Tell us about your First Flight!

[Chad Jensen]

After countless hours of secret meetings (really, Hal and I didn't keep track, and my door was actually open), and long discussions with my private panelists (my three Golden Retrievers), we have decided to launch a forum specifically for your first flight announcement.

We want this to be a photo/video intense forum where you can share all the details of your first flight so that we can share in your special moment!

So please, tell us all about it!

[hydroguy2]

new ones or old stories?

[Chad Jensen]

new ones or old stories?

Hey Brian,I'd say if you haven't announced it here...it's new!

[Bill Greenwood]

Do you mean first ride in any plane or first solo?
My first plane ride was the airline from the old terminal at Houston Hobby up to Dallas Love Field when I was about 10 years old or so. I guess the plane was a DC-3, not certain. But I know I liked it and it was an adventure, sure beat driving, still does. I seem to recall prop engines and later when I went back and saw the photos and went inside the old terminal which is still preserved it seemed familiar. My little sister, about 6 at that time, was so worried about an airplane flight that she got sick in the terminal before we ever got on the plane; was ok after that. If Southwest still had a DC-3 flying short routes like Houston-Love or Austin-Hobby, I'd sure pay extra to ride on it. If I win the lottery I'll have to buy one of those, may be a little tough since I never play the lottery, except the EAA and AOPA ones. I'm still upset that some other pilot is flying my Waco from a few years back. When I was born in Dallas we used to live close to Love Field, off Mockingbird Lane, till my Dad was transferred to Houston for his job.
My first ride that I recall in a gen av type airplane was when we were on summer vacation in Virginia at the great Greenbriar or Homestead hotel. I was probably about 11, and we saw an ad for flights/rides in a nearby town. My Dad, bless him, took me over and I got a short flight, am pretty sure it was a Super Cub. I know it was high wing, single engine, and fore and aft tandem seating. There were a few thermal bumps, no problem, and great sightseeing. The only negative, which I still recall mostly in thinking back on it was that the pilot was not very personable, he seemed to being doing this only for a job, there was not much interaction, he barely spoke to me, never offered to let me fly, never talked up flying or tried to get me to go further at it. I am not even sure if it was his plane, he might have just been the hired guy. If he had reached out at all, he sure could have found a willing ear. My Dad was not a pilot, but later the company bought an airplane, Beech Queen Air and they had a good pilot, Al Brown, and then my brother Jimmy became a pilot who also flew the co plane. I recall once when I was a teenager, we were somewhere out in west Texas, perhaps the Lubbock area, for a hunting trip, or maybe a football game and we loaded up for the flight back to Houston. It was solid IMC, I never once saw the ground from the back seat for the perhaps 2 hour trip until Jimmy broke out on the clouds on short final into Andrau airport. I was impressed by that flying. My Brother flew long before I ever did, but mostly to go somewhere, and he never got into sport type flying like I did. He liked to fly to go to sporting events like football games or golf events.

[hydroguy2]

Where to start....I pounded my first rivet December '06. Piddled away many months saving money for parts on the pay as you go program. Then a good friend and mentor Neil said, "you gotta get serious about this build or you'll have a ten yr build that's not finished". So in the fall of 2009, I got serious dropped the flying club, quit flying, ordered the engine/prop. I had roughly 500hrs logged towards the build at that point. Got my IO-360 just before christmas '09 and worked pretty hard for the next 10months. All said and done I tallied about 1400hrs man-hrs including paint. I was ready for Airworthiness Inspection in Oct 2010, but the FSDO couldn't get out for a few weeks and when they finally came out, we had a few issues of disagreement. Thanks to EAA's Joe Norris, the FAA and I was able to compromise on some "experimental" things and I received the Air worthiness Certification in Nov 2010.

