Greetings,
Just a non-rotary note to
announce that my latest RV-8 is now flying. I flew it twice
yesterday, and the only issue was the rubber channel coming loose at the left
wing root seal. Makes a lot of flapping noise when that happens, but it
doesn't hurt anything :-)
How
about seat cushions?
Total construction time
was 1100 hours, over 9 calendar months (7.5 really, since I was out of town
for about 6 weeks). As much as I like rotary engines, you can't
help but appreciate being able to just bolt on a Lyclone, crank it up, and go
flying. It's sure a time saver, but not quite as
interesting.
Come back from the Dark Side, come back from the Dark
Side, come.....
The most notable feature
of the plane are the Bill Dube' LED position lights. Everyone
who sees the plane stops and stares at them. I'm not sure how many times
I've been asked to turn them on for someone, so it's a good thing they don't
draw too much current. Everyone stares right at them while I turn
them on, which can be interesting, since they're pretty darn bright. On
occasion, when someone makes negative comments about all the little
LED's, I "accidentally" turn on the strobes while they're watching for the
LED's to come on :-)
There are a few pics of
first flight day, and a very short video of the first takeoff on my web
site. I might actually have some time to finish the web site now that
the plane is flying. Gotta get back to the ducted fan single rotor
gyrocopter planning.
Cheers,
Rusty (survived 4 "first"
flights now)