AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2020 - 35

(172 true) and you're approaching your preprogrammed waypoint. Time for some maneuvering.
You start out with a lazy eight, a maneuver in
which pitch and bank are constantly changing, and
you're amazed at the sublime control harmony and
airplane's immediate reaction. The Sweeps RV-10
feels like it's on rails as it gains nearly 1,000 feet during the first half of the lazy eight. You let the nose
fall as the airplane gains speed, level off momentarily at 4,500 feet, and then begin another turn,
this one to the right. You increase the bank angle to
60 degrees and the Sweeps RV-10 proves smooth,
steady, and obedient.
A green blob on the multifunction display shows
rain in the area, and light precipitation shows up
on the windshield, too. The ADS-B system shows
weather and traffic and provides exceptional situational awareness. You engage the digital Dynon
autopilot, load an LPV approach to Runway 23 at
Frederick, and show the georeferenced approach
plate on the 12-inch multifunction display.
You take note of the decision altitude (690 feet
msl) and load it into the Advanced PFD so that it
reminds you when you get there. Then you sit back
and monitor the avionics as the airplane intercepts
and tracks the final approach course and follows
the vertical guidance toward the runway. Run the
prelanding checklist on the primary flight display
while the airplane flies itself, correcting for every
wind gust. You add flaps using the electric switch on
the carbon fiber Aerosport instrument panel, then
glance out the left window to confirm they're down.
An automatic trim sensor keeps the elevator trim
perfectly adjusted as the airspeed and configuration
change, so pitch forces are light as you disengage
the autopilot and handfly the last mile at 75 knots.
Hold that speed into ground effect, flare by
bringing the floor-mounted control stick full aft,
and pull the throttle lever to idle. The Sweeps
RV-10 rewards you with a smooth touchdown on
the main wheels then tracks straight ahead during
rollout. You've been working hard, and an overhead
ventilation system from SF Sport Aviation circulates
cool air throughout the cabin.
You didn't expect to become so at ease with
the Sweeps RV-10 so quickly, but the airplane
inspires confidence. It's a performer, but it's also
well behaved, mannerly, and makes pilots look
good. There's much to learn about the intricacies
of its systems, but there's no hurry, either. You've
got time.

AVIATION HISTORY |

JULY 17, 1938
Going my way?
IN JULY 1938, an Irish-American airplane mechanic-having restored
a 1929 Curtiss Robin-flew from California to New York to propose
he fly the Atlantic Ocean route his hero Charles A. Lindbergh had
flown 11 years earlier, but U.S. aviation officials said no. Douglas
Corrigan's restored Robin was still no more than a "dilapidated
crate," said the powers that be at the time, believing it would not
make the flight across the pond (even though Corrigan had been
a mechanic on the building of Lindbergh's custom-made Spirit of
St. Louis). So, hat in hand, Corrigan departed New York's Floyd
Bennett Field ostensibly headed back home. Twenty-eight hours
later, on July 17, he landed in Dublin, Ireland. He is said to have
asked upon landing, "Where am I?" claiming his navigation equipment did not work, but few believed him. However, his feat was
celebrated, and he was infamously dubbed "Wrong Way" Corrigan.
National Wrong Way Corrigan Day is celebrated each July 17.
Organizers say you could watch The Flying Irishman, a biographical film about Corrigan in which he stars as himself-or you could
celebrate the day by telling someone you are going one direction,
and then go the opposite way. "This is especially fitting if you have
an airplane," say the organizers.
-Julie Summers Walker

EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2020

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