On march 26th, 2007, I got the opportunity to climb for the first time in a RV-7A and make a short flight. All this with Christophe we had met at the beginning of this adventure (see article HERE). After the preflight, which showed a great finish, we took off from Plessis-Belleville. This was quite an experience. I found the plane quite stable in pitch, and very lively in roll, we gt rolled around quite a bit fliying under the cumulus. Thus I'm happy I choose to install an autopilot for longer cruises.
Christophe's plane is equipped with a standard panel, a 160HP engine and a fixed pitched prop. Cruising at low altitude, we got 150kts at 2400rpm. Ths fixed pitch prop makes for some interesting work in the pattern as deceleration is slow while level and very slow in descent.
The landing seemed a non event, one has just to make sure to keep the nosewheel of the runway as long as possible (almost to taxi speed).
This give some courage to continue building, thanks Christophe.