She's a REAL plane!

Wahoo! March 26th, 2009 ... Peter and Steve completed the 40 hour fly-off test phase! This means that Steve's RV7 has become a real plane. She's no longer restricted to the 50 mile designated test area and can now accept passengers! And yes ... I was the honored prima passenger!

Peter is an amazing pilot and was very gentle with my first small aircraft experience. It was absolutely incredible ... smooth, gentle, purrrrrfect ... soaring above our home and seeing Port Townsend from a completely different perspective. I followed the familiar roads and mentally logged them into their appropriate slots as the larger picture became much clearer than it ever was from the road. The white steam plume of the Port Townsend paper mill serves as a quick and easy marker from miles away, the San Juan Islands appear as gentle rich green mounds scattered in the deep blue waters, a light dust of snow sharpens the cliffs and craters in the Olympic Mountains, the thick dramatic clouds in the distance promise a Pacific Northwest shower is on the way ... mostly overcast with very little wind, it was the perfect day for a first flight. Now I understand why the boys have been pushing so hard to get her completed these past 2 1/2 years ... I will be taking my camera next time but I'm afraid it wont capture but a fraction of the awesomeness.

Steve's RV7 is equipped with seat warmers (wahoo!) and an incredible display of electronic equipment and doohickeys that light up and apparently produce all and any information a pilot could ever need. You can fly the plane from either side of the plane ... Peter prefers to fly from the right side because it's familiar to his military days. Peter showed me the speed and altitude numbers, and a brief glance at the GPS system ... However my eyes kept bouncing back to the FAA required sticker that reads "Passenger Warning- THIS AIRCRAFT IS AMATEUR-BUILT AND DOES NOT COMPLY WITH THE FEDERAL SAFETY REGULATIONS FOR STANDARD AIRCRAFT." It only made me grin proudly to think wow ... they built this in a garage and it works! (okay, proudly and with just a pinch of nervousness)

Lynn, Peter's wife, was the second honored passenger and from the brilliant smile on her face before take-off, it was obvious this wasn't her first time in a small experimental plane. When they returned, the boys put her back in the hangar and we celebrated with champagne and strawberries (thank you Lynn).

Kudos to Steve and Peter ... there are not many people in the whole wide world that can claim such an amazing accomplishment!