RE: pilots that maiden/fly other people’s planes
Before flying anyone else's plane I always do a thorough preflight and control check....it's saved a couple of disasters....
Best maiden...H9 Pawnee. I normally do a taxi test to get a feel for the ground handling, then one or more short hops (up and down withing the length of the runway) a couple feet up to see if the trim and balance are good. The Pawnee was up on it main gear trundling along straight as an arrow with no imput from me, so a touch of up elevator and it levitated upwards perfectly trimmed..
Worst....A SPAD....the whole airplane twists so much that it was impossible to trim out...but somehow it flew, and was certainly good enough for combat where straight and level flight is undesireable.
Most exciting maiden (deserves an honorable mention)...my very first turbine flight 10 years ago. Very expensive (at the time) plane, not mine, and it loses a wheel on takeoff (hence the preflight checks I now do). I got it up okay, and flew it around to burn off the 6 lbs of fuel it was carrying. Landing jets is by far the hardest part, and here I was for my first time, with a new plane and only 2 wheels. Somehow -and I don't know how- I got it in a very stable nose high approach with very little forward airspeed and flopped it down at the edge of the runway...It rolled about a foot. I have never been able to duplicate that.....