March 7, 2010 - FormFlight
Usual
drill: got up at 5:45, left
at 6AM – already getting light, a good sign! -- arrived airport around
6:45. Pre-heat the
engine. Right tire was
flat. Took the front wheel
pant off. Tried three
airtanks – mine, Tom’s and Bruce’s with no joy. Thankfully was able to get the
tire pressure up to 25 with a foot pump. Fueled the plane. Made it to
The morning was cold but there wasn’t a cloud in the sunny blue sky. The plane loved the cool, dense air. We started out with a four ship: Dave, Mike R, Arjan and me. Bill R. flew top cover. I flew #4 diamond for the first time. I felt comfortable with the form and thought I did pretty well. The loose trail was exciting because Dave took us through wingovers and even a roll at the end.
Arjan asked me if I would take his passenger and I said Sure. Then I found out the guy was a Marine pilot who had been flying F-18s for the last nine years and just came from Test Pilot School! I told him this was only my fourth form flight and I wasn't quite at Blue Angel proficiency yet. If he had a problem with my plane or flying skills he didn’t say anything. I said after the flight “Well, I hope I didn’t scare you too much.”
We landed debriefed, then went up for a second hop. This time it was Dave, Bill R (with Mike R in right seat), Arjan and me. Another good flight, with Dave and Arjan departing afterwards.
Bill/Mike and I
landed at
Tom K. was there so I took him up for a ride. He flew fairly aggressively. I did a couple of rolls and wingovers. Tom seemed stunned by the RV’s performance. I think many GA pilots simply have no idea that you can build a plane this hot; just assume you have to buy a Pitts or Extra to get this kind of performance. We passed a bald eagle on downwind flying the opposite direction. I’ve never seen one over the Chesapeake Bay western shore before.
A lot of people were at the airport. The sun was out, it was warm, and everyone was in a good mood. It's probably the first decent flying day this year so everyone was out. Today was a great flying day. \\
Mike and Bill R. by their RV's.
