Step 14.7, First passenger

Now that my forty hour long phase 1 survey of the Sacramento valley is complete, I can carry passengers and go just about anywhere.  And, as luck would have it, my wife and aircraft building partner likes to go just about anywhere.  Thus, it is fitting that she should be my very first passenger after putting so much time into this project.  The idea that she would be my copilot and aerial companion was ever present on my mind through the many long hours of construction.  If reality follows the plan, then many high flying adventures await.

The light wing loading and short span of the RV series aircraft are key to the airplane's legendary agility.  That the airplane is so light and nimble is a great quality for the pilot flying for sport, but for the passenger, especially an inexperienced passenger, it can seem unstable.  With this in mind, I was really hoping for some great weather and smooth air for our first trip.

But where to go?  I wanted the trip to be relatively short and avoid the heat of the summertime Sacramento valley.  I selected Half Moon Bay because there are a number of restaurants within walking distance of the airport and the scenery along the route is quite impressive.

Ascending from Nevada County airport the Sierra foothills quickly give way to the expansive Sacramento valley.  Our south-westerly course then enters the bay area between Vallejo and Concord, passing over the Carquinez strait and finally across the San Pablo Bay.  The route continues past Tiburon and Angel Island and then out over the Golden Gate bridge.  At this point, a left turn is the only thing keeping you from going to Hawaii (and a lot of fuel).  After turning south, following the beach leads to Half Moon Bay.  It's about 130 miles by air with the route shown.  By car, it's 175 miles. Much better to follow the crow.

The first step was getting Carol into and comfortable in the airplane.  The seat belts needed a bit of adjusting having only held sandbags since their installation.  Once Carol was in I did my preflight and then joined her in the cockpit.

The first leg of our journey lasted only a few minutes it takes to taxi down to the fuel pump. Once fueled, we first taxi back the way we came and then out to the runway run up area.  It can be pretty hot under the bubble canopy, so the run up checks were conducted post haste.  I usually like to take time to explain the purpose of each check to my passengers that are new to general aviation, but Carol has flown with me before, and as I mentioned it was pretty hot.

The wind was blowing about 8Kts to 10Kts which is not too windy, but it is enough to create some turbulence especially on such a warm day.  Just before we took the runway, I mentioned this to Carol so that she would have an idea what to expect as we climb out of Nevada County airport.  

One last check: Mixture rich, flaps 10 degrees, prop high.  "Nevada County traffic, experimental niner Romeo Victor is departing 25 straight out", I announce over the common traffic advisory frequency. Throttle forward to the max and we begin rolling.  Vr at 60Kts, positive climb established. Retract the flaps and we are on our way.

We climb up to 6500 feet and head southwest.  Our route takes us over the top of Sacramento Metro airport's class C airspace.  In the distance, Mt. Diablo looms, and in the foreground, the Sacramento river delta points the way west.  Soon we are passing over the top of Travis Air Force Base and on the horizon, I can just see the Golden Gate Bridge.  The visibility was in excess of 40 miles which is pretty good for this time of year.

The air at the cruising altitude was less bumpy and I am relieved to see Carol relax a bit.  I begin to explain the operation of the autopilot which I had enabled as soon as we were established in the climb.  "Watch this Carol", I said with some excitement. "The plane is going to level itself off at our cruising altitude."  I don't think Carol was quite as impressed with the autopilot as I am, but that did not crush my enthusiasm.  "Now look how I can turn the plane with just this knob."  I was beaming.

"Can't you just push on the stick and do the same thing?", she asks.

"Well, yes", I admit, a bit deflated, "but that is not the point."  And so it goes.  I then move on to explaining the symbology of the traffic scope which allows us to see other aircraft in the area just like an air traffic controller.  Interspersed the avionics seminar I was conducting, I was pointing out the various landmarks and cities below.

