Pietenpol-List: My First Flight !!
Posted: Sun May 05, 2002 2:54 am
Original Posted By: "Jack Phillips"
Subject: Pietenpol-List: My First Flight !!YEEE HAAAWWW !!!! Sorry....I just had to get that out...I shall remember this day for the rest of my life !! This evening, 5/4/02, at 7:40pm, I took off for my first flight in NX770CG. YEEEE HAAAWWW !! Doug Bryant did the first three flights, in recent weeks, and we worked a few bugs out. Doug reported that quite a bit of aft pressure on the stick was required for level flight. We tweaked the leading edge of the horizontal stab down, with the flying wires, and he said this progressively helped, but it still needed a little more. He also said the airspeed and altimeter seemed to be sluggish in reaction. I'll drill the static holes out to #40 before the next flight. The engine also wanted to stop running when at idle, on short final...gotta work on that. The time between opportunities to fly seems to be long. This evening, brought near perfect weather conditions, and it was MY turn. Sam had the Stearman out, and Joe was in his J3 Cub. These two planes are of the pride and joy of Benton Airpark (beside Doug's and my Pietenpol's). I did a thorough pre-flight, and went out and did some taxi's up and down the turf runway, at Benton. I got the tail up a few times, and it all felt good. The sock at the North end lay limp, but the one at the South end showed a little bit of a left crosswind. As I rounded the North end and set up on runway heading, I once again asked for the Lord's blessing, and added full power. With some forward stick, the tail came up within several seconds, and I still wasn't quite sure if this was going to be my take-off roll. Pull power, or leave it in...decision time...then the noise of the ground went away, and the earth began to get further away. OK...leave it in. Out of ground effect, I glanced the A.S.I. and it indicated 40 m.p.h. Nose down a little...keep airspeed. Climb at 45 or 50...WE'RE FLYING !!!!!! YEEEE HAAAAAWWWW !! I gotta go by feel...the airspeed, and altimeter is still sluggish in reaction. The green Kansas countryside is just simply AWESOME, from an open cockpit airplane !! Nothing like I've ever experienced. This sky is HUGE !! Look left, look right, I didn't even notice the radiator in front of me. Glance the instruments...180 engine temp, 10 p.s.i., ASI 45 m.p.h. ..lookin' good. 400 AGL, bank right ...crosswind...oops... not enough rudder to keep the ball in the middle...lead turns with rudder. Stay in the pattern. We did about 10 or 12 laps around the race course, at almost pattern altitude. Check pitch control, roll control, yaw control... get a feel for it. She really tells me what's going on. Very sensitive on the controls. I like it. Bernard Harold Pietenpol is a genius in design. He got it right. OK, the sun is about halfway below the horizon, and it's time to land. The good Lord kept me safe so far, and now it's time to land. If you weren't there to see the landing, then it was a perfect landing !! In actuallity, we did 3 landings. I kept the speed up a little, and was probably a little low on short final, but we landed without any incident. YEEEE HAAAAWWWW !!! I'm going to make this 40 minute log book entry in RED !! Joe had to leave, but his wife and a couple of friends, and all the kids are running around down at his hanger, and I had to give them a YEEE HAAWW and have a couple of beers !! A day for the history books !! I hope to fly off the hours, and make it to Broadhead to meet all you guys !! This internet group, and the Broadhead Pietenpol Association is the ultimate in making a dream come true !! I can't imagine anyplace that a dream can come true, like AMERICA !!!!!!! Ain't the internet cool ?Chuck GantzerNX770CGYEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAWWWW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Pietenpol-List: My First Flight !!YEEE HAAAWWW !!!! Sorry....I just had to get that out...I shall remember this day for the rest of my life !! This evening, 5/4/02, at 7:40pm, I took off for my first flight in NX770CG. YEEEE HAAAWWW !! Doug Bryant did the first three flights, in recent weeks, and we worked a few bugs out. Doug reported that quite a bit of aft pressure on the stick was required for level flight. We tweaked the leading edge of the horizontal stab down, with the flying wires, and he said this progressively helped, but it still needed a little more. He also said the airspeed and altimeter seemed to be sluggish in reaction. I'll drill the static holes out to #40 before the next flight. The engine also wanted to stop running when at idle, on short final...gotta work on that. The time between opportunities to fly seems to be long. This evening, brought near perfect weather conditions, and it was MY turn. Sam had the Stearman out, and Joe was in his J3 Cub. These two planes are of the pride and joy of Benton Airpark (beside Doug's and my Pietenpol's). I did a thorough pre-flight, and went out and did some taxi's up and down the turf runway, at Benton. I got the tail up a few times, and it all felt good. The sock at the North end lay limp, but the one at the South end showed a little bit of a left crosswind. As I rounded the North end and set up on runway heading, I once again asked for the Lord's blessing, and added full power. With some forward stick, the tail came up within several seconds, and I still wasn't quite sure if this was going to be my take-off roll. Pull power, or leave it in...decision time...then the noise of the ground went away, and the earth began to get further away. OK...leave it in. Out of ground effect, I glanced the A.S.I. and it indicated 40 m.p.h. Nose down a little...keep airspeed. Climb at 45 or 50...WE'RE FLYING !!!!!! YEEEE HAAAAAWWWW !! I gotta go by feel...the airspeed, and altimeter is still sluggish in reaction. The green Kansas countryside is just simply AWESOME, from an open cockpit airplane !! Nothing like I've ever experienced. This sky is HUGE !! Look left, look right, I didn't even notice the radiator in front of me. Glance the instruments...180 engine temp, 10 p.s.i., ASI 45 m.p.h. ..lookin' good. 400 AGL, bank right ...crosswind...oops... not enough rudder to keep the ball in the middle...lead turns with rudder. Stay in the pattern. We did about 10 or 12 laps around the race course, at almost pattern altitude. Check pitch control, roll control, yaw control... get a feel for it. She really tells me what's going on. Very sensitive on the controls. I like it. Bernard Harold Pietenpol is a genius in design. He got it right. OK, the sun is about halfway below the horizon, and it's time to land. The good Lord kept me safe so far, and now it's time to land. If you weren't there to see the landing, then it was a perfect landing !! In actuallity, we did 3 landings. I kept the speed up a little, and was probably a little low on short final, but we landed without any incident. YEEEE HAAAAWWWW !!! I'm going to make this 40 minute log book entry in RED !! Joe had to leave, but his wife and a couple of friends, and all the kids are running around down at his hanger, and I had to give them a YEEE HAAWW and have a couple of beers !! A day for the history books !! I hope to fly off the hours, and make it to Broadhead to meet all you guys !! This internet group, and the Broadhead Pietenpol Association is the ultimate in making a dream come true !! I can't imagine anyplace that a dream can come true, like AMERICA !!!!!!! Ain't the internet cool ?Chuck GantzerNX770CGYEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAWWWW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!________________________________________________________________________________