AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2012 - 82

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VanGrunsven himself built new wheel pants and a new lower cowl for the RV–1, Butcher added. “The wheel fairings had been lost. At some point somebody replaced the wheels with a different size, and never put fairings on it,” VanGrunsven said. “Fortunately I still had some molds sitting around that I had used more than 40 years ago, and I made some new ones.” The RV–1’s first test flight was Sunday, February 19, when Dye logged 20 minutes in the airplane. “It flew just as honest as an airplane could fly—and it flew just like an RV,” Butcher said. “We had hoped to get the flight in earlier but the weather didn’t cooperate.” Not a single squawk resulted from the first flight. “That is a testament to the community that did the work. We had some of the best of the best working on the airplane. And the test flight just brought it all together.” After some minor touch-up paint, the airplane is ready for its public debut at Sun ’n Fun in Lakeland, Florida, March 27 to April 1. After Sun ’n Fun the airplane will make a series of appearances, visiting Savannah, Georgia; the Virginia Regional Festival of Flight; Maryland Regional Festival of Flight; Stratford, Ontario, Canada; California for the Golden West Regional Fly-In; and then head north for the Arlington (Washington) Fly-In before setting course for Oshkosh. Butcher said additional stops will be added to the tour; check the website (http://rv-1.org). Plans are for VanGrunsven to fly the airplane into Oshkosh on the opening day of AirVenture. “I’m up for that,” VanGrunsven said. “The cockpit in that airplane is a little short. And I was a little thinner at the time, so I don’t think I’m going to fit it as well as I did then. If that’s much of a factor I’m not going to want to fly it that far,” he laughed. The RV–1 will be displayed in ConocoPhillips Square and eventually moved into the AirVenture Museum for permanent display. The work of the Friends of the RV–1 is not finished, however. The group has adopted the Eagles Nest project, a highschool-based teen build/fly initiative based on the Van’s RV–12. “By the time the RV–1 is in the museum, we’ll have two or three of these projects going,” Butcher said. “That’s where we’re going, continuing the community aspect we began with the RV–1 project.” Email the author at mike.collins@aopa. org.
AOPA PILOT •

82 • APRIL

2012

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2012

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