I am happy to say the DeBolt Viscount flew today without incident other than playing with the trim levers to get it to fly straight and level. Take off was straight but it had a fairly strong climb so some down trim fixed that. Also, a couple of beeps of left trim fixed a right roll. With that she flew very well. Only basic loops and rolls were done plus a little slow flight up high to feel it out. Landing happens with a nice nose high flair.
After the one flight, I decided to take it home to correct the slight tail heavy condition and adjust the ailerons to zero out the trim. The balance point as flown is less than a quarter inch behind the balance point indicated on the plans hence the need for down trim. A little lead shot burind under the engine should solve the problem.
It is interesting to take an airplane such as this out to the field to hear the comments from those who know only the modern day designs and equipment. Most commented about is the amount of dihedral in the wing prompting and explanation of the design being over 50 years old and how it was designed to be more stable because of the radio equipment available at the time. Then it gets into talk about relay and reed control systems of the day which required a more stable airplane. Then they notice the throttle stick is on the right and more explanation of the radio of the day forcing throttle to be on the right which further brings discussion about Mode I which then bring the question "Mode what?".
It is amazing that this was one of the top competitors in the early 60's. Proportional had just become available. On the Viscount plans, there is a picture of a proportional radio by the airplane with a bunch of trophys but the plans show reed type servos.
I am putting it away until spring and am looking forward to having a lot of fun with this airplane. It has been a fun/rewarding build.