So, my builders log is finished after 4 years and all these labour hours. Now it's time to enjoy the freedom of flying. This and the following pages will be dedicated to nice future flying adventures.
I hope many will follow my example. In a couple of months I will start helping Gerry. He will make the same RV-7.
| From august 14th to September 5th | Testperiod and my first hours on OO-149 |
| Since the final inspection a lot happened. I try to make an overview of this period. It started the 14th with a deep inspection together with Luc. Some minor changes and fixes before Geert could make the first flight. Safety first and check after check. We took all the time. And, this is very important. | |
| As you can see we left the wheel boots off. This to evaluate immediately after the first flight the gear. I also checked again and again... | |
| I prepared my handheld to stay straight in contact with Geert who was going to make this first take-off. As I explained earlier, I was not allowed to do this due to the fact that I have no commercial licence an no aerobatics licence. This is typical Belgian regulatory... But OK so be it...
Geert had to fly the first hours and declare the airplane safe. From that moment it was cleared for me to fly it. |
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| In the meantime Geert went again through my Pilot Operating Handbook to get awared with the different settings and parameters from the engine/airplane. | |
| Where necessary we supported during the last pre-flight briefing. All possible settings and procedures were reviewed together with Luc. | |
| And then, the big moment nearby. Geert performed the preflight external inspection. | |
| Free movement of the controls, | |
| no obstructions in the cowling etc... | |
| And tghen into the OO-149. Ronny giving a helping hand... | |
| Before starting I jumped too in the cockpit to give a final briefing concerning the instruments and the panel. We switched off all unnecessary devices and then Geert taxied away and took-off. | |
| A big explosion of joy after the take-off. Everybody very surprised about the extra short run Geert made before he lifted the bird... | |
| Ronny and I promised each other to smoke a big sigar when the aiplane would be airborne. So... | |
| Everything went perfect. The only thing we discovered after the first hours was 2 scews in the baffles which untied, a very small amount of oil leaking somewhere on a pressure sensor and that was it. Except the left wing going down in straight flight. We did quite a lot of tests and finally we installed a small trimtab to lift the right ailleron. Since that time ... perfect.
After some hours I went with Wim in his Glasair to make some air-to-air pictures. |
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| You saw already some of these in the Fuselage section at the end. But, I like these pictures so much... | |
| On Sunday, August 31st I made my first solo flight with my taildragger. I enjoyed this as it was my very first soloflight. What a pleasure and what an experience... | |
| You know, it is like a dream when you first get airborne with a sel built airplane... | |
| After I went to the cantine of Sanicole, my colleagues of Sanicole surprised me with this. As it was my first solo they went for a real "baptism"... | |
| Pure champagne, cream. Wet, stinky but... super satisfied. | |
| OO-149 has now 14 hours. I flew some of them and will continue finishing the first 25 hours. In the meantime, around the airfield, I optimised my transponder. And afterwards I finalized the settings for the wing leveler. All these things still will need additional tests and flight hours before they will be optimized. | |