Oz build SS7

[jiott]

Way to go Ross!
That was a flight and landing to be proud of.

[Flybyjim]

Very nice video of your first flight, congratulations on a good looking plane, well built, good paint colors and a joyous first flight.

[Dick B in KY]

Congratulations Ross, First flight will always be remembered.

Dick B in KY

[Esser]

Congrats Ross! My landings only look like that when no one is looking.

[Jfquebec]

Bravo!...thank's for video,,,,,

[Floog]

Congrats, Ross! You were really prepared. GREAT VIDEO! Now enjoy the best plane around during your summer. It was 24F as I flew across the Cascades this morning.

[airlina]

Nice job all the way around Ross, thanks for all the photos and updates along the way, gonna miss that , but I am sure you will continue with the updates as your flyoff continues-welcome to the club, 12 years and 720 hrs later I still love my Kitfox and know I picked the right airplane, I think you will soon agree! Bruce N199CL

[jrevens]

That was SO good Ross! Thank you for sharing the experience, and the trip to get there! It looks so beautiful!

[Kurt.A]

Well Done Ross! She looks beautiful and obviously flys as good as it looks. Congrats!

[rosslr]

A very big thank you to all of you for your kind words of congratulations! I have played Gayle's video clip several times and love to relive the experience - it reminds of when we built our own yacht and sailed off across an ocean- When we leap off solid earth we find ourselves somewhat humbled - but what an experience to learn to work with nature to have such a great experience!

So thanks to all of you - too many to reply to individually so please know that Gayle and I have read everyone of our posts and appreciate them all. Dorsal made and interesting point - that it has taken 83 pages to built the Kitfox!! - I think I will just keep the posts going as it all doesn't stop with the first flight.

So, let me share a few of the things that went wrong...

1. After first flight, I removed the cowling and checked everything - everything was good apart from the red coolant sprayed everywhere! Anyway, I started the sleuthing to find the source of the leak and ended up finding the that the cap on the coolant expansion tank had the rubber sealant ring bent up and it allowed the coolant under pressure to spray out - easy fix but a good lesson to check EVERYTHING !! I will be clearing up that stuff for a long time!

2. This morning I took off after all the usual checks and climbed out to 2500ft and set cruise. Turned off one fuel pump and promptly experienced my first engine failure! Bugger. Slow brain said "is this really happening to me?!" A split second later I flicked the other fuel pump back on and it burst back to life -
Needless to say, I returned and landed and investigated. Nothing obvious, so I rang the Rotax dealer who said that they experienced this 2x before on the Rotax 912is - The connecting plug on the main fuel pump has some side movement in it. I could replicate the fault with a friend applying power and me moving the plug . Anyway, followed his instructions and all appears well now - but I do think this is a Rotax design fault that need a more permanent fix.

Anyway, just wanted to keep it real and let you know that the Test flying is called just that for a reason!!

And here are a few photos of my test flying day - we all like photos!

cheers

r