Thanks to those builders and enthusiasts who have sent me their photos and reports. Thanks as ever to PFA Engineering for providing a number of photos and information on newly completed projects and of course to their builders for providing the information in the first place. Please send me the details of how you are getting on with your project, even just a photo and a few comments will do! My address is: 16 Wisden Avenue, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 8TL Tel: 01444 8705990. Email: nhitchman@aol.com

No spark ignition - no magnetos required.
No mixture control.
No carb heat control - no carb icing (the demise many a pilot).
Less risk of fire.
No danger of carbon monoxide poisoning.
The biggest advantage is that the engine runs on Jet A1 - a third of the cost of Avgas.

The engine has been tested to 130 bhp, but runs at 120 bhp normally and burns 11 litre per hour at 75% power, against a Continental average of 21 litre per hour. So, as you can see there are alot of advantages. The cost of the engine, redesigned cowlings and engine mount will only equate to approximately 50% of the cost of a new Continental 100 hp. (Not so sure about that. The WAM and the O-200 are both in the £10,000 price range. Ed)

Bearing in mind that normally we are definitely not D.I.Yers (around the house or car), the kit has gone together extremely well. We are now three years into the build and the proud owners of a fin, rudder, stabilator, two ailerons and flaps, and two wings. The fuselage has just been started. Building the stabilator was like building a small wing, so when we got to the wings we had a fair idea of how they went together. Although we must say that the instruction manual is very comprehensive and has excellent drawings, some mistakes do still occur, but with the help of our excellent PFA Inspector, Mark Hammet, these have not been disastrous.

This project is proving to be extremely interesting, enjoyable and sometimes frustrating, but we have learnt an awful lot of things we never knew before and now have a much better understanding of what is beneath an aircraft's skins. We are now quite proficient at drilling, deburring and riveting, with some experience of rivet removal!

We still have a long way to go, but hopefully we could be flying by this time next year.

Final inspection went well with our inspector Trevor Hope pleased by what he saw. With the paperwork complete, everything was sent off to PFA Engineering for processing. Meanwhile it was off to Oshkosh for me and Kitty Hawk for Ed, to the Great Cross country air race, finishing at Oshkosh. By the time of our return I had the Permit to Test on my doorstep, it had been there for a while, I think PFA's turn around was two days.

August 2nd was the first day I could get down to Garston Farm and with our Flight Release Certificate in hand, we were ready to go. A reasonable day for first flight, it was clear early on, but by the time we were ready to fly around 11am, it was cloudy, but with a 2500 - 3000ft cloudbase and almost no wind it was time to fly! Taxiing out everything worked fine, power checks OK, line up and call nearby RAF Colerne whose ATZ the strip is within. Everything ready, power slowly advanced, easy to keep straight, initially stick fully back until the rudder becomes effective, then let the tail rise and before I know it im airborne for the first flight - fantastic! Flaps up before we exceed their limiting speed, fuel pump off, check the T's and P's all OK, CHT getting high with the new engine so level off and increase speed. A slow climbing circle, keeping above the field or colerne, we are soon up to 180mph. CHT stabilising around 400F and everything running fine. Controls feel good, I keep the engine at 2500rpm as we are running in, this makes it more difficult to keep near the airfield as we are going so fast! Then I just flew around under the clouds for 15 mins going round in circles and figure eight's keeping a good eye on the instruments to ensure all was OK.

Time to slow down, extend the flaps, they work fine and then power off stall 52mph indicated, little buffet and a small wing drop as expected, but easy to recover and a bonus, the stall warning worked a few mph before.

Then descend to downwind with a couple of 360 degree steep turns to lose some speed but not have to reduce power too much. Longest final I've ever done at Garston Farm, but still a bit high, approach at 80mph slowing to 70 over the fence, a bit fast, but we touch down with a small skip about 1/3 of the way into the strip and stop well before the end hardly using any brakes. Its certainly alot faster than the Cub!

The cowlings then came off for a thorough inspection, but no problems found. Now off the Kemble for fuel and some data collection en route, with Ed on board as flight test observer. We now switched on the GPS to confirm the speeds, easy as it was a no wind day and everything looked spot on. The vacuum instruments all worked well and we could see the oil pressure and temperature as well as CHT and EGT all stable in the cruise. It used to take 20 minutes to get to Kemble in my Cub, in the RV its less than 10 but we made it a 30 minute flight to keep up with the engine running-in task. First landing on a hard runway was good, now to fill up with fuel. When we came to depart, they had just started an emergency exercise and the main runway was blocked by a simulated incident. So we were offered the short grass trip. No problem at all, with full fuel and two up, we were airborne in less than half the strip and climbing fast. Another 30 minutes flight around the area back to Garston Farm. Another inspection, followed by another 30 minute then a 1 hour flight, so in the first day I had done three hours in five flights.

The left wing is slightly heavy and we need some right rudder too, but these are easily rectified by a small trim tab on the rudder and by squeezing the trailing edge of the right aileron, which alters the airflow around the aileron - easier than a trim tab!

The back to work! A week later and a perfect day for flying, so another trip to Kemble for fuel, then off on the two hour endurance flight. With the speed of the RV this meant we covered the test area very quickly, and several times! Finishing off with a few touch and goes at Kemble, stop to refuel again, then back to Garston Farm. With everything now done, it was time for the PFA test program. With two crew, almost full fuel and some weight in the baggage compartment we were ready to go. All went well with the tests easily accomplished, confirming the fine handling and performance of the aircraft. The engine has ran great and we haven't had to add any oil over the six hours, despite being running-in with mineral oil.

With six hours flying over two days, everything was accomplished and the paperwork completed and ready for the Permit Issue. I posted the paperwork under the PFA office door at Shoreham on the Saturday evening, then went away for work for five days. Returning on the Thursday morning, I found a letter from PFA Engineering saying they had approved the Permit Issue and sent their recommendation to the CAA for them to issue the paperwork, together with a caution that we might not be first priority on the CAA's list. I phoned the CAA to see how it was going, saying that I was passing Gatwick later in the day. To my surprise they said I could pick up the paperwork that afternoon, excellent, only four working days for the PFA and CAA to process all the paperwork - who can complain about that!

Now it's time to get more used to the aircraft, polish the landings, get used to some crosswinds and have fun travelling across the country visiting airfields and going to fly-ins.

The full Permit was issued exactly two years after we took delivery of the kit. We all worked on it an average of two days per week for the two years, alot of work, but alot of fun too. Thanks to many great people for their advice and encouragement, but mostly to Sally Hicks for putting up with us and feeding us, Trevor Hope our inspector, Geoff Church for doing the wiring, Glenn Stanley for providing the wire, John Akerman for the wiring diagram and lots of advice, Roger Target for the painting, Ian Belmore for various tools and advice, Barry Clifford for the clecoes and lending us various parts, Andy Phillips (Andair) for fuel system components, Kevin Pearce (ST Aviation) for Microair Radio and Transponder and of course all the people at Vans's for producing a great aircraft and all at the PFA for enabling us to build such an aircraft in the UK.