About the time we cross over the Carquinez straight I begin letting down so as to avoid entering the San Francisco class B Airspace.  As we get lower we begin to get buffeted by some mild convective turbulence.  After resetting the radios to Nor Cal approach frequency and then to Half Moon bay, I am mostly just watching for traffic and enjoying the view.  There is fog offshore and I just hope it stays there. 

We cross the Golden Gate at 1400 feet which is about twice as high as the bridge's towers are tall. The bridge is so big though, that it gives me the illusion that I am not high enough to clear it until I am very close.  I've flown over the bridge several times in the past and I've had this uncomfortable feeling each time.  I check and double check my altitude. It doesn't help that the air is getting a little bumpier here and we are lurching about.  There are a number of other aircraft in the area and I am dividing my attention between the bridge and watching the traffic on the scope.  

Once we clear the bridge we turn south we follow the beach passing the Cliff House and Golden Gate Park on our left.  Then comes the town of Pacifica, and finally we arrive at Half Moon Bay.  The fog is holding about a mile or so just offshore and there are other aircraft between us and it watching whales, so we have to be extra vigilant.  The wind is blowing 14Kts, but is aligned with runway 30 and is not a factor.

On landing, we taxi to the south end of the airport where there are tie downs for people wanting to walk into the city of Half Moon Bay.  These tie downs are separate from the airport's main transient parking area and, as I said, they are at the extreme south end of the airport.

This is where I have to apologize to the reader for not taking many pictures on this trip.  It seems this post will be mainly about our flight down because I only had two usable pictures from Half Moon Bay itself.

There is a short path next to the tie downs that lead to an area with several restaurants, a couple of bars, and a brewpub that was fairly busy.  I really want to get back to the brewpub, Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, sometime when I'm not flying.  

There is also some kind of shopping area and a nice looking hotel right next to the water. We didn't spend a lot of time exploring Half Moon Bay because I was worried that the fog might come in.  But we did select a place to have lunch called Old Princeton Landing.

The lunch was good and the view out over the bay was nice and there was even a friendly dog sitting on the sidewalk next to the front door.  Initially, we thought the dog belonged to a couple that was eating at the table next to us, but when they left the dog stayed.  Later we found out the dog belonged to someone working inside.

After lunch we made a quick walk down to the pier and then retreated to the airport.  The flight back was uneventful except for a quick stop at Nut Tree in Vacaville.  The oil filler door popped open (again).  It doesn't do any damage to be open other than the aesthetic damage to my view, but after a few minutes of staring at it through the canopy, I gave in and decided to land. The wind at Nut Tree was blowing 18Kts, but once again it was right down the runway and presented no difficulty.

Open Oil filler door

We enjoyed the strong wind at our back on the way home which allowed us to make up some of the time we lost with the unscheduled stop. All things considered, I think it was a very pleasant first flight, but perhaps a bit bumpier than ideal for Carol. We were having way too much fun to remember the in-flight selfie requirement.  So here is one from Carol's second flight taken 12,500 feet above the Sierras in the vicinity of Lake Tahoe.

We arrived back at Nevada County airport about three and a half hours after we left with just over two hours of that being flying time.  My surprise for Carol on our return to the hangar was champagne on ice to celebrate our first flight.  The surprise for me was that the champagne was truly terrible.  The champagne idea had been a last minute thing and I only had a six-pack sized ice chest with me as I made my way to the airport.  The take home lesson for me is to never buy champagne in small bottles.  Oh well, I hope it really is the thought that counts.

An airplane is many things.  The term money pit comes to mind.  But it is also a time machine.  The same trip by auto would have taken 8.5 hours to complete assuming little to no traffic.  We spent less than an afternoon but made a memory that will last a lifetime.

Step 14.6, Phase 1 flight tests

As previously mentioned, getting the FAA approval to fly your experimental aircraft is only the first step in gaining the full utility of your new airplane. Before the aircraft can enjoy all of the privileges that other certified aircraft do, it must first be tested for either 25 or 40 hours. The duration of my phase 1 test program is 40 hours because my engine and propeller combination is not certified. That is to say, there are no examples of this exact combination on an already certified aircraft. 

