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Struggle Over !

JohnF

Well Known Member
After my stall on first take off, it took about 3.5-months to get everything repaired and another take off attempt on Oct 1st. After just a short flight I got a false alarm of no oil pressure, so the flight was immediately cut short. After several weeks of frustration in dealing with what turned out to be a defective Honeywell oil pressure sender (that caused the Dynon D-180 to show several more false readings (of high MAP, high fuel pressure, and trim icon going wild) I replaced the Honeywell unit with a VDO sensor and put that on the firewall. That cured everything.

Last evening prior to another flight attempt it began snowing (I'm at 7,500-ft in the Colorado Rockies) so I thought the flight was scrubbed..but come morning the sky cleared, and tho' it was 14-degrees F, I found the runway bare and dry and so I plugged in the Reif engine heater, and added a space heater blowing into the cowling...an hour later the oil temp was 100-degrees F, so I took off.

Somewhat heavy right wing, some engine noise in the headset, and what seems to me to be somewhat heavy controls with full flaps (its OK, just different than my RV-6A). Went to 10,000-ft and circled the field until convinced everything was OK and landed. Not my best landing but just 'OK'

At least I have a flying machine again.
 
HEY JOHN - -

Congrats ! Been a real struggle for you. Glad you got it flying for a while. It will take some time to get used to it, but I'm sure you will be happy after say 10 hours of "getting used to it" time.

John Bender
 
John, and others...

I'm very relieved to hear that you're flying again and especially proud of your willingness to admit that you stalled on your first flight!

As a 40 year CFI and RV-6A transition training instructor, now RV-10 driver, if all of you guys never lose sight of the horizon on rotation, you'll probably never even come close to a stall in an RV, whether it's 150 horse or higher.

I've had occasion to not have enough down trim in an airplane and had to push really hard on the stick to keep the nose down....something that goes against normal instinct. Just do whatever it takes to keep the horizon in view until you're assured of adequate airspeed to climb steeper.

Best,
 
Good work John!! I know how frustrating first flight problems can be. I lost a throttle cable nut on my first flight. Glad you stuck with it.
 
John, very cool that you are over the hurdles. You will love the airplane, and the more you fly it the more you will love it.
Dick Seiders
 
Congratulations, John, and also thanks for keeping us updated with the details.

Enjoy the plane! I hope that the weather is favorable for you.
 
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