Yoopers Rocketman's Lancair

[Yooper Rocketman]

13 hours ago, aviatoreb said:

oh!  oooh!  - add my name too!!!

Ahhh, you were the first Mooney guy on the list already!!  Especially a fellow Rocket Guy.

Tom

[Yooper Rocketman]

12 hours ago, Bob said:

"What about Bob?"

Pretty much thought that was a given, as you are the only Mooney Space member to visit during the build!!

[aviatoreb]

2 hours ago, Yooper Rocketman said:

Ahhh, you were the first Mooney guy on the list already!!  Especially a fellow Rocket Guy.

Tom

Tom, I'm honored!  ...and wow I think I will need to stop by someday.

You know, I promised my oldest son to take him fishing in Montana next summer - looks like a bee-line to Montana goes directly over your head.  

[Yooper Rocketman]

Well, It happened today.  7,955 build hours, 17 years and 9 months of hard work, it officially became an airplane today!!  This is the second flight, my first in the left seat.  What an absolute amazing machine!!

Tom

 

[bradp]

Congratulations !!!


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[Brandontwalker]

Great job! That is an incredible plane.


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[Seth]

Thrilled for you!!!!

Can't wait to see it at a flying somewhere.  

17 years!!!!

 

-Seth

[Hank]

Wow! Looks great. What a climbout!!

[Danb]

Climbed like a raped ape, Impressive 

[aviatoreb]

Beautiful!!!  Congratulations!!!

[aviatoreb]

52 minutes ago, Danb said:

Climbed like a raped ape, Impressive 

Hmmmm - you don't see that happening too often.

[carusoam]

Wow!!!

Great videos!

HP to weight ratio must be quite large.

Time to go top-off the experience bucket!   

Thanks for sharing the details.

Best regards,

-a-

[Mcstealth]

Climbed so fast, I didn't even see the 50ft obstacle you were trying to miss. 

 

Congratulations. 

David 

[Hank]

3 hours ago, Mcstealth said:

Climbed so fast, I didn't even see the 50ft obstacle you were trying to miss. 

The way he was climbing, it could have been a 500 foot obstacle!

[Yooper Rocketman]

3 hours ago, Mcstealth said:

Climbed so fast, I didn't even see the 50ft obstacle you were trying to miss. 

 

Congratulations. 

David 

That's what you have to do to "attempt" to keep it at or below 120 knots for gear retract when you blow past 80 knots for rotation and it's almost 120 at lift off.   I did much better today!  

Tom

[Guest]

Tom,

Congratulations!  

It's quite a feeling to see your creation take flight.  I remember the day for my RV with great pride.

Clarence

[peevee]

NICE!

so uh, it's flying now and you don't really neeeeed that rocket anymore.... Just saying

[Yooper Rocketman]

Well, Wednesday after flight testing a bunch of stuff around the airport we decided to fill the belly tank and wings completely (164 gallons) and head straight west to the westerly limit of my test area (about 150 miles west).  Mechanically the plane has been flawless.  My test pilot said he would have no problem taking it the Florida after the second flight (can't, but still pretty nice to hear from him).  We tried pressurizing for the first time and got enough to go to 16.5 with a 10K cabin.  Once I could hold a decent course and altitude my test pilot pointed at my TAS on the G3X.  It was 300 knots.  We're not even to the sweet spot on this bird (24k-28k).  I can't wait to see what she will do up there.  Anyway, it's been so stressful I have had little time to ENJOY this bird.  Looking out at my wings, wing-lets, the engine cowl, and back at the horizontal and elevator, it dawns on me "I built this with my own hands, in my garage, and it handles 300 knots like it's been flying for years".  Absolutely amazing!

Thought I would share our take-off yesterday morning.  If you look at the runway markers we are off by the 1,000' point.  As we climb to the south towards an amazing sky, the plane looks like it's heading home to the angels.  Sorry guys, I'm giddy now!!

Oh, as a last comment.  I get more excitement (and more positive feedback) from my Mooney friends than the Lancair community.  I share my stuff with YOU GUYS FIRST!!  You guys ROCK!  I might have to keep my Mooney so I can stay on this Forum.

Tom

 

[FBCK]

You should be proud of what you accomplished, congratulation, ya da man.

[MyNameIsNobody]

Fantastic video.  Fantastic plane.  Fantastic sound.  Fantastic, dare I say "magical"?...sky.  Hat is off to your accomplishment.  Well done sir.

[peevee]

Horrible video. I think the wings are crooked. Or maybe I'm just jealous 

Can't wait to see it all complete. 

[Bennett]

Fantastic aircraft. I'm actually envious. Great job (and patience) building her.


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[Yooper Rocketman]

Well, my test pilot came up Tuesday and Wednesday this week and we hammered out some more testing, squawks and he said I am ready to fly on my own.  We had some nasty crosswinds this week, direct 90 degrees at 15 gusting over 20 knots. The 6 hours with him were pretty brutal.  After that I was ready for some easier take off and landings.  Today was the first time the weather was nice enough to fly, although extremely cold (below zero when I took off).  I was able to log 3 hours in two flights.  The first one alone was a little nerve wracking, but by the time I did the second flight I was actually able to enjoy it.  Still having autopilot glitches, so I am getting pretty proficient flying it now.  Cold temps I am sure helped, but to say I am happy with the performance would be a huge understatement.  See the picture below for a little performance peak.  Ground sure goes by fast!  Landed just as the sun was setting.  Will share those pictures under "Today's Flight".

Pretty neat way to celebrate your birthday, first solo flight in the plane you spent almost 18 years building!

Tom

[Browncbr1]

I supposed 51gph doesn't seem to hurt so bad when you're doing 310kts.   enjoy the performance!  awesome that you built it yourself!

[Yooper Rocketman]

Ya.... that will come down to about the same MPG of my Rocket once we can go up in the flight levels on cross country trips.