The first flight of N22UP was on the evening of June 13th out of KDMW in Westminster, Maryland. My planned flight was 45 min of basically engine break-in. I was fortunate enough to be assisted by Mike Bullock flying his RV-7 as a chase plane, and Mike Rollison running a ground safety vehicle.
I spent the day replacing access panels and doing another final inspection on the aircraft. I fueled up with 13 gallons per side and did some basic flight planning. My intent was to take off, climb to 4 or 5000 feet and basically orbit the airport at 25 squared for engine break-in. My transition training instructor, Bruce Bohannon, had really focused my attention on oil pressure and CHTs – so my goals was to make sure I had the former, and I managed the latter. I was expecting high CHTs due to initial engine break-in. Mike Bullock and I did a final walk around of the airplane, then we took a flight around the pattern in his plane to recon potential off field landing locations in the event of a low altitude engine failure. Once back on the ground, it was time to jump in the plane and take it flying.
I was cautious on takeoff – easing the power forward I kept it nice and straight. She shot down the runway and was airborne in no time. I pulled power back quite quickly and was in a rapid climb in no time. My engine temperatures stayed excellent throughout the flight. I did a little slow flight, a full flap power off stall, and then returned to the airport for a low pass followed by a long wheel landing.
Afterwards, review of the airplane reviewed the following squawks. There was some oil in the cowl. Some we suspect from the breather tube, but there also might be some leaking from the prop oil return line. The nose seal also might have a small leak. The propellor governor maximum rpm will need to be adjusted down. There is some rubbing of the cowl on the horizontal induction snorkel. All in all – a great first flight!
I will post more with engine data analysis later!
