Dream Realized

[FJRocket]

Some of you may know that my other hobby is flying. Well, for the last three and a half years it has been a little flying, some FJR riding and a lot of aircraft building. After about 2000 hours of building, I finally got my kit plane in the air today.

My Team Rocket F1-EVO is a 2 seat, all aluminum sportplane. It boasts a 260+ hp, 540 ci 6 cylinder Lycoming pushing an airframe that weighs 1300 pounds empty.

After two short flights today, I'm ecstatic to report that the plane is everything I'd hoped for and then some. It flies like a dream, smooth as silk, and easy to handle. Oh, and it has a good heater. :yahoo:

Sorry for the poor quality. I'm just glad one of my buddies was there to video it.

 

[rangerk9]

FJRocket,

SWEET!!! Congrats on a dream fullfilled! Very nice. I am just a chumpy private pilot (single engine land) that hasn't flown in years. I do miss it. I have fallen out of more aircraft than I would want to recount.

You are a true pilot (FJR and A/C). Enjoy your sweet rides.

Take care. Keep the dirty side down!

Rex

RLTW!!

 

[painman]

That's pretty cool there Rocket. It's special when you build it yourself. I like the wing configuration you got going and the theme looks military. I'm not into the pilot thing but wish I was, but have a friend who flies and go up once in a while. We fly up to Tahoe once in a while which can be quite an experience when you have to get altitude to get over the summit in the Sierra's and sometimes your finger nails turn blue from lack of oxygen and you can start to feel a little giddy. lol. He took me for a ride in some type of stunt plane a while back, not sure the model, but it had some type of what seemed like a rubberized skin instead of aluminum but what caught my attention was the partial sticks of dynomite on each door that when you get into trouble you pull the pull ring to blow the doors off for a quick get-out! I asked where my parachute was and he said there wasn't any in the plane, oh well there goes the quick get-out idea. Probablly my favorite plane is the famous P-51 Mustang that downed over 4000 German aircraft in WWII by some or our hero aces, sweeeeeeeeet! Take care and keep us updated on the further project. And what color are you going to paint it? Be safe up there, PM. <><

 

[FJRocket]

Pain, I haven't decided yet on what the final paint is going to be. I have to test fly it a bunch of hours and probably won't paint it until the 1st test phase is completed. Leaning toward good ol OD, though. Kind of an early WWII primer look. Time will tell.

Here's a better Vid of my second take off. It's pretty sweet!

 

[beerme]

Congrats, man! What a great accomplishment! I bet it must be hard to keep from grinning all the time now, huh? Can't wait to see what it looks like when it's painted.

 

[Lake Powell]

Absolutely beautiful aircraft.

Nice to see the rarity of a built up metal aircraft in the day of ever more so composites.

I'll bet it is a blast to fly!

I'll bet with the 540 and some wheel pants it would true 265 or so, is that close?

Please up date after paint!

 

[NightShine]

Nice ship, FJRocket! I have a couple friends who are into kit built projects; one is even on his third aircraft. I think he likes building better than flying!

My hat's off to you on your accomplishment!

 

[evilmedic13]

Congrats on a job well done. If you need help painting it let me know. You know where I live.

 

[twowheelnut]

Cool! How long for lift-off from the conveyor belt?

Oops.

:lol:

 

[airboss]

Made yoy grin, I've been to Oshkosh, totally impressed with what you home buliders can accomplish.

 

[FJRocket]

Absolutely beautiful aircraft.

Thank you! Even unpainted it is quite a sight. It looks like it's flying fast sitting still.

Nice to see the rarity of a built up metal aircraft in the day of ever more so composites.

Well, there are more aluminum Vans RVs out there than anything. And they are pretty fast. But the metal models just aren't as fast as the glass planes. However, aluminum takes a lot less sanding and the construction is much more simple and easy in my opinion. The glass planes are really fast, but you need a real runway to land. My plane can land on just about any little ol' grass strip out there. The Rocket flies very slow (I was following a Cessna yesterday at 65 Knots) and quite fast (about 220 - 230 at altitude).

