Jerry’s Blog for November 29, 2022
It’s been a crazy year we had more work to do than we had people to do them. Add to that every month we were notified our input cost were going up. We had many bathroom jobs that were sold 5 months before we could do them. Nice having work backlog so far out but it does cause me stress holding a deposit so long and not being able to finish the job. Add to that we had a different crew that needed to be trained and you have a recipe to finish jobs under cost. Having said that we finished the jobs as agreed with the quality we are known for. We are caught up now and are finishing jobs within a month of sale now. Now I wish we had a backlog. (I’m never happy)
Other events this year, I finished my airplane project and received my Airworthiness Cert. so I could take it flying and start testing. Before its first flight I spent many hrs taxiing and running my speed up to takeoff and pulling the throttle before the plane lifted off. I wanted to get a feel for the airplane before I lifted off to see if it had any bad habits. Remember once I lift off I’m committed to landing (I didn’t want any surprises). On the appointed evening I had Dana my salesperson standby with a fire extinguisher, just in case something bad happened. On July 18th I taxi tested one more time to make sure I was ready. Satisfied I pulled onto the runway 330 (compass direction). Gave it the gas and used my rudder to keep it on the center line. At 90 kts I pulled back the stick and the plane left the ground. It climbed rapidly to 5,000’ my planed altitude for first flight. The goal, fly high enough I could glide back to airport in case the engine quit. I did many turns, descents and climbs to get a feel for the plane. It felt very comfortable like an old friend returned to visit. With all going good I retracted the landing gear, the plane squirmed a little as it retracted and I heard a firm clunk as the doors shut. The plane is now flying quieter and faster with same power. With half throttle I’m flying 200 mph. I think I’m going to like this plane. ;-)
After 20 minutes I decide to land, I descend to 1,800’ traffic pattern Altitude. I hold my speed at 120 kts so the plane doesn’t stall (speed wings lose lift). With all good I fly parallel to runway, drop the gear, and put out full flaps, I slow to 100 kts. As I descend the plane tracks the center of the runway easily, very stable. I slow to 90 kts as I cross the runway threshold. The plane descends to the runway and gently touches down. I coast to end of runway using brakes sparingly.
I taxi to the hanger and Dana helps me put the plane away. My neighbor brings over a beer for me to celebrate a successful first flight.
On the next blog I planned to discuss the many flight test I did, but the next one will cover the off airport landing ;-(
Jerry
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