Feature
Netherlands RV-7 First Flight
by René Bubberman
With almost everybody returned from holidays, it was time to take the plunge.
The start of the week was quite windy and rainy but a improvement was predicted
for thursday so we had planned to keep our agenda's free for the afternoon. It
started grey and rainy with CB's all over the place, but at least the wind was
calm and into the runway, so we decided to try and come to Lelystad airport.
Aart and I started on the last items: improvement of the tailwheel,
including a towbar attach point and mounting the secundary canopy latch. Then
there was the final checks and closing all inspection hatches and the engine
cowls. Bill, the instructor who was going to do the first flight with me as
co-pilot, arrived and we rolled the plane outside.
I attempted to start but the battery was low and the Fadec did not have enough
to ignite. Hmm, strange, since we had charged it the whole afternoon... On
inspection the fuse in the charging cable was melted. Replacing it, it popped
again so we started to search for the fault, which was found in a shortcircuited
charging plug. Duh... Pim went off to the Shell to get some new fuses and we
repaired the plug for the time being. After some charging (patience........) I
tried again and this time it sprang to life.
With all systems go I
taxied to the fuel station and refuelled. Bill climbed in, we did the final
checks and briefed each other, and we taxied to the holding point.
In the mean time Aart had taken off in a C-172 chase plane and Pim was next to
the runway with a video camera.
Bill opened the throttle and PH-VII
jumped forward and before I knew it we were in a steady climb. Very exciting but
on the other hand this feeling that it was completely normal that it actually
could fly!
Throttling back at 500 feet to avoid overheating to
25inch/2500 RPM we still had a climb rate of 1800 feet per minute with 87 kts
IAS. After leveling off at 3000 feet we tried some control inputs and it all
felt so stable and well-coordinated. The most difficult part was preventing it
from climbing or accelerating!
We practiced some slow flight at 4000
feet which also gave the chase plane an opportunity to come abeam. We tried the
flaps near the stall speed and it all stayed very stable. The only point was
that we noticed some engine backfiring at lower power settings. The engine
temperatures stayed very neat however. After going through the various
procedures we planned to come in for landing. Bill made it a wheel landing and
we were back on solid ground again after 25 minutes. Woah, it seems we built
ourselves a real aeroplane.......
We taxied back to show our grins to the others and prepared PH-VII for the
second and third first flight for Aart and Pim.
After some checks it
was Aart's turn to taste the fruit of his labour. Bill and he set off for a
short flight. For me it was very cool to see the plane take off and climbing
like an elevator. Somehow even more exciting then when I was in it. After some
15 minutes they returned, allowing Aart to develop a huge grin.
Then it was Pim's turn for a quick hop just before sunset and he strapped in.
And then, very strange: she would not start! After some tries we decided that
this was too strange for a third first flight and it needed investigation first,
so we called it a glorious day and pulled the plane back to the hangar. While
the champagne was un-corked (that's RV-building European style guys) I could not
resist to check again. I managed to start, albeit not easy and noticed the fuel
pump kept running on all settings. After shutting down Aart noticed large dents
in the wing leading edge (WHO DID THIS!!!), which disappeared when Pim pulled
the tank cap! Appearantly the fuel vent line was blocked! I tried to re-start
and it worked immediately.
So with some homework for the next flights
we drank our champagne, kissed PH-VII goodbye and went home quite happy!
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