When one of our regular columnists here at Kitplanes finishes and flies a new airplane, we like to celebrate a little! We received word of just such an event – Sid Mayeux, one of our experts in aviation risk management, has been working diligently on his RV-7A and sent us the following note:
Sid and Kelli Mayeux’s RV-7A “Kelli Girl”
After 4.5 years in two states and one Air Force base, our RV-7A N260KM “Kelli Girl” finally took to the air. Thank you, Mel Asbury, for giving her your ‘airworthiness’ blessings. Aside from an initial airspeed and CHT instrumentation problem, this first flight proved that “Kelli Girl” is an absolute joy to fly…well worth the 1570 hour build time.
“Kelli Girl” is a quick-build RV-7A with dual 10″ Dynon Skyviews that integrate dual ADAHRS, Mode S transponder, VHF, ADSB-In, EMS, and pitch/roll autopilots. Electrical power is managed by Vertical Power’s VPX, and PS Engineering’s PAR100EX doubles as my intercom and radio-1 VHF. A factory-new YIO-360 M1B turns a fixed Sensenich cruise prop. Hats off to Van for his great design: It really came together well. Now, I’m off to chip away at the Phase 1.
