After
watching the wind sock stand straight out for a week, today finally was the day.
I did one high speed taxi down the runway, just to make sure the airspeed
indicator worked (it didn't come alive till the tailwheel came up).
Lined up on the runway and went for it.
This was the first time the new engine had seen full throttle, but it
came right up and I was off. I'm in I
was determined to stay up for an hour, and by then I was really getting chilled.
I was really surprised that the Piet is a lot less draggy than my Baby
Ace. I overshot the first landing,
the folks on the ground thinking I was doing a fly-by.
The second approach was still a little fast, but I managed to do what I
considered an amazing landing, considering how many people were watching.
I'll attach a post-flight picture with the "Pietenpol Grin".
The airport bums and my wife went out for a celebratory lunch, and I went
back to the airport for a post-flight inspection.
While I was doing that a stranger drove up and congratulated me on my
first flight. He introduced himself
as an FAA inspector! He was a real
nice guy, though and asked if I would be going to Sun-N-Fun (70 miles past my
Phase 1 radius). I told him I would
if I could fly my 25 hrs off. He
said if I could get 15 hours on it he would write me a waiver!
Look for me parked in the homebuilders corner. After
I put it all back together, the wind sock was starting to droop, and a friend
was dragging out his J-3. I figured,
why not go again, so off I went. I
climbed up to 2500 feet this time. It
was around 3 PM by this time, and it was still cold up there.
I decided to check out the dreaded Pietenpol Airfoil Stall.
I slowed it till it was showing 28 mph on the airspeed indicator and felt
the burble, and called that close enough. About
that time I could see my friend's J-3 taking off.
I had handed my camera to a buddy that was riding along with him and he
got a great shot of my Pietenpol time maching with the In
all I flew 1.9 hours today, and if it warms up a little and the weather
cooperates, I should be able to take my wife up for her long-awaited first ride
soon. This list has been a great
help and inspiration. Hope we can
get a good showing at Sun-N-Fun. Get
building guys, its worth it! Ben
Charvet NX866BC 23.1
hrs to go
|