Another one takes to the sky

[kmacht]

A bit of a long post but just wanted to report that my plans built Sonex #554 finally took to the sky yesterday. Write-up below:

Keith
#554

After 9 years and 10 months my plane finally took to the skies. After having to cancel last weekend due to getting to the airport too late in the morning and the winds picking up I decided to go just after sunrise this morning. Unfortunately once I got to the airport I found it fogged in so bad that you couldn't even see the planes in the next row by where I was parked. It was starting to feel like the weather gods were conspiring against me. I spent the next few hours pulling the cowling and pretty much going through the whole plane from top to bottom to make sure I didn't miss anything. Not able to find anything wrong with the plane the fog finally cleared out around 9:30. I strapped into the plane unable to come up with a good excuse not to go flying. The nerves were at an all time high. I knew the plane was built to plans and after doing the transition training at Sonex I knew I could fly it but there was always that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I missed something or that I was fooling myself into believing that I could really fly something built in my garage.

My ground crew this morning was my wife and my father. After a quick briefing of what the flight plan was and what to do if things went wrong I found myself closing the canopy and taxiing for takeoff. The run-up went smooth with everything checking out just right. I found myself trying to be conscious of not using the hydraulic brakes too much while taxiing in case I need all the braking power they had for an aborted takeoff. I think that was really more of something to distract myself with as I taxied to try and keep my mind off of what I was about to go do. As the plane rolled onto the runway suddenly everything felt familiar. The plane felt and looked exactly like it did when flying at the sonex factory, the engine seemed to be running smoother than it ever had and a quick glance at the windsock showed the wind completely calm. With nothing left to do but go for it I made quick radio call and advanced the throttle. It took almost no time for the plane to pick up speed and I could feel it start to get light on the tail. A slight pressure back on the stick and suddenly I was flying!!!

I was too busy absorbing it all in to do anything other than glance at the airspeed indicator and make sure the engine monitor warning light wasn't flashing. I can't provide many details on things like climb rate, rpm, etc. That will be for the next flight. I felt out the plane on climbout rocking the wings slightly right and left to make sure the ailerons were doing their job and adjusting back pressure on the elevator to maintain a nice 80mph climbout. The one thing I did notice is that the climb rate seemed incredibly fast. I was somewhere above 500' by the time I was at the end of the runway. That was the only noticeable difference between this flight and the one at Sonex. With only one person on board and 3/4 fuel the aerovee has no problem pulling the plane up and around.

After reaching 700 feet I turned crosswind and then again pretty quickly made my downwind turn to stay close to the runway. At this point I started to relax. Once I had the turn to downwind made I knew that even if the engine quit I could easily make it back to the runway. I continued to climb until I reached 1200'. At that point my engine monitor warning light started to flash. It seems that my EGT's were quickly climbing. I throttled back a little and shallowed out the climb. It took a minute or two but the EGT's stopped climbing and settled down right around 1320. That was way too hot for my liking but it was within limits so I decided to continue on. I circled the airport for a couple of laps slowly climbing up to 2500' before leveling off. Pulling the throttle back to 2600 rpm I saw speeds around 100-105 mph. At that point I decided to just enjoy it for a while. The plane was running well, I had plenty of altitude in case something went wrong and there was nobody else flying in the area. I did another 5 or 6 laps (I lost count) just enjoying the experience.

I decided that the plane was eventually going to land one way or another so I might as well start figuring out how to get it back on the runway. While still at 2500' I pulled the power back some more and put in two notches of flaps. The plane slowed down to 60 mph and I didn't feel or sense a stall. The only difference was that the sticks took a little more throw to get the plane to move around. That was good enough to land since 60 was my target speed over the numbers. I took the flaps back out and started descending back down to traffic pattern altitude of 1200'. Once there I entered on the downwind and started to prep for the landing. The first notch of flaps went in at the mid point of the runway and the second notch went in abeam the numbers. I pulled some more power out and started my decent. Setting up my sight picture as I was taught during transition training brought the plane right to the target of 80mph as I turned base. I turned base a bit too close making me a little high so I pulled a little bit more power. Turning final I was prepared to add power and pull flaps if I wasn't on the right glide path or if things just didn't feel right. With the sight picture just as it should be, the speed at the target of 70mph and a decent rate putting me just past the runway threshold I continued on. Just before crossing the numbers I pulled the power the rest of the way off and started to setup the flare. I wish I could say the first landing was perfect but I ended up flaring just a tad high and dropped it in the last 6 to 12". I knew instantly what I had done and was waiting for the bounce but the titanium landing gear just completely absorbed it making it one of the smoothest landings I have ever done in a taildragger. The plane rolled out nice and straight with no tenancy to swerve and I was off the runway well before the halfway point without ever touching the brakes.

As I taxied back to my parking spot it finally started to hit me what I had accomplished. Up until this point building the airplane had always been just a hobby that "someday" would get me up in the air. I had enjoyed the hundreds if not thousands of hours laying out holes, drilling, deburring, and then riveting things together just as much as I had enjoyed flying. I knew that all that time in the shop would eventually produce an airplane but it was always something that would happen in the future and something to dream about. We'll today that dream finally came true.

[jmtraylor]

Congratulations, Keith.

Mark

[hickej]

Welcome to the Sonex club. I felt that I was in the cockpit with you, nice write up! You are going to have so much fun.
Jim W0162 3300 TD

[Sonerai13]

Congrats Keith!!!!

[kmacht]

For anyone on the fence about the transition training with Joe or his backup instructor I would highly recomend it. A few hours in the air with them made a word of difference. I had flown with a few other builders over the years but geting to sit in the left seat with an experienced instructor coaching you through what you should be seeing, hearing, and feeling gives a huge confidence boost during that first flight. I'm not sure the first flight would have gone as smoothly without it. It is worth every penny.

Keith
#554

[dhogue]

Congratulations, Keith.

Enjoyable read and thanks for it.
Same here: while there is many a dream to imagine before my plane will go there I could follow along, in my minds eye, your described impressions and 1st flight.
I'm building a Onex tailwheel. Attending the workshop next May. I will also be taking the transition training.

Don

[Bryan Cotton]

Great writeup Keith! Congratulations on first flight!

[Sonex1517]

Excellent write up and a huge CONGRATULATIONS!

Blue skies
Robbie

[tonyr]

Congratulations Keith on your first flight...

from another newbie :lol:

Cheers
Tony

[fastj22]

Let the fun begin! Good job. Another flying bird in our flock.