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RV14 first flight

Tom Martin

Well Known Member
Took off this morning for a first flight, serial # 140153, from my farm grass strip.

https://youtu.be/B3DWzwSPyVo

Here is a picture of the brand new aircraft in my friend Ed Perl's brand new hangar. It will stay there tonight as the winds do not favour my runway.
A total of three flights today with a total of 3 hours. The aircraft is in good flight trim with no serious squawks. The 390 engine is quite powerful and the shortened RV10 wing is an excellent match for the aircraft. Roll rates are a little firmer then for the RV7, an improvement in my opinion. Cabin space is very good with excellent visibility.

This is my 12th aircraft completion and my 14th first flight. First flights are always exciting and I look forward to them. There is a lot of time and thought that goes into getting the aircraft, and myself ready for a first flight.

sqil2r.jpg
 
Congrats, Tom! Great inspiration for my build (still in the very early stages). Congrats also on the lifetime achievement of 12 builds!
 
From one farmer to another thanks for posting your first flight of the RV 14 . Thanks also for sharing your experienced building tips along the way for us newbies. All the best for your test period.
 
Looks Great!

Congrats, and thanks for sharing your first flight video. Every time I see one, it provides motivation to head out to the shop and debur a few more parts!
 
Congratulation, Tom!

Great job on the airplane and the video! Thanks for all your helpful posts! Working on my first; assembling the canopy frame presently and very much looking forward to that first flight!
 
Four nice flying days later and I have 14 hours on the aircraft. Most of my issues have been related to electronics. Nothing serious, basically just learning how to use the Garmin system and make changes to the programming. There is a lot going on.
Two issues today that Scott MacDonald from Vans' helped me with. The first was erratic MP readings at higher power settings. Scott informed me the the Garmin system requires a restrictor in the MP line. I remember installing the MP fitting in the engine and wondering why there was not restrictor there. I had installed them in other aircraft but I was just following the plans. Anyways, a restrictor greatly helped. Scott had recommended one with a hole for a #60 drill. I did not have one of those but did have one with a slightly larger hole. I installed this and it got rid of almost all the fluctuations.

The other issue is with grounding the fuel sender on the left tank. The local ground is apparently not good enough and it is giving me low fuel level readings.
The right tank is spot on. I tried tightening some of the screws, those with the star washers, and it solved the problem for about half an hour of flight. Tomorrow I will try to run a dedicated ground wire to the fuel sender body and see if that solves the issue.

The RV14 tail dragger sits higher then most of the aircraft I have flown, even my rocket. The wing is amazing and stalls at a very low speed. Ground effect is much greater then I am used to and I have to say that I am struggling with that stiff gear. Tonight I felt that I had enough high power hours on the engine that I could do some touch and goes and that helped a lot in getting some consistency in approaches and touch downs. If you flare a bit high it will bounce and float until it doesn't!
The engine is well matched to the airframe and the acceleration from a take off is pretty rocket like. The extra surface area of the wing gets this plane into the air in a hurry.
I am really enjoying the cabin room and visibility it will be a great cross country aircraft.
 
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Thanks for the reports on your phase one. Are you happy with your wheel fairings given you set them up before the engine went on? I am just at that stage and considering doing your method without engine on.
It seems logical to me that it would be good to setup without load on wheels as that is the flying configuration and would make sure the wheel pants are true for flying .
 
Yes it was better to install the wheel pants early in the build. The gear fairings and upper and lower fairings are done later.
 
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