Thanks for sharing all the first flight info. Really good to hear and very useful. Spent the last year getting G-BRJX ready for flight, and hopefully with the rebuilt revmaster going back in this week, and a few other things to do to the airframe, hoping for the first flight in the next month or so. She's not flown since 2006. Regards Bruce
On Mon, 18 Jul 2022 at 11:51, Luis Claudio via KRnet <krnet@list.krnet.org> wrote: > Sam > that is an awesome story as I am about to put my KR to the air... > > Thanks for sharing > > Luis R Claudio KR2S N8981S Dallas, Texas > > On Sunday, July 17, 2022 at 04:51:12 AM CDT, Samuel Spanovich via KRnet < > krnet@list.krnet.org> wrote: > > > My first time flying my KR2S was back in 2018, about a week after I > purchased the plane and towed it on a trailer to its home in Mississippi. > This was fairly early on in my flying career (~200 hours or so) and I > certainly was a little intimidated at the new bird. After all, the KR2 is > known to be a sporty little thing, that is a little sensitive in pitch, and > I figured it would be a massive leap from flying a 172 (what I got my PPL > in). > > I took about a week to get the wings on, start it up, and taxi it around > on the ground. I even did some high-speed taxi testing on the runway to > try to get a feel of how the differential brakes handled (again something > I’ve never used before). > > One day, while getting ready to perform another high speed taxi test, I > figured I’d run up the engine a little bit more than usual to see how much > it would put me in the back of the seat. I ran the little Revmaster up > (which was bone stock at the time), and started seeing 20 mph. Then 30 mph. > Then 40. Before I could blink, 50 mph. > > Better start slowing down, I told myself. > > Nah, keep going. > > 60 mph > > Better do it now. > > Keep going!!! > > The heck with taxi’d testing........I’m going flying. > > 80 mph - rotate. > > At that point, I pulled the stick back and had my first flight in a KR, > and it didn’t take me long to realize what a great bird it was and how well > it flew. The engine ran nice and smooth, the weather was gorgeous, and > despite what I had read, it didn’t seem to be too overly sensitive in > pitch. > > I did notice that the plane performed a little differently than a Cessna > 172. Roll rate was quicker, climb rate was slightly higher, but most > importantly, the ride quality was much, MUCH more of a roller coaster ride. > While the 172 I had been trained on would handle most bumps with relative > ease, my first flight in the KR2 felt like I was on a buckin’ bronco. The > 80-90F temperatures in the south didn’t help. Still though, I wasn’t scared > or even remotely discouraged; honestly I just embraced it. I had my own > airplane, flying high in the sky, with just me, with almost no clouds in > the sky, enjoying the beautiful scenery that Mississippi has to offer. > > I cruised around for about an hour, enjoying the sights, listening to the > little engine purr like a kitten, and taking in that I was now officially a > true aircraft owner. However it eventually hit me that I would have to get > this thing on the ground, and that I had a total of zero landings in this > airplane; I dialed up the tower for Key Field and requested to perform > touch and goes for Runway 1 (which is a 10,000 foot long runway, much > shorter than their 4K foot runway primarily used for GA traffic). The > reply I got back from them was nothing short of hilarious; “Experimental > 6399U........Roger........report....um report a left downwind for Runway > 1”. I’m pretty sure the thought such a small aircraft requiring that long > of a runway absolutely blew their minds, but I wasn’t sure just how far > down the plane would float, and I wanted to have every inch of runway > available in case things got squirrely, especially for my first time. > > I recalled what the seller had told me when I bought the plane: “it’s > speeds are very similar to a 172, you climbout about 80-90 mph and come in > over the numbers around 80 mph”. I figured I would add 10 mph for my first > time, and saw 90 mph over the numbers before I pulled power back. WOW did I > float down the runway. I definitely was glad I had that 10,000’ runway > because I’m pretty certain I didn’t touch down until about the 5-6k board. > I immediately retracted the speed brakes and off again I went. I did about > 4x more landings, each time floating significantly less and less, before > making a full stop, then proceeding to go into the FBO to have some ice > cream and hot dogs. > > At this point I called my wife, and explained to her that I had taken the > plane flying (when I left the house I had no intention of flying, just more > ground testing), so when I told her that I had landed in Key Field (just 15 > minutes from our house), she immediately got in the car to come see me and > come check out the little bird in action. While she didn’t end up going > flying with me that particular day, I did get to show off a little bit on > my next takeoff going back to my home field; taking off again on the 10,000 > foot runway, and staying in ground effect about 10-20 feet off the ground, > until reaching the end of the runway, then pulling back the stick to begin > climbing out. I’m fairly certain I saw 120-130 mph on the airspeed by the > time I reached the end of the runway. > > When I finally returned to my home field, the landing was uneventful and > by far the smoothest one I had out of the 5 that day. I taxi’d the plane > back towards my hangar area, put it to sleep, and then drove home with a > big smile on my face. > > That was the day I became a KR2 pilot. One of the most thrilling, > exciting, fun flights I have ever had. While it may not seem like anything > real special, it’s always going to hold a special place in my heart; as I’m > sure most of you can relate, it was my first flight in a KR2, in my > airplane, and was the tip of the iceberg of opening myself up to > experimental aircraft ownership. > > V/R > > Sam > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On Jul 16, 2022, at 8:04 PM, Lulubelle Pitts via KRnet < > krnet@list.krnet.org> wrote: > > > > Does anybody have any stories of flying a KR-2 for the first time, be it > scary, exciting, or fun? > > -- > > KRnet mailing list > > KRnet@list.krnet.org > > https://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet > -- > KRnet mailing list > KRnet@list.krnet.org > https://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet > -- > KRnet mailing list > KRnet@list.krnet.org > https://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet > -- *Waveblades * 130 Porthpean Road, St Austell, Cornwall, PL254PN Home/office: 01726 74980 Mob: 07952254351
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