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D. Porter
Sergeant First Class

Gender: Male
Location: Ventura, CA
Registered: Apr 2012
Status: Offline
Posts: 84

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Posted Thursday, May 31, 2012 @ 03:44 PM  

I did my first flight (0.7 hr) yesterday at 7:00pm. Sam and crew were there for support and all went well enough. I was surprised how quickly the tail comes up and we were off the ground. I left the wheel down for this flight, but even so the climb performance was as good or better than the Citabria I had been flying at SZP. Left the pattern, climbed to 3000', did some dutch rolls, steep turns, one stall, experimented with the spoilers, and just enjoyed the light controls and responsiveness. Came back to the pattern, did one planned go-around, and landed on the next approach. I was slightly high on the flare but that should improve with practice. The handbrake and ground handling were more than adequate.

One phenomena that I can't explain is the feeling of being too low in the pattern. Somehow the panaramic view through the canopy gives the impression of being about 200' too low, although I wasn't.

Overall I'm really pleased with the the Fournier and can't wait to fly it some more.

Don

Bob Brock
Master Sergeant

Gender: Male
Location: Portland, Oregon
Registered: Mar 2009
Status: Offline
Posts: 156

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Posted Thursday, May 31, 2012 @ 04:33 PM  

Wonderful report... I can almost see the Fournier grin.
I sincerely hope you attend the touring motorgliders fly-in this July. My plan is to fly N7725 there for a cross country flight provided I do not encounter many more problems in the rebuild. Thanks also for you note on the Todd canopy. Best regards,
jb92563
Second Lieutenant

Gender: Male
Location: Lake Elsinore, CA, USA
Registered: Mar 2007
Status: Offline
Posts: 583

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Posted Thursday, May 31, 2012 @ 05:03 PM  

Yea Don, congrats on the first flight.

Its an easy bird to fly and inspires confidence due to its responsiveness and well behaved manners.

You should come to the Minden fly-in.

Good to hear that Bob is planning to come too as I was not sure if he would be ready in time.

I'll be doing some Socal flying in the next 6 weeks to get ready for a longer flights.

The airport is huge, not towered and no one gets bothered by Gov officials or red tape there.

As a matter of fact the FBO and town are overjoyed to have us there for a much needed tourism boost.

This year I think I will fly the Central Valley route to the north of Lake Tahoe and then down to Minden on the other side of the Sierras.
Ive seen the Owens Valley a few times previously and its time for some new scenery.

Maybe link up with some other flyers along the way and come down as a group.

Ray

--------------------
Ray
RF4D #4057 N-1771 Rectimo 1400cc
http://picasaweb.google.com/jb92563/FournierRF4D
http://www.touringmotorgliders.org

Jorgen
Captain

Gender: Male
Location: Lund, Sweden
Registered: Apr 2007
Status: Offline
Posts: 833

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Posted Friday, June 1, 2012 @ 01:30 AM  

Congratulations on your first Fournierflight Don,
great news and sounds like you had a sensible plan for the first encounter of the third (fourth?) degree with "the Zipper". I remember after my first flight with "XST" (then "G-AVNX" James the seller accused me of trying to keep a straight face just to be able to lower my bid, but the truth was more that I was dumbstruck with the overwhelming impression.

Regarding the "feeling low in the pattern"- it sounds a bit like a "getting used to glider-type approaches"-thing. When I took up gliding way back when I got a lot of flak for "beeing afraid of leprechauns in the woods"; the glide angle and hence the pattern is a bit different and just takes some getting used to.

May the 4's be with you/ Jörgen

Bob Grimstead
Captain

Gender: Male
Location: Perth, Western Australia or West Sussex, England
Registered: Dec 2006
Status: Offline
Posts: 2027

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Posted Friday, June 1, 2012 @ 10:27 AM  

Well Done Don,

Congratulations, and welcome to our world.

I know you'll enjoy many years of flying N1700F, at least until Sam pesters you to buy it back again!

I wish you many, many happy hours of Fournication.

Yours, Bob

--------------------
Flying and displaying Fournier RF4Ds VH-HDO and G-AWGN, building replica RF6B G-RFGB and custodian of RF6B prototype F-BPXV

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