August 10th, 2012:  First Flight

Since this was my first experience at being a test pilot, I took the day off from work so I would have zero distractions. I picked Friday because I did not want anyone at the airstrip other than my two building buddies. No need for an audience, just a couple of dependable friends in case of an emergency. Danny and Dave were at the hangar when I arrived at 6:30 am and already had N75ZX rolled out. I went through my preflight inspection and climbed in the cabin. She started right up, and right at this point it was all beginning to sink in that I'm about to try & fly in a machine that I built that has never left the ground. I knew this was going to happen, and I had replayed it in my mind in the previous few weeks prior. I would remind myself that I've built a proven design, the same design has flown on many previous occasions, and this is what I signed up for. This is the mountaintop, the finish line, the time to put it to the test.

I taxied out to the strip, nodded to Danny and slowly put the power in. The plane surged forward and the engine roared to full power. at about 400 ft. of roll out and a little back pressure on the stick she lifted off so smoothly. It was right at this point my plan was to check for any abnormal control issues and abort the take off if things were goofy, but I pretty much knew within a fraction of a second the plane was handling very well. I continued to climb out and get the speed up, and I turned left at 500' AGL to stay in the traffic pattern over the airstrip. After getting up to 1800', I kept the engine rpms at 2250 -2300 for around 45 minutes to break the engine in while I marveled at what I was in the middle of doing. Looking around the cockpit, smelling the paint cooking off the engine and the aroma of new upholstery, seeing the gauges working in response to the plane flying, well all I can say is it was just one great feeling of accomplishment. 

Monday, July 30th:  Today the FAA designated airworthiness rep (DAR) was scheduled, a very nice guy named Brian Ingraham. Brian works on helicoptors and other aircraft as an A&P and constantly travels all over the USA and overseas in his work and can be hard to get a hold of.  We met at the hangar after playing telephone tag over the last week or so. He spent about an hour going over the plane and asked to see the paperwork, which I somehow managed to have in order. After reviewing the Operating Limitations with me, he handed me the pink copy of the Airworthiness Certificate which makes the aircraft legal to fly! I have to fly off the first 40 hrs. solo and stay within a 100 mile radius of the home base, which is a pretty generous chunk of real estate. Now I need to get 3 hours of dual time in another 750, get the insurance in place, and go fly!

Sat. July 21:   Today I pulled the 750 out of the hangar for the first time in a completed state. I needed to do some run-ins on the new engine, and the plan was to follow engine break-in proceedures spec'd by ECI, an engine parts manufacturer from whom I purchased most of the new engine components. The proceedure is to run the engine up to 1200 rpm for a couple of minutes and then let it completely cool down. Next you run it up to 1800 rpm for a couple of minutes and let it cool down again, never letting the cylinder head temps go over 400 degrees or the oil temp over 200. The last test is to tie the plane off and run it up full power to see if it makes proper RPM of 2150 -2250. She made 2250, so the required power is there for flight. From this point on there will be no more engine runs until the first flight, as the engine must be broken in while flying to provide maximum cooling until the rings seat. All I'm waiting on now is the Airworthiness Inspection scheduled for this upcoming week. Once I get that, I need to log 3 hrs. of dual time in another Zenith 750 to satisfy the insurance company, then it's time to fly. It was a great feeling getting her outside and run that engine good and hard. She looks better than ever outside in the sunshine, and needless to say I'm a little pumped up. I doubt if I'll sleep very soundly tonight.

July 7 & 8, 2012:   Completed the installation of the doors and hardware. Painted the doors. Added some "L" stiffeners at the antenna mount thru the roof. Installed the belley pan. Had some fiberglass work done on the engine cowl to smooth the airflow thru the inlets. Re-installed the cowling and laid out for painting. Will paint the cowl later this week.

I'm basically done now and ready for the FAA inspection. I have a call in to the D.A.R. inspector trying to arrange my Airworthiness Certification inspection.     12 hrs, 1011 total hrs. to date.

The month of June, 2012:

Sat., 6/9:  I had Curtiss Scheutzberg, a local builder-assist contractor, come down & help me fabricate & install the cooling baffles for the front air intakes on the engine. Curtiss did most of my engine and instrument panel work last year, and I have no problem asking for help when I feel I need the expertise. We spent a couple of days making & trimming aluminum baffles & rubber trim to create a nice air-tight baffling system for the air-cooled C-90 engine. 12 hrs.

Sat. & Sun. 6/17 & 18: Started on the installation of the doors and latching hardware. Trimmed both doors to fit the fuselage opening and laid out for the hardware fastener holes. got the pilot side door finished after 2 days of work as there is a ton of detailed measuring and fitting to do. 12 hrs.

Sun. 6/24: Continued work on the doors. 6 hrs.

Sat. & Sun., 6/30 & 7/1: Filled the fuel tanks with 20 gallons of Avgas and found my fuel gauges are not reading properly. After a lot of head scratching we came to the conclusion something is wrong with the fuel sending units in the tanks, and this is not easy to get to. I should have checked the operation of the sending units and gauges before I ever closed up the wing skins and put the wings on the fuselage, so now I get to fix it the hard way. Pulled the fuel sender out of the passenger side wing and found the angle on the float rod was not bent at the correct angle. I had bent it to 105 degrees instead of 125. All of this is boring detail, so let's just say I spent all weekend removing, repairing, and re-installing the fuel senders and now all is good. 13 hrs,  999 total hrs. to date.

Sunday, June 3:  Installed cowling. Worked on baffles for engine, still have to work out the baffle design for the bottom of the engine case & cut holes on lower cowl under prop. I put 20 gallons of fuel in the wing tanks and had no leaks. My fuel gauges are not registering the actual level of the tanks, and I'll have to do some adjustment on the fuel level sensors, or "senders" as they are called to get that fixed. Did a start up while sitting in the plane & let the engine idle a couple of minutes. At that point, I realized the airplane is for the first time capable of being rolled out the hangar and flown. Everything necessary for flight is on the plane, but I still must go through the regulatory process of getting an Airworthiness Certificate from an FAA examiner and a lot of loose ends need to be wrapped up before I'll plan my maiden flight. 

6 hrs. today, 956 total hrs.

Sat. June 2: Installed the wings, struts, and flaperon/ailerons on the plane. Everything fit up well, though it should have since it had all been done before prior to painting. The only thing I was concerned about was the fit of the inboard wing skins where they meet the new skylight, as that was all new work and had not previously been fit up. The fuel lines and electrical connections to the wings also tied in nicely and are now hooked up. Still need to hook up the pitot/static lines and the aileron control linkage.

6 hrs, 950 hrs total to date.