Good to hear all that Dave, glad you are back in the air. Do you forsee a change in pitch coming up in the future to gain some speed? I am happy with my 71 by 51 but supposed I would be very happy with it when I go to the 0200 parts upgrade.
--- In [email protected], "bigbrownpi...@..." <bigbrownpi...@...> wrote: > > 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 >
