the decision to commit to flight at that point, and  
again congratulations and good work.

Dave Scharfenberg



On Mar 4, 2011, at 5:07 PM, Richard J. Gentil 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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