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Little Nervous!

Darren Kerns

Well Known Member
Guys,
My RV8 is almost finished. It is actually in the paint shop as I speak. It should be done in about a month. The RV Guru, John Marshall, helped finish it and he will be flying the first few hours off it. I would have never finished this without him. Anyway, I just obtained my taildragger endorsement in a Super Decathelon. I have 9 hours. I am going to fly some with John in his Super 8.
My question is that I am a little nervous. I hope I feel better after flying some with John. Any thoughts or suggestions would help.
Thanks in advance to all,
Darren Kerns
RV8 214TK
 
Little Nervous

Darren,

Congratulations and good luck with your test flying! I'm several years behind you at my construction pace, but I'm looking forward to completion. I'm curious, who did you go to for insurance. I would prefer to build a taildragger, but I'm worried about my insurability and the cost since I don't have any tailwheel time yet. I plan to get my sign off this Spring.

Take Care,

Craig Schwartz
Wing Kit
Santa Rosa, CA
 
Ditto for me, Darren. I sent a private message regarding the same. Hoping to finish my 9 kit as a 9 rather than 9a and probably will if I think I'll have a shot at insurace with 15-20 hours of tailwheel.

Steve
 
Darren Kerns said:
Guys,
My RV8 is almost finished. It is actually in the paint shop as I speak. It should be done in about a month. The RV Guru, John Marshall, helped finish it and he will be flying the first few hours off it. I would have never finished this without him. Anyway, I just obtained my taildragger endorsement in a Super Decathelon. I have 9 hours. I am going to fly some with John in his Super 8.
My question is that I am a little nervous. I hope I feel better after flying some with John. Any thoughts or suggestions would help.
Thanks in advance to all,
Darren Kerns
RV8 214TK


Darren, I was in the same position as you last August. I too, got a few hours
in a decathalon with an instructor. Before I flew my 8, I spent a few hours
doing touch and go's with a CFI in his RV 6. Prior to that I only had about
40 hours of tailwheel time from the 70's ! I now have over 60 hours on my
RV 8 and have enjoyed every second of it. You are gonna LOVE this airplane !
Things happen fairly quickly in the take off and landing phase, BUT the craft
is always controllable. Pick your days to fly and do the first few flights off of
a long wide runway and you will do fine. You are preparing properly, just
"chair fly" your first few missions, stay ahead of the plane and enjoy the thrill ! I've flown many kinds of aircraft, the 8 is by far the most FUN !
Best of Luck......... Mark Cigal N617MC
 
What I'm about to say may seem strange, but bear with me. Over the years I have noticed guys who build seem to get nervous about flying their own planes. I know of a -7a with 30 hours on it and its for sale. The builder simply will not fly it anymore. I think its a mental thing (not a bad thing, just in your head) about how the plane is built, seeing it all in pieces, taking years to build, maybe a few areas of the build you think are weak, hearing all the horror stories about problems, daydreaming about what happen if this part fails, or this part was rivited wrong, ect. I'm not trying to add fuel to the fire, or infer anything negative, but over the years I have noticed this several times. I think the solution is just get some hours under your belt like the privous post said, and focus on flying rather than the building aspect. Does that makes sense? Just my observation, and that is why I don't build. ;) If I built a plane it would never fly. I would modify this and that so much it would weigh more than a Sherman tank. I just want to fly.

Get in the air and forget you built it! :)

You are the first pilot I have met to admit being nervous about flying his homebuilt plane. That alone tells me you are a good pilot. Assessing your "mental attitude" before flying is just as important as the preflight.

Fly it like you stole it...... :eek:
 
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I think we all are a little nervous about flying our crafts for the first time. Those last minute stage jitters about "did I do this" or "did I forget that". These are things you will think about as you do your ground testing and as you go into your take off roll for the very first time. Knowing that you did the best job possible building the plane and correcting any work you felt was deficient is your best hedge against disaster.

Doing a thorough inspection prior to your AWI and have other builders inspect it, too, is a good thing. Have a good test area, test plan, backup crew, no audience, contingency plans, good transition training, and self confidence. If you lack anything (and maybe more), better prepare yourself before that first flight.

I test flew both my planes using the above philosophy and both were a complete success. Yes, I was nervous. Probably more nervous on the first one (a SeaRey). A million things went through my mind as I warmed up the engine in preparation for my takeoff roll. But as I powered up, my mind was focused on just one thing. Fly the airplane.

I knew I did a good job building the plane. I was satisfied that the design was sound and the systems were well proven. I was well prepared and confident in my ability. Once in the air, I concentrated on my test plan, and enjoyed my new RV-7A.

Roberta Hegy
N2447A "Lovin' it"
 
I'm now 3.5 hours into my new engine burn-in period and I gotta say *I'm Nervous!* ;) Really, going from 160FP to 180C/S is such a drastic change I find I'm noticing every little sound, vibration, smell and bump with a heightened sense of awareness - almost that same sensation when I was putting the very first few hours on Flash.

So, here I am with 350+ hours on the RV and I'm pressing 'Nearest' on the GPS about three times a minute...

Jay said it would take me 20 hrs to get used to the 'feel' of sitting behind a different engine, and I'm sure he'll be right.

The extra power is a real blast and the braking action the C/S gives on the pitchout makes the nervously worthwile <g>.

B,
 
Hey Darren,

I hear ya !! I went through the same thing just as m -8 was finishing up. I had about 130 hrs on Cessnas, and 0 taildragger time. I got about 3 hours in a Stinson 108-3, and that was enough (or so I thought). My instructor was excellent, and we did TONS of touch and gos, mosty wheel landings as I knew that the -8 is difficult to 3 point solo, especially if you have a big engine up front. The first flight was exciting and scary all at the same time. Didn't bend anything, though.

I was nervous as a cat for the first 20 hours or so, getting startled by every little noise that seemed out of the ordinary. The big issue I had, and still have after 30 hours, is crosswind landings. Because the weather sucks most of the time in this part of Canada in winter, I only get to fly maybe once every week or two. I think I need to fly every couple of days for a while to get really comfortable with crosswinds.

Now, that being said, the -8 is actually fairly easy to handle in a crosswind, it's just my lack of experience that is causing a psycological issue. I have found that carrying a little power in the flare (slight flare for wheel landings) creates almost perfect landings every time. It's when I have a brain cramp and pull power like I used to in a 172 that I get myself into trouble.

The airplane is dead easy to take off, handles like a sportscar without being twitchy. and the view is absolutely spectacular. Landings (for me) are dead simple as well, as long as the wind is relatively well aligned with the runway. Again, that is mostly my inexperience causing me to be a big chicken. A long and wide runway is a big help. Our runway at Carp (CYRP) is 4000' and 100' wide. I used to use most of it to stop. Now I use half. Pretty soon I'll be less than a quarter.

Pick your days to fly, get used to the awesome performance, and learn to accept hero worship from non-RV owners humbly (that last one is hard ;-)

Cheers
 
Nervous

I get the "nervs" with any new to me, airplane. Takes me 10 or so hours before I trust it, even if I built it!
There are several RV builders in this area that are flying Cessna 140s to get tail wheel time. The 140 is listed in for 25K or less in Trade A Plane. If you buy one of these and fly it while you are building, you will transition with confidence, and have the qualifications for your insurance too.
 
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