From the Maplewoods workshop: Steve's RV7 project: First engine start

The Mission:

I am building an airplane. I really can't tell you how weird it sounds to me to hear those words in my head as I type. I am keeping this blog as an adjunct to my written log, which is required to comply with FAA requirements for Experimental Aircraft construction. My son Doug is my partner in this project. There are two goals: to build the best, safest, and yes, COOLEST, airplane we can, and to allow Doug to acquire some truly awesome experiences, not to mention building skills. Thanks for viewing.

How to use this blog

The most current post is displayed on this opening page. To access the older posts, click on the "Blog Archive" on the right hand side. The drop down menu is arranged by the month and lists the posts, by title and by date posted, in reverse chronological order.

I will arrange the hypertext links to other websites I find interesting better some day, but they are at the bottom.

If you navigate to my first post, there is a link to my luthiery pages. I miss working with wood. Aluminum is nice, but it's boring. Give me a highly figured maple any day!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

First engine start

For many work sessions, any photos I would take would look a lot like this first one. The work is tedious and incremental. Hooking the last few wires in. Connecting the static lines. Connecting the servos, the throttle, mixture and prop cables. Etc. Doesn't make for exciting photography. At least, that's my excuse.

So, once we got he brake fluid in and bled all the air out of the lines, Doug and I did some "low speed taxi tests" in the hangar, with me (aft) acting as thrust, and Doug applying the brakes. Since they seemed to work, it was time to get ready for the first engine start.

For a link to the you tube videos I took on my (old) iphone go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHAiKEqm8ss

This is a photo of Doug in his Nomex suit after he did the first engine start. The sharp eyed among you will notice that he has GROWN a lot in the two years we have been building this airplane. He has changed and matured greatly since the thirteen year old he was two years ago.