Well guys and gals today was the day! 4 years and 4 months from the day of the gear collapse my Piet has flown again! About 20 minutes before sunset the Kansas winds finally subsided, giving me a light 60deg crosswind at 4kts, I decided it was now or never so I firewalled the throttle on the overhauled A65 and off she went! While it was calm on the ground the wind was northwesterly at around 24kts a few hundred feet up giving the air a pretty choppy feel and making it difficult to judge the rigging. It did feel just a bit left wing heavy and I was holding a good bit of aft pressure to maintain level flight. A quick look at the tail showed the elevator slightly below neutral when wings level at 75mph so it looks like I'll need elevator trim tabs. After a short 15 minute flight with the light fading I decided I better bring her in. I flew the pattern at 75, slowing up to 65 on final and crossed the numbers at 50. The result was a beautiful squeaker of a landing that I hardly even felt. I taxied back to my hangar, switched the mags off, and spent a few moments sitting there in silence listening to the pops of the cooling engine and reflecting on the last 4 years. The damage from the gear collapse, all the workmanship issues I found as I started removing damaged parts, then the loss of oil pressure and metal in the oil screen that sent me hunting for another A65. I almost lost hope and was ready to sell her a year ago, I'm glad I didn't and tonight I got to enjoy the fruit of all my labor and boy was it sweet! Video link https://youtu.be/eAJ37gnuMisFly safe everyone Chris |
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