While in the initial test phase, one is not permitted to carry passengers. There is an exception to this rule involving a passenger who is also a pilot rated in the aircraft, but I did not avail myself of that option.

Forty hours is a long time for sure, but forty hours of flying is still a pretty good time. My phase one area covered a good sized chunk of the Northern Sacramento valley between Lincoln and Corning. There are quite a few small airports dotting the valley and I think I managed to land at each one at least once during my test flying.

The phase one tests are designed to measure the flight envelope of the aircraft. This involves measuring the rate at which the aircraft climbs and descends in vertical feet per minute at various airspeeds and altitudes. Other tests are designed to measure the speed at which the airplane transitions from bird like to brick like flying (stall tests).

One series of tests involve finding the handling characteristics of the aircraft when it is fully loaded. My airplane weighs a portly 1165 pounds without fuel or people. The maximum weight allowed by the design is 1900 pounds. This leaves 735 pounds for people, fuel, and baggage. The RV-7A can carry at most, 42 gallons of fuel which weigh 252 pounds. That leaves 483 pounds for people and baggage. On the day of this test, I weighed 195 pounds, so I needed to add about 300 pounds. Five 60lb bags of sand is just about right. The bags tend to leak a little so I wrapped them with garbage bags before loading them in to the plane. Four bags in the passenger seat and one in the baggage compartment.

My first passenger: 240 lbs of sand

With full fuel tanks, I was just over gross weight on takeoff at 1912 pounds, but I would be well within gross weight by the time I landed. Take off at this weight was fairly normal if a bit lethargic. I could certainly feel the reduction in acceleration and the climb speed was reduced. In the future, I'll call this heavy sluggish performance, Cessna mode. Just kidding Cessna pilots, just kidding.

Flying around this heavy also placed the Center of Gravity at its rearmost limit. This is why I was only able to place 60 pounds in the baggage compartment that would otherwise take 100. I was somewhat apprehensive about stalling the aircraft at the extreme aft CG, but this is critical data that must be collected. With fingers crossed at 6000 feet, I powered back and gently lifted the nose until, quite suddenly, the plane pitched straight forward and I am in a fully developed stall.  The stall recovery was normal: apply power and fly out.

The stall break in an RV aircraft is a bit abrupt as the straight wing stalls along its entire length all at once. There is little to no warning buffet before the break. But if the stall is approached too slowly the plane will begin losing altitude before the break and you enter a mushing descent instead of a stall. Stick full back and losing altitude is a good indication that you're doing something wrong.  And, of course, there is also the matter of the stall warning horn blaring.  

Once all of the flight tests are complete, the data are collected into a document called the Pilot's Operating Handbook, which is like a manual for this particular airplane. The POH is required to be carried onboard the aircraft as a matter of FAA regulation.

Although I was busy collecting data through some of the forty hours, much of the time I just spent cruising around the valley getting the feel of this airplane and smiling. I did a lot of smiling.  Even after forty hours it still hits me every time I fly:  I built this thing and it is truly wonderful.

Because I flew many of the phase 1 hours off after work, I was able to fly during the "golden" hour. A photographic term used to describe the first or last hour of the day when the golden hue of sunlight illuminates the landscape and the interplay of long shadows and back lit features combine to make everything look seductively attractive, romantic, and quite literally, picturesque. 

It is just impossible not to appreciate the beauty of it all.  Two thousand feet above the valley, the sun is just setting over the coastal range propelling streamers of light across green and gold rice patties and furrowed fields in the mosaic laid out beneath. Far below a tractor kicks up a dust trail that glows in the fading light and I wish that I could somehow capture this scene, but I know I can't. Reluctantly, I turn for home and look forward to tomorrow.

In the dim light I descend to my home airport and by the time I push the plane back into the hangar, night has fully enveloped the field.  I am satisfied to have completed the data collecting mission if there was one. Otherwise, I'm just happy to have returned safely having collected another life experience.