1st Flight N173DR 10.2.10

Wicked Stick · Post by **Wicked Stick** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 8:30 pm

1st Rivet bucked on January of 2003... First flight on October 2nd, 2010. It was definitely a slow build all the way, but well worth the wait. First flight lasted about 20 minutes. Other than a few minor squawks, she flew beautifully, and climbs like a bat outta hell

.

Below is a picture after landing and celebrating with my wife Debbie.

My sincere appreciation goes out to everyone who helped me along the way.

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 8:40 pm

Awesome Dave!!! Been waiting for this announcement!

What does the nnumber stand for, the numbers anyway?

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 9:12 pm

Way to go Dave. all that work finally pays off

clreding · Post by **clreding** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 10:10 pm

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Way to go!

I was down in the basement drilling the longerons today and discussing with my daughter different approaches to "birthing" my 8 and remembering the pictures of your "birth"

BSwayze · Post by **BSwayze** » Sun Oct 03, 2010 1:48 pm

Congratulations, Dave! She's a beauty! (the plane looks nice, too!)

Joe Parish · Post by **Joe Parish** » Sun Oct 03, 2010 2:42 pm

Very cool

Congratulations

Keep us informed on your phase one progress.

Wicked Stick · Post by **Wicked Stick** » Sun Oct 03, 2010 2:43 pm

cjensen wrote:Awesome Dave!!! Been waiting for this announcement!

What does the nnumber stand for, the numbers anyway?

The 173 is from my Race Bike days.

The letters are the initials of both my wife and I.

Wicked Stick · Post by **Wicked Stick** » Sun Oct 03, 2010 2:45 pm

clreding wrote:CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Way to go!

I was down in the basement drilling the longerons today and discussing with my daughter different approaches to "birthing" my 8 and remembering the pictures of your "birth"

Thanks, yeah I remember that day as well. My Dad swore it would never fit out the doors without removing them from the hinges, but it went out fine from the basement in Knife Edge

Wicked Stick · Post by **Wicked Stick** » Sun Oct 03, 2010 2:54 pm

Joe Parish wrote:Very cool Congratulations Keep us informed on your phase one progress.

The most important thing with the very first flight (in my opinion) is to establish the plane's indicated landing speed. It's important to try and remember what speed you lifted off at, and also to do a bit of slow flight up at altitude to the point you are just nibbling at the stall buffet and remember that speed as well. I added about 10 to 15 kts to the stall/buffet speed for my "over the numbers" approach speed for the first landing.

My first flight squawks were:
Trim hat switch was wired backwards for pitch. (easy fix)
Left wing was heavy in cruise (will address after a few more flights)
Sniffle valve drain line was slightly chaffing the bottom of the cowl. (shortened the hose)
Minor oil weep/leak on the front area of the sump/case seam where the 3 pieces come together. (tightened the bolts/nuts in that area and will check again next flight)

painless · Post by **painless** » Sun Oct 03, 2010 5:32 pm

Wicked good Dave!!!

Brantel · Post by **Brantel** » Mon Oct 04, 2010 6:49 am

Way to go!!!

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Mon Oct 04, 2010 2:06 pm

Dave,

Really cool!!!

Congrats! What is your test area?

CJ

itisgood · Post by **itisgood** » Mon Oct 04, 2010 4:35 pm

Nice Job Dave, I hope you have a great time with the RV
Dave O

Bill H · Post by **Bill H** » Mon Oct 04, 2010 7:11 pm

Congratulations Dave hope to see a few fly by's soon.

lancef53 · Post by **lancef53** » Mon Oct 04, 2010 8:34 pm

Cool stuff!! Congrats!

I wired my trim switch backwards too

Wicked Stick · Post by **Wicked Stick** » Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:36 am

lancef53 wrote:Cool stuff!! Congrats!

I wired my trim switch backwards too

At least it's an easy fix....swapping two wires. Of course pulling up the floor panels again is a bit of a pain to do it as that's where I put my relay deck.

Wicked Stick · Post by **Wicked Stick** » Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:39 am

captain_john wrote:Dave,
Really cool!!!
Congrats! What is your test area?
CJ

Plymouth is in the box

as well as MVY, BID and parts of Long Island.
Doesn't go up to IJD though and I must remain clear of Bravo and Charlie of course. All in all, a very nice area to spread my wings in once I get a couple more over the field flights in.

Wicked Stick · Post by **Wicked Stick** » Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:41 am

Bill H wrote:Congratulations Dave hope to see a few fly by's soon.

Gotta wait for all this weeks RAIN to GO AWAY first.

I'm hoping to make flights 2 and 3 on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Maybe I'll pop into Plymouth on Saturday morning if you guys will be around.

Bob Barrett · Post by **Bob Barrett** » Tue Oct 05, 2010 9:34 am

Congratulations on the first flight

Good luck on the test flying.!

Post by **Spike** » Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:40 am

Sweet Dude! Im proud of ya!

Spike