dogsbark(at)comcast.net
Guest
|
 Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:46 pm Post subject: wahoooo |
 |
|
Well....I know this has been covered before, but once again.
I am currently on business in Portland and finally got a chance to sneak down to Van's for a look. It was the stereotypical Oregon day complete with cloud cover and mist.
I walked through the door and waited for a couple of customers from France to complete their transaction ahead of me. It was interesting to witness this as a reminder of Van's international appeal.
My turn...I was greeted by Joe Blank. He had just completed a factory tour and it was now lunchtime. I asked when it would be possible for me to get a tour and without hesitation he said, how about now? Great!!! He said, "give me just a minute" and I spoke with a couple that had arrived just after me in the lobby. They were there to get a ride in the RV-12 with Van.
Joe showed me around and had great patience with all my questions and investigation of the place. Very organized and that CNC sure is cool. Everyone was friendly. I'm thankful it knows how to punch all those holes in the right spots.
I thanked Joe for the tour and he asked if I ever had a ride in the RV-10. I informed him that I never even sat in an RV of any kind. I have been building for over three years on my own project, and haven't even sat in my own. I have been chipping away at my weight loss and promised myself once I crossed the 90 pound mark, I would reward myself. I finally got to this point and it was time!
We went to the hangar and saw the awesome collection of factory RVs sitting there. They must get a really good deal on yellow paint. A few minutes later we had N410RV outside and my butt in the left seat. Lots of space and the visibility is awesome.
Joe gave me the passenger briefing and we taxied out to the run up area for Runway 17. On the way there, Van's voice came across the headset anouncing his entry to the downwind leg with the gentleman I met in the lobby while in the RV-12.
The wind was brisk at about 20 knots and right down the runway. Joe said we would be off the ground easily within five hundred feet. He advanced the throttle and I was thoroughly impressed as we rolled out quickly. The nose gear wanted to get off right away and we were airborne shortly after that. The climb out was amazing (2100 fpm) and I was shocked by it. The pitch seemed so steep, I had to look at the ASI and VSI to see if we might stall. Up 'till now I have been flying a 1974 Piper Warrior 151 as I earned my Private two months ago. In Colorado Springs with high DA and a little fuel, normal climbout is 300-500 fpm. What a difference!
We flew for awhile staying just under the cloud cover enough for VFR. I was handed the controls and had a blast at almost 200 mph in straight and level, then doing 360 turns and finally some slow flight. Never flying a stick before was interesting but easier to get used to than I thought.
We headed back to the strip and Joe took over. He pulled off a nice landing and got to hear lots of chatter from me along the way to the hangar.
How blessed we are getting to have this much fun. I can't finish my project quickly enough, but patience and endurance are necessary sometimes. Back to work so I can buy an engine!
Sean Blair
#40225
[quote][b]
| | - The Matronics RV10-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV10-List |
|
|
|
Get Email Distribution Too!
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
