Folks, Yesterday afternoon was Return to Fly day. I did my preflight and and after correcting a problem with the control cable spacer behind the seat, Vince signed off the airplane as airworthy and annual complete. I took off around 3:30 far a short test hop--twice around the pattern with a low approach and a full stop landing. After landing, we checked for leaks and checked the oil. Then Vince and I went up for another flight to document oil temp, pressure, CHT and EGT readings. It was over 100 degrees by then, and we had some high oil temperature readings that corresponded to low oil pressure at idle after landing, but I spoke to the engine builder and he's convinced that it's due to the high ambient temperature and the need to tweak the baffling a bit more. Also, we're still running straight mineral oil, so we probably will see some improvement with 50W. Today I took a solo flight to check flight characteristics. I did slow flight, power on and off stalls, turning departure stalls, and steep turns. It was only 85 degrees and the air was fairly smooth, so I could trim it up and see how if flew hands off. Flight control rigging seems fine-- hands off with the ball centered at 2200 RPM and the wings stay level. No oil temp or pressure problems were noted today at the lower temperatures. I had 30 PSI at cold idle and a bit more at higher RPM's and 20 PSI at hot idle. Temp stayed below 200. CHT was 350 and EGT never went above 1200. On climbout, I saw 2400 RPM, and was able to maintain 2525 RPM in level flight and get 108 MPH (McCauley 7148 prop). My VVI on climbout at 85 MPH was 750, so I'm seeing the performance I expected from the C-85/O-200 STC engine. Today I found a radio weak TX/RX problem that appears to be a repeat of a problem that the previous owner experienced with the internal antenna connector ground (XCOM 760). I'm debating whether to send it in for repair or upgrade to an MGL V-10 that can be controlled by the Garmin 396.
Hope to see some of you at Oshkosh! Best, Dave
