Poor Kelly has had only a few short flights, and she’s already gotten roped into helping with an oil change.
She was in charge of putting all the new oil (9 qts) in, and she also took a few pictures.…
As I mentioned previously, part of flight testing is flying at different weights and centers of gravity. I used sand, which was cheap, easy to get, and pre-measured in 50 or 60 lb. bags. It can be messy, though, so …
Kelly’s sister, Kari, came to visit a couple weeks ago. These days, no visit is complete without a tour of the airplane. Here’s Kari trying to figure out how to fly back to California.
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With the 40 hours flown off, it was time for Kelly’s first flight. We both took Friday off from work, and the weather was beautiful (warmest day of the year so far and not a cloud in the sky). We …
“Phase 1” is the testing phase. For a certain number of hours (40 in our case) after certification, the airplane is restricted: can go only 50 nm from the home airport, no passengers, daytime only, VFR only, and no flying …
It’s been a really wet spring, so haven’t done as much flying as I’d like (have I complained about that before?). The weather is starting to get better, though. Sunset is after 8 p.m. now, so plenty of time to …
It’s been almost two weeks since the last flight. The last one was a good one, though, flying over Arlington for a while, then heading up to Skagit and back. I’m slowly getting more comfortable venturing away from the home …
It’s now been two weeks since our first flight. We now have 8 flights and 5.3 hours on the airplane. The temperatures and oil consumption have stabilized, so I think the engine is pretty much broken in. The erratic RPM …
Thanks to Chad Hankins (RV-7) for letting me borrow his GoPro Hero HD camera. I mounted it to the door strut attachment bolt on the right door, which worked okay. Here’s a video of the takeoff and landing. …