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Ralph and Laura Hoover's RV7A, N527LR, had its first flight on October 21, 2008. Congratulations! Here is the flight report from Ralph.

This day October 21, 2008 N527LR went from an RV7A kit to a certified flying machine. Laura's cousin Peter Burris Meyer did the honors of the first flight. After about 20 minutes of feeling out the plane (loops, rolls, power off stalls, etc) he declared it good to go. I got a turn next!! What a sweetheart!! It flies great, stalls straight ahead flaps up or down. My first two landing were not too bad either. (The gusting winds were straight down runway 33 at KHWY). Rob Brooks flew chase in this RV8 with my bride in back. Thanks Peter and Rob. The next few days will be busy getting thorough transition training. Laura builds a damn fine airplane with a little help from her husband. I would still be bucking rivets without her. Van designed a great machine and with the support of all those who have gone before we turned a pile of aluminum into a good example of his design. Thanks Van!! My guess is you can see the grin from wherever you are.

Scott Bradley's Glastar flew on June 6, 2008. Congratulations! A picture of the aircraft is shown below, along with a writeup from Scott.

Glastar N414SJ, otherwise known as that plane in Hangar #2, conducted its first flight on 6 June 2008. A small flight test team was assembled and assisted with the job of getting me in the cockpit and pointing me to the business end of the runway. The team consisted of EAA Chapter 186 members and Glastar builders John Eastabrooks and Montie Rogers; my wife, Julie; and my building partner, Roy Thorne. The three takeoff and landings were uneventful except for a very loud sound of “oh my goodness it flies” that resonated in the cockpit after first takeoff at about 200 AGL. Perhaps the sound was only in my head, but I’m sure the grin could be seen from the tower. A typical complaint from Glastar builder/flyers is a heavy left wing. My Glastar flies straight and true. This could be the result of a large number of offsetting errors, or somehow I got it right. N414SJ is a tricycle gear, 2-place high-wing aircraft, powered by a factory new Lycoming O-360 A1A turning a 3-blade composite Catto propeller. The panel includes a Grand Rapids Technology electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) and engine monitoring systems; a TruTrak ADI II autopilot; and the standard Garmin stack of electronics is centered on a GNS-480 GPS.

My EAA technical counselor throughout the four-and-a-half year build process was Dick Koehler. Dick provided great advice and we discussed multiple topics through the years. Dick helped me get ready for the final inspection. He pointed to a number of areas for improvements (let’s call them nits) that may pass FAA standards, but were not up to his standards. One nit in particular was the securing of wires and cables in and around the engine. Dicks says to use tie wraps (and other clamps) galore and when you think everything is secured, go have coffee. When you come back from coffee break, add just as many more tie wraps. Interestingly Dick came by a week later and casually glanced at my engine (cowling was still off) and noticed a wire that needed another tie wrap. He saw it in a microsecond.

Thanks have to go to the dozen people that came by the hangar and provided positive comments and an “observation” every once in a while. One observation was particularly important; the Capital Aviation technician that was certifying my transponder noticed that I had one switch on the panel that was labeled with two functions. He asked if they were on separate fuses – he was adamant that they needed to be on separate fuses. I didn’t remember, but it turned out that they were on the same fuse. It was a 2-pole switch so the fix was easy. Thanks also go to my building partner and neighbor, Roy, who I recruited a couple years ago to help me rivet my wings; and has been helping me ever since. Finally, thanks and love to Julie for building the seats, offering advice, and making important quality-control observations.

Bob & Judy Pastusek’s Lancair IV-P flew on June 11, 2008. Congratulations! A picture of the aircraft during a recent flight is shown below.

Click here to see Craig LaPorte's Wittman Tailwind project

Click here to see Scott Bradley's Glastar project

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