After returning from Oshkosh, I was anxious to get the airplane into the air. Following the airworthiness inspection, I spent a few days putting everything back together (inspection panels, interior) which took more time than expected. I decided to wait until the following Saturday in order to fly early in the morning to avoid other traffic and to have friends and family present.

At about 7:15AM, August 10, 2024, I lifted off from Runway 14 at Conroe/North Houston Airport (KCXO) for about a 25 minute flight circling overhead at about 3200 feet. I called the tower prior to getting into the airplane, and they were very accommodating to what I was doing. The flight itself went very smooth, and the airplane flew exactly as expected. The transition training that I received about a month prior prepared me very well although nothing bad happened during the flight.

Many have asked if I was nervous during flight. The answer is I was too busy or preoccupied to think about it. It felt very much the same as the other several hundred takeoffs and landings that I have done over the years.

The third video below was prepared by my daughter Kelsey who posted it on Instagram. I think it summed up the day perfectly.

As of Sep 1, I have flown the airplane 5 times and put in about 6 hours of flying. I am still in the process of breaking in the engine, and I have already completed the first oil change. In a flight or two, I will start the “task based flight tests” in order to get the airplane to the Phase 2 stage which means I will be able to take passengers and leave my mandated flight test area (north of Houston). The Phase 1 testing will take more or less about 40 hours.

In the meantime, I am still blown away by the performance of the airplane. It is definitely the fastest airplane I have ever flown. I compare the RV-14A to a Cessna or Piper to like comparing a Nissan 380Z to a 1978 Toyota Corolla.

Yesterday, I flew the airplane for the first time with its wheel pants and fairings. This addition caused the airspeed to increase by 12-14 knots. This thing really is a hot rod.

Obviously the next step is to get it painted. Not sure when this will happen so stay tuned.

I plan to keep this blog going but will transition it to documenting our travels with the airplane. Traveling around the country is the reason I built the airplane, and hopefully in the near future we will be able to do this.

Thanks for watching over the last 5 years.