N36HS is officially finished
My RV7A is officially completed since last Friday. After one month at Grady’s workshop (GLO Custom), the plane is now painted. Congratulation to Grady, he did a fantastic job, lot of good advice, top quality job, excellent service. He deserves a 10/10 on every aspect. Highly recommended, it is worth the trip from South Carolina where I live for a few years before returning to France.
The first flight was made in last December, several small issues to fix during the phase one, such as slight heavy wing, leak on a tank, the plane is flying perfectly now. She has 55 hours on the log.
Engine is O320 D2A with FP sensenich metal prop.
Panel is equipped for VFR flight with AFS3500 with AOA, Map and SV, SL30, GTX330, GMA240, GPS 495, Digitrak and Altrak. The Altrak is just being installed recently, the trip to and from Dallas from SC made me realize that with such fast airplane, even correctly trimmed, you just have a 10 sec look at your map, and you have lost (or gained) 200ft. Backup steam gauge with altimeter, speed indicator and compass.
Leather interior from Classic Aero, Aviator panels and sportsman seats. Very nice and comfortable for long trips.
I am very happy with every choice I have made along the building process, the plane is perfectly fitted to my need and mission, it was a fantastic adventure, lot of very nice people met along the five years of construction, both in France (where I started the project) and here in the US. All this has been a very exciting, and now rewarding project.
From performance view point, I have 135 / 140 knot at 3000 ft at 65% and 9 gph. At 8000 ft, I reach 155 / 160 knot with 65% and 8 gph, not being too aggressive on mixture. I lean until I get 400F on the hottest cylinder (carb).
Nothing can beat the RV’s from cost vs pleasure view point IMHO. I am sure most of you agree on this statement
Additional photos available here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/110701092257085415643/N36HSPainted#