Zenith Aircraft Builders and Flyers
Online Community of Zenith Builders and Flyers
It's a bird it's a plane, another Zodiac 601XL leaving the ground
waited until tomorrow morning, it was warm today, 91. I decided to do a
high speed taxi to see if the Airspeed Indicator was alive, it was, and
figured that a short flight to test my FWF had come. Taxied back and I
was airborne quickly, remembered to keep the nose down in a cruise
climb, 500 fpm, Airspeed was indicating 120mph and the GPS was giving a
similar reading with the engine turning at 2900 rpm.
Circled the airport to get a feel for the airplane, temps were running high, but below redline. Decided it was time to go home. It's been 3 years since I've flown a Zodiac and my recent landings in a Cherokee were a bit hard, but I redeemed myself and made a fairly nice landing, kept the nose down and let it settle onto the runway. I can only hope that the next one will be as good :-)
I managed to hit another heat wave, it will be in the low 90's the next few days, but 50 in the mornings. Hope to get in 3-4 hours per day before I leave on Wednesday. The goal is to make it to 10 hours, torque the head bolts and come back when it's cooler and fly off the remaining 30 hours, another 5 days right ;-)
Thanks to all of you that offered first flight advice, it was very helpful.
Comment
-
Comment by Alberto Martin on October 2, 2010 at 5:39pm
-
Jake, great news !!!! congratulations !!
-
Comment by Ron Lendon on September 27, 2010 at 8:09pm
-
Congratulations, Jake.
-
Comment by Mack P. Kreizenbeck on September 27, 2010 at 3:34pm
-
Jake, Congrats, you did well!
No you got to publish a photo of your pride and joy.
Mack
-
Comment by Chris Aysen on September 27, 2010 at 9:33am
-
Congrats Jake!!!! Wish you many, many, more!!
-
Comment by Zenith.Aero on September 27, 2010 at 9:23am
-
Congratulations, Jake.
-
Comment by Bob Pustell on September 26, 2010 at 8:14pm
-
Sounds like you did it just right. No audience, no video people, no pressure to do it NOW because of the audience. You felt it was time, you did it, just you and her. Showing off to your adoring public can come later, right now focus on the birdie and her pilot. Congratulations!
-
Comment by Tim Garrett on September 26, 2010 at 4:31pm
-
Congratulations indeed! Film the next few flights and tell everyone that was the first one. They'll never know. Focus on flying the first flight is more important than filming. Cinamatography comes later! Welcome back to the sky!
-
Comment by Jerold Ebke on September 26, 2010 at 2:48pm
-
Very excited to read your news and I am sure so fulfilling for you. Anxious to continue to read your further updates as you continue to sort your newest friend out. Congratulations. Jerry
-
Comment by Dr. Edward M. Moody II on September 26, 2010 at 2:20pm
-
Oh Baby! Congratulations on converting a science project to a fun airplane. 120 mph at 2900 rpm? That's great. You clearly did not use the same auto painter that I did. My Xl uses its aluminum as a form for the paint. I have enough paint to factor it in as a stuructural element. I wish you many mor ehours of safe fun flight... welcome to the club.
Ed
-
Comment by Richard Rost on September 26, 2010 at 11:56am
-
Great Jake! Glad to see you got up and down with no surprises. Safe flying.
Rich
New from Zenith:
Classified listing for buying or selling your Zenith building or flying related stuff...
Custom Instrument Panels
for your Zenith:
Custom instrument panels are now available directly from Zenith Aircraft Company exclusively for Zenith builders and owners. Pre-cut panel, Dynon and Garmin avionics, and more.
Zenith Homecoming Tee:
Flying On Your Own Wings:
A Complete Guide to Understanding Light Airplane Design, by Chris Heintz
Builder & Pilot Supplies:
Pro Builder Assistance:
Transition training:
Aircraft Spruce & Specialty for all your building and pilot supplies!
How to videos from HomebuiltHELP.com
Developed specifically for Zenith builders (by a builder) these videos on DVD are a great help in building your own kit plane by providing practical hands-on construction information. Visit HomebuiltHelp.com for the latest DVD titles.
© 2024 Created by Zenith.Aero.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Zenith Aircraft Builders and Flyers to add comments!
Join Zenith Aircraft Builders and Flyers