My good friend Stephen Christopher flew down to Aurora with his lovely wife Missy in their brand new RV-7. He was kind enough to take me up for a ride and let me fly it for a while. Wow! What a plane! What follows are the pictures I took of the experience. They don't begin to do it justice. Here we are taxiing out to the runway at Aurora. It's customary to stop here for a few moments until you finish your checklist and are cleared for takeoff.
Moments after takeoff, we're climbing at 2,000 fpm. Wow! Look at the angle of the wing tip against the horizon, and you get an idea of how fast this plane climbs! Incredible!
Banking to the left and looking west, you can see Interstate 5 near the top of the screen. The Aurora exit is just south of here. Beautiful!
The leather seats are so comfortable, and this Bose headset with ANR (active noise reduction) is incredible! You could fly all day and feel no pain. It's quiet and very comfortable.
Stephen's beautiful panel. All glass, so clean and simple-looking, but loaded with high-tech displays and tons of information. Synthetic vision, GPS, autopilot, XM satellite weather, music in the audio panel, I could go on and on. Wow!
Looking east, Mt. Hood is off in the distance.
The Aurora airport, the town of Canby beyond that, and Mt. Hood off in the distance.
Flying this plane is SO SWEET!!! Thanks, Stephen!
The visibility from a tip-up canopy RV has to be seen to be believed. It's spectacular.
It's so incredibly beautiful up here. Who wouldn't love this?
Approaching Aurora on base leg.
Stephen already has a nice collection of dead bugs on his windshield. That's a sign of a good days' flying.
Turning from base to final approach. I can't believe how smooth this all was.
Vans Aircrafts' factory is on the near end of the row of buildings just to the right of the runway.
Beautiful, breathtaking flight. Wow! Thanks again, Stephen! Jamie and I took him and Melissa home to visit my shop and check out my progress. I always appreciate his input and tips. Then we took them out to happy hour to celebrate. We really like this couple and can't wait to do this again! And eventually, join them in the skies for trips here and yonder!
Stephen's beautiful plane. He's flying it for a while, like many builders do, before having it painted.
