Yesterday afternoon my RV-9A finally flew after 5 years under construction. I opted to have Mike Seager do the first flight since I?m a very low time RV pilot and I could get a good evaluation of its flight characteristics from ?The Master?. Everything went well and Mike reports that it flew well without any tweaks required. I then took it for my first spin. After being a Cessna driver for almost 25 years I couldn?t be happier with its performance and visibility. Of course I returned with a big RV grin and can?t wait to fly it more.
My first flight should have happened months ago but I?ve had a few unexpected delays. It?s really quite unbelievable but you can?t make this stuff up. First of all I had an issue with my new IO-320 engine. I was unable to get the CS prop to cycle when testing the engine. After a couple weeks of trouble-shooting I finally had to remove the engine and ship it back to Aerosport for repair. Long story short, they found a defect in the ECI engine casing which relieved oil back to the sump that was supposed to go to the prop. Bart said he had never seen that before. They quickly replaced the engine casing and returned the engine to me for reinstallation. A few weeks later with the engine reinstalled I was finally ready for that first flight. No one wants to see their airplane look like this after installing a new engine.
My next issue was with my composite prop and somewhat embarrassing. In the interest of aviation safety awareness for others I?ll admit to this. We had just put the cowling on to prepare for flight when we noticed something rubbing the cowl. We then fixed some clearance issues with hardware on the spinner back plate and put everything back together. I decided to check it one last time by rotating the prop by hand. It all happened very fast. I?m guessing that I let go of the prop thinking that it wasn?t in compression and then leaned forward to verify clearance behind the spinner. Unfortunately about that time the prop let go and smacked me on the head as it did a partial spin. Wow, does a head wound bleed a lot. Mike decided that with a blow to the head and that amount of bleeding it would be prudent to call 911. As a precaution I laid down on the floor in case I got light headed. It was at that moment when I was laying on the floor and looked up at the prop, only to see a chip out of the trailing edge. That?s right; my head is hard enough to break a prop. Seeing the chip was worst than getting hit in the head. Shortly thereafter I got a trip to the hospital with the lights and sirens on. All ended up being fine after a CT scan and having a 4? long cut in my scalp sewn up. I was lucky that my ego was hurt more than my head. The story doesn?t end there. To add insult to injury, UPS damaged the other blade in shipping to the prop manufacturer for repair. The box was thrown so hard that the blade penetrated a layer of plywood in the end of the box. That damage was more cosmetic and could be easily repaired and painted. The prop manufacturer wouldn?t warranty the chipped blade if repaired so I opted for a new blade. Six weeks later, almost $2000 for a prop repair and $14,000 for a hospital visit (I do have medical insurance) I finally got the prop back. Now I?m not sure if I?ll ever feel comfortable flying into an unpaved strip for fear of chipping that fancy composite prop. So lesson learned; be careful pulling that prop through while working on your canopy during construction unless the plugs are out.
So after my long story perhaps you can understand why my first flight was a real milestone. After flying yesterday all those previous issues are being forgotten and looking forward to being a new RV driver. The wheel pants are in primer so in a few weeks I?ll be 100% done and will have more time to fly.
My first flight should have happened months ago but I?ve had a few unexpected delays. It?s really quite unbelievable but you can?t make this stuff up. First of all I had an issue with my new IO-320 engine. I was unable to get the CS prop to cycle when testing the engine. After a couple weeks of trouble-shooting I finally had to remove the engine and ship it back to Aerosport for repair. Long story short, they found a defect in the ECI engine casing which relieved oil back to the sump that was supposed to go to the prop. Bart said he had never seen that before. They quickly replaced the engine casing and returned the engine to me for reinstallation. A few weeks later with the engine reinstalled I was finally ready for that first flight. No one wants to see their airplane look like this after installing a new engine.
My next issue was with my composite prop and somewhat embarrassing. In the interest of aviation safety awareness for others I?ll admit to this. We had just put the cowling on to prepare for flight when we noticed something rubbing the cowl. We then fixed some clearance issues with hardware on the spinner back plate and put everything back together. I decided to check it one last time by rotating the prop by hand. It all happened very fast. I?m guessing that I let go of the prop thinking that it wasn?t in compression and then leaned forward to verify clearance behind the spinner. Unfortunately about that time the prop let go and smacked me on the head as it did a partial spin. Wow, does a head wound bleed a lot. Mike decided that with a blow to the head and that amount of bleeding it would be prudent to call 911. As a precaution I laid down on the floor in case I got light headed. It was at that moment when I was laying on the floor and looked up at the prop, only to see a chip out of the trailing edge. That?s right; my head is hard enough to break a prop. Seeing the chip was worst than getting hit in the head. Shortly thereafter I got a trip to the hospital with the lights and sirens on. All ended up being fine after a CT scan and having a 4? long cut in my scalp sewn up. I was lucky that my ego was hurt more than my head. The story doesn?t end there. To add insult to injury, UPS damaged the other blade in shipping to the prop manufacturer for repair. The box was thrown so hard that the blade penetrated a layer of plywood in the end of the box. That damage was more cosmetic and could be easily repaired and painted. The prop manufacturer wouldn?t warranty the chipped blade if repaired so I opted for a new blade. Six weeks later, almost $2000 for a prop repair and $14,000 for a hospital visit (I do have medical insurance) I finally got the prop back. Now I?m not sure if I?ll ever feel comfortable flying into an unpaved strip for fear of chipping that fancy composite prop. So lesson learned; be careful pulling that prop through while working on your canopy during construction unless the plugs are out.
So after my long story perhaps you can understand why my first flight was a real milestone. After flying yesterday all those previous issues are being forgotten and looking forward to being a new RV driver. The wheel pants are in primer so in a few weeks I?ll be 100% done and will have more time to fly.
