First flight success !!!!!! Couldn't have asked for better weather today. It was beautiful.
She flew very well with a few clicks of up trim needed and a couple of clicks of right trim. I forgot to balance her laterally so I think that would account for the right trim. She is well balanced and flies with a bit of up elevator but, I think that can be fixed with an incidence adjustment on the horizontal. I tried adjusting it at the field today but, went the wrong direction and ended up with more up trim. (duh) I adjusted it back to neutral at home tonight and will try again next time. The rates Ihad dialed in were a bit hot for competition so, Idialed back the rates and left the expo alone. I'm pretty happy with it right now but, after Iget used to it things may change. She's a hot flying bird but, will slow nicely for landing. I'll have to get used to slowing her down as all of my landings were halfway down the runway with a long taxi back. We have 450 ft. of beautiful concrete with an adjacent grass runway that's still a bit rough in spots.
The engine is pulling very strong with the 13x8 wood prop. Plenty of up and she hammers very well. Didn't even have to go to high rates on the rudder to get 3 nice hammers (stall turns) out of her. I botched one by letting her get out of shape in the up line. Inverted flight is very manageable and with 50% differential she rolls very straight but, will do better when Iget the incidence worked out. Loops are very easy but, I need practice to make them concentric for the judges. I can tell I'm rusty on the sticks but, this bird will be ready come contest time.
I got 4 flights in today. The weather was just about perfect. Very light winds right down the runway and it was just a tad too warm for the heavy shirt I was wearing. I wish I had gotten there sooner but, 2:45PMwas as early as my lazy body would allow today. We had a large crowd at the field today and eveyone was having a ball and enjoying the great weather. Daylight lasted until almost 6PM with clear skies and several of us used every last minute of it. We don't get many days like this here in north central Texas.
I made a couple of small mods to my Intruder this evening. The glow starter is a real pain to hook up to the plug so, Iinstalled a remote glow igniter system and it will work much better. Ialso realigned the horizontal and gave the engine a tweak toward lean as she appeared to be loading up at idle. This old Saito FA-91GKis turning about 9500rpm with the Top Flite 13x8. I was hoping for more rpm but, it seems to be handling the task very well so, Ishouldn't complain. I also found out today that a 13" prop is the longest we're allowed to fly with in SPA competition. That was news to me but, it's OK because my engine is performing well with the 13x8.
I'm a happy pilot and will be looking forward to many fights with this very nice plane.

RJ