Ron's RV7 Factory: Wablosa's First Oshkosh

Ron's RV7 Aircraft Factory

Welcome to my personal blog. This site was created as an informal description of my build progress in the construction of a Van's RV7 aircraft. A place where family/friends/builders/curiosity seekers can follow along. It is not intended to be a detailed description of every step in the building process as that would be much too time consuming. There are plenty of sites that do a great job in that arena, that is not my intention with this site. My intention is for this to be a philisophical/motivational/inspirational account of the emotional ups and downs of the life changing journey...and it will change your life. I hope this will give you an idea, through my eyes, of what its like to make this transformation. A note to other builders, I am not an expert so do not put your safety at risk by attempting anything you see on this site until you have done your own research, or send me an email so we can discuss it. Any deviations from the plans are not approved, nor endorsed by Van's Aircraft or myself. Thanks for visiting.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Wablosa's First Oshkosh

I've been busy getting ready for my first trip flying into Oshkosh for the annual pilgrimage. I feel very well prepared as there is a lot of good information out there to study. I started by reading the NOTAM...it amazes me that some pilots feel like its ok to fly into OSH without reading the NOTAM. Its about 25 pages in length so its not trivial. Keep yourself and the rest of your pilot brethren safe by being prepared and following procedures. I have it on my iPad and also in hard copy, which you can request for free until supplies run out.

In addition to that, I watched the EAA webinar, which had good information specific to this year (2014). I followed that up by watching actual cockpit videos so I could get a feel for what its like real-time, with actual radio calls and wing rocks. All of this coupled with the fact that I listen to a live tower feed every year so I'm familiar with how it goes will hopefully make it a non-event. The best thing you could say after your first trip would be, "it was like I had been there before."

I've gone out and practiced slow flight. The FISK approach is at 90kts/1800 ft and depending on who you get stuck behind that could slow to 70kts from stories I have heard. I flew at 90kts, dialed the RPM back to about 1950 to keep CHT's down (not sure if I needed to but wanted to practice it), it was not a big deal as the aircraft was plenty stable. I then stepped down to 80kts...then 70, and finally 65kts. 70 kts is probably about as far as I would go before bailing out of the approach and re-entering.

Of course, I didn't do this at full gross, so that is something I need to keep in mind when the day arrives. I just don't feel comfortable strapping ballast into my co-pilot seat...if it were to become dislodged and fall on my co-pilot stick it would be game over. I will just adjust accordingly to the added weight.

My last bit of practice will be spot landings...you know the drill...yellow dot, green dot, etc. That will be a rush landing on the dot in OSH for the first time, for sure.

I am spending the week getting the airplane pretty for the big show too. Several last minute cosmetic details need to be accomplished. Painting my plenum is the big one.

In summary, the day is almost upon us...and I'm pretty psyched for this trip. If you see ol' #5 out at OSH, stop by and say hi!