EAA Sport Aviation

THIS IS A PICTURE of my first flight in my Pietenpol that I started building in 1969. Construction took 42 years of off-and-on building. The Piet is powered by a Funk Model E engine. Flying the airplane that first time was a thrill of a lifetime.

I have become an 86-year-old test pilot. The very first flight was flown by Martin Kress of Kress Aviation at Sky Manor Airport in New Jersey. I had a lot of help from many friends. Stu Hyde,

a retired Boeing 747 mechanic, was especially helpful as our EAA Chapter 73 technical counselor. I credit Stu and Martin Kress (both A&E mechanics) for getting the Pietenpol ready to fly. I am looking forward to many hours of happy flying.

NEW JERSEY PIETENPOL

Don Sweeney, EAA 32942; New Milford, New Jersey; E-mail: donswen@optonline.net Technical Counselors: Jesse Knight and Stuart Hyde

OUR RV- 10 WAS BUILT by a team of Ken
Smith, Tom Smith, Tim Dawson-
Townsend, and Anton Nielsen. Total
build time was about six and a half years.
First flight was by Tim on July 7, 2010,
and the test period had no major hiccups.

We did enjoy one of the most scenic test areas, covering half of Cape Cod and Massachusetts Bay. The airplane is powered by a 260-hp rebuilt Lycoming IO-540 from G&N Aircraft, with the standard Hartzell constant-speed prop.

It loves to climb, and you really have
to get off the power when you want to
come down.

We believe this is the first and possibly only RV- 10 with a ballistic parachute system installed, a Magnum chute and rocket. Engineering and fabricating the chute installation probably added almost a year to the project.

Cockpit avionics feature an Avidyne Entegra PFD and MFD and a Tru Trak autopilot. Interior is by Flightline Interiors, with Hooker harnesses. Paint went on in May 2011, and we made the first pilgrimage

MASSACHUSE T TS RV- 10
to Oshkosh in July, including a second-in-
class trophy in the AirVenture Cup Race.

Our paint scheme features the logo of the Fisher House Foundation, to promote its mission of supplying free local lodging for the families of military members undergoing treatment at distant military or VA hospitals.