first flight SN 25121

simatos · Post by **simatos** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 8:16 pm

Gentlemen after 6 years and alot of freezing in the hangar i flew my plane this morning for the first time. You all have been a great source of help and support and I just wanted to thank you all for being out there. It all went very smoothly except for many unrecogn ized draughts in the cabin so cold you could see your breath. Thanks again and cheers Gary Simatos

3958v · Post by **3958v** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 12:29 am

Congradulations!!!!!!! I know from my own experience that it is great to fly a plane after puting all that work into it. Can you fill us in a little on your project there? Maybe post a few pics. Bill K

simatos · Post by **simatos** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 5:14 am

Bill Thanks Ya want the long or short story? all very interesting when I look back tho in the middle of it you gotta wonder will this airplane ever get built. My plane got ground looped in Kamloops BC in 1990 and was bought by an aviation nut in my neighbourhood shortly there after. He started the repairs but in 1999 he was with a buddie and had a mid air(in a different plane) with some folks from the local flying school. His wife said i want all this stuff sold (Navion, Breezy and my 170) which i bought in many pieces and 15 boxes of stuff. The worlds biggest puzzle. My AME here in Pitt Meadows BC said strip and paint the parts then we will build it. 3 months later the painting was done unfortunately the AME fell il and passed away shortly there after. Since then i have found lots of help on the field ( but I ain't no mechanic) and of course all the folks at TIC170A and together with alot of elbo grease and a big sack of$$$ got it to a point to fly just today, what an absolute gas,( sure doesn't feel like the 172s I flew when I did my liscence). It all now seems worth while. I have some pics along the way just now learning how to drive my daughters computer so I will post them when I figure out how. I can really relate to all you guys who have worked on these planes so much over the years and again it is great to have all this experience and expertise within the association on hand. I will let ya know how the next couple of flights go. My AME of course has some tweeking he wants to do but knowing it actually flies OK is a big accomplishment and good for the mental health Cheers G

simatos · Post by **simatos** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 3:48 am

Well here it is 2 weeks later and the rain finally gave me a break and did flight number 2. My first effort identified a heavy left wing, and lots of air leaks into the cabin and not much from the heater. I adjusted the cams on the right wing and plugged alot of holes around the wing roots and upper windshield and tweeked the heater and much better today. Cabin is much warmer but still need to hold a little right aileron to keep things levell so back to the hangar in the morning. Unfortunately they don't pridict sun for another week so lots of time to putter Cheers g javascript:emoticon(':lol:')