I'll bet it is a blast to fly!

That, my friend, is an understatement. On the first flight you are supposed to climb up and do all these docile tests and maneuvers. Heck, I could tell after one turn around the pattern that this plane was ready to GO! Think mini P-51. Take an FJR (or maybe a pure sport bike), make it 260 horses and play in 3D. Oh yeah, baby, this thing is a TOTAL BLAST!

I'll bet with the 540 and some wheel pants it would true 265 or so, is that close?

I was doing 190 knots on a low pass. With all the fairings I should show 205 down low (at least). It's a true 250 mile an hour airplane at altitude.

Please up date after paint!

Wilco. That's a tough decision. I have about 30 paint schemes I've looked at. I'm leaving toward a military paint scheme, but I'm having so much fun testing and flying, I may never get passed the primer stage!

:yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:

 

[Fred W]

Congratulations, FJRocket.

That thing is the bomb-diggety!!

 

[Hit the Road Jack]

Awesome airplane and an awesome accomplishment to build it!

As an engineer at Scaled Composites, I'm familiar with many types of aircraft and I have to say that the F1 Rocket is my favorite! Well done and thanks for sharing the video and the news. Keep us updated.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Congrats Doc :clapping: it looks fantastic.

My dad and I pretty much watched the whole process via your web page. Now that it's in the end stage all the troubles seem worth it eh

:jester:

 

[FJRocket]

Awesome airplane and an awesome accomplishment to build it!
As an engineer at Scaled Composites, I'm familiar with many types of aircraft and I have to say that the F1 Rocket is my favorite! Well done and thanks for sharing the video and the news. Keep us updated.

Don't let Burt hear you say that!

Tell you what, I'll fly out there for a visit. You show me yours, and you can fly mine!

 

[FJRocket]

Congrats Doc :clapping: it looks fantastic.
My dad and I pretty much watched the whole process via your web page. Now that it's in the end stage all the troubles seem worth it eh

:jester:

Thanks B-A-N-J! Glad you and your Dad got to tag along. Sorry about that 10 month lay off in the middle. Got busy riding FJRs and trying to get my money back from that fuckstick who stiffed me out of a motor.

Anyway, after about 30 seconds in the air, all the trials and tribulations seemed to vanish. On the intial turn out on crosswind, when I noticed I was already 600 feet above pattern altitude and accelerating through 158 knots in the climb, I knew I did the right thing. :thumbsupsmileyanim: :thumbsupsmileyanim: :thumbsupsmileyanim: :thumbsupsmileyanim: :thumbsupsmileyanim:

And similar to motorcycling, I'm fooked because it's snowing and won't let up through the weekend. Crap, now I have to wait another week before I fly it again (more than likely). Oh well, there's still plenty to work on. Are these kind of projects every really finished? :yahoo:

Time to head to the airport... for my "second job". :yahoo:

 

[wheatonFJR]

Congrats Matt!

I'm glad after all the hours and after some serious disappointment from one of your suppliers that you have persevered and have your are enjoying the fruits of your labor! :yahoo: :yahoo:

I've been meaning to get my boys up to Oshkosh...so maybe this year we'll go.

Have fun flyin' your baby... :clapping: :clapping:

 

[JimLor]

Great looking ride Doc! Like RangerRay I have a license but haven't flown in years. Looks like a fun plane to fly.

On another note, my Dad (82) has a rich friend who buys old a/c at the cyclic rate. He keeps them in his hotel business warehouse and my Dad and 6 or so other "older" guys work there 4 days or so every week. This guy has a Stagerwing (sp), about 10 Wacos!, and various other biplanes, etc. And I forgot the 2 Super Cubs. It's a ball running around that place and looking at history. And it keeps my Dad busy doing something he loves to do.

Best of luck and fly safe!

 

[petey]

Hey Matt, CONGRATS on your accomplishment, I can feel your pride and joy to finally get to this point of reaping the fruits of the many hours you spend on this project. I can understand why a lot of pilots are also motorcycle enthusiasts.

Enjoy, and make sure to post pics after you get paint on that beauty. :yahoo: