From: Dave Hyde
Date: 1/24/2004 1:02 PM Central Standard Time
Message-id:

I (finally) made the first flight of my RV-4 today.
12 years of building, 0.3 hours of flight time g
Everything was pretty much as expected. After
quite a bit of thought I decided to make it short
and circle a few times over the field just under the
STL class B floor. The temptation to leave the pattern
and actually do something was strong, but I stuck to
the plan :-)

Max speed ~140 KIAS, max altitude 1500 ft.

Heavy right wing, and I'll need to put a tab on
the rudder. No _major_ squawks, a few other minor
ones. Other than the rigging it feels fantastic
both in the air and on the ground.

Takeoff was, uh, exhilirating. I knew from the taxi
tests that it would lift off early, and was ready.
I was almost ~1000 ft AGL before the end of the runway.
Pretty good nose-down attitude at 120 KIAS to hold
altitude, too. It feels like it will really move
out when the time comes.

Slowing down for landing was more difficult than
in the -6s I've flown, but once I got it below
flap speed everything felt the same. Slight crosswind,
steady approach speed, a few bounces. I'll take it.
Cockpit video to come.

For those of you still building, keep at it. I can
finally say it was worth every hour and dollar I spent.
It was fun building, now comes the *really* fun part.

Dave 'wired' Hyde



Gee, Dave, cheer up, willya? g

Congrats. Now make with the pictures.

Dan, U. S. Air Force, retired