Three more flights this weekend. Still trying to
run the engine hard to break it in, so it's an
excuse to go nowhere fast. On Friday I was cruising
up the river at ~3000 feet and passed about 50 ft
under a bald eagle. I was surprised to see him
that high (2500 agl), he was just plain surprised
to see me.
First stalls today. I have not calibrated the pitot-
static system, so no real hard numbers, but it indicates
60 knots at power off, flaps up stall, and ~45 KIAS
full flaps, power off. These numbers mean nothing until
I measure position error, though. Handling wise the
stalls are better than I expected. Controls get noticably
light 7-10 knots before stall, then about 2-3 knots prior
it feels like someone is holding the aft stick and shaking
it sort of hard...low frequency, like a 'rattle'. I first
thought I must be crossing someone's wake or hitting a thermal
or something, but I could accel out of it and decel into
it at will. I've only flown two RV-6's before, and neither
one felt like this. It's certainly a good indication that
something's about to happen. The stall itself is a non-event.
With the ball centered there was a little wing bobble followed
by a pretty good pitch break. Recovery was immediate when
I relaxed aft stick.
Accel out afterward and worked up in g. Control forces are
pretty hefty out there, probably 6-7 pounds per g or so.
My cg is probably about as far forward as it's ever gonna
get, though. The forces certainly aren't objectionable,
just higher than I expected. 4 g's at 120 KIAS feels
like turning backflips inside your own...well, you
get the idea.
8 knot crosswind back at home, 15 knots down the runway,
gusty. I swear it wasn't like that when I left. Anyway,
I got it down in one piece. Probably right at my limit
for early flight test.
I'm starting to get comfortable with all the normal
thumps and rumbles, and can sort of tell what some of them
mean. Time to watch for complacency. My revised plan
is to do an airpeed cal next time I get smooth air, then
keep running the engine hard until 10 hours or so. Then
the wheel pants will go on and I'll fix the rigging and
get some real performance numbers. I'm ready for a rainy
weekend day so I can do some of the minor stuff that's
accumulating.

Dave 'no gust, no glory' Hyde

RV-4 in flight test.