You read that right! It was exactly 59 days from the day the first screw got removed to the day of the test flight! Some thought it couldn't be done, but I was here to prove them wrong!
The weather on October 22 2011 was absolutely PERFECT for a test flight with clear skies, cool temps, and very little wind. I pulled The Flyer out of the hangar, did a preflight, and then climbed into the freshly revitalized cockpit for an excitement I hadn't had since I'd test flown the RV-8 about a year and a half ago. The engine fired right up and idled nicely. I taxied out to 7R and requested a race-track pattern above the airport at-or-above 3000 feet. I pushed the throttle forward smoothly and in moments I was airborne once again! Yahoo! It was wonderful to be back in the air again. I climbed out at about 1500 FPM and made a gentle turn to the right turning to crosswind then to downwind. By the time I was at the numbers, I was already a little over 3000 feet and so I leveled off and had a look at the all-new instrumentation. The Oil Pressure and Oil Temperature where right where they were suppose to be. After leaning some, the EGTs and CHTs fell right into acceptable levels. The engine sounded smooth; real smooth. Those new mags, plugs, and harness were really doing me proud.