Recall, I haven't flown much in the last year and was a lowtimer to start with. So I chose to have a friend with lots of RV and Rocket experience have the first flight honors. On Dec.5th 2010, N155BK flew the coup. Pilot Jim was reporting all in the green except heavy wing. Turns out she was a pussycat and all was well. After Jim did the first flight we pulled the cowl for inspection and adjustments. He did another flight to check some more handling parameters, then she was all mine. WOW I could not believe how fantastic she flew. even with a little heavy wing, it was simple amazing.
Below is a cobbled together video of the first flight, I ran the camera so please forgive the quality. the day started out cold and crisp 5 or 10degrees, but got into the 20's I think. I found out, you can try to sneak in a first flight with no audience, but airport people will come outside and brave the cold to witness a first flight.

First flight video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CX5BCILpJY

Short story about the name: Aurora.


Aurora is the Roman name for the Goddess of the Dawn. Her name simply means "the dawn, daybreak, or sunrise". Her name may be related to Latin aurum, meaning "gold", through the shared idea of brightness.
Ovid tells of Her in his Metamorphoses: he describes Her as being ever-young, and the first to awake, so that She may bring the light of day in Her chariot which She rides into the sky ahead of the Sun. She has a purple mantle that spreads out behind Her as She rides; and She is said to scatter roses and flowers before Her. Others describe Her with great white wings, like Eos. She is said to be the mother of the four winds; though this part of Her legend is Greek, one variant spelling of Her name, Aurura, has the meaning of "breeze or wind".
An aurora is of course also the name for the phenomenon of the northern (or southern) lights, great displays of shifting colors in the skies of the far north and south. Aurora borealis is said to mean "red dawn of the north", and was given its name by Galileo Galilei, the scientist who discovered the moons of Jupiter. Aurorae are caused by solar particles interacting with gasses in the Earth's atmosphere. The Earth's magnetic field funnels these particles to the poles (both north and south), where they emit light, in colors ranging from red to yellow-green to blue and violet, depending on the atmospheric molecule the particles come in contact with. They are generally said to look like shifting curtains or veils of light, evoking Aurora's purple cloak blowing behind Her as She rides across the sky.

Happy Birthday Aurora

[Jim Clark]

First flight of my 1939 Waco EGC-8 after restoration. 2nd flight if you count the ferry flight 3 years earlier.

[glasairdriver]

I finished my Glasair I in 1994 and have flown it for over 1000 hours. But this summer I was especially proud to see my son solo the aircraft. It is quite an acheivement for a new low time pilot.

[Kiwi ZK-CKE]

As a New EAA and forum Member I thought I'd post some pic of my aircraft, Avian Adventurer ZK-CKE. I designed and built this aircraft myself over a period of 10 years, with First flight occurring on March 12th 2011 at Hamilton, New Zealand.
Video of the First flight (with my comments as I watched!) taken by my mate Bill Izard:


The aircraft is powered by a 2 Litre Geared Subaru EJ20 automotive conversion, which has proven during the test flying to be very trouble free - although I have to quieten the exhaust down a bit as the neighbours complain! It flies like a big mellow cub, with a stall speed down around 30 Kts and cruise at 90ish. It definitely behaves like a classic aircraft, with lots of rudder needed, and backing off the ailerons once the bank has been started. Its taken me a bit of time to get checked out in it as although I had quite a bit of Citabria time, I wasnt current and I struggled a bit with wheeler landings!

Some more pics:



I won't bore everyone with the technical details, but it is constructed of interlocking Aluminium (sorry, NZ spelling!) extrusions using the "build and demonstrate" method of load analysis - maybe not the most scientific of methods, but its the way the great Cub was designed... I'm really pleased with how it has turned out, and I great great satisfaction flying an aircraft which is absolutely one of a kind!

[cluttonfred]

I found this post after your reply to my question about tube and gusset design resources. This looks like a fantastic plane and a great story to tell. I would love to hear mor including on your design methodology and construction techniques. Cheers, Matthew

As a New EAA and forum Member I thought I'd post some pic of my aircraft, Avian Adventurer ZK-CKE. I designed and built this aircraft myself over a period of 10 years, with First flight occurring on March 12th 2011 at Hamilton, New Zealand.

[Panhandler1956]

Here's a very short video of the first flight of a recently completed RV-8. It was fun!