Mine maidened today. I went to the field expecting to have a lot of engine tuning work to do. The Saito surprised me and fired right up after just a couple seconds on the starter. Didn't take too long to get it idling consistently and transitioning well. She's still running a bit rich on the low end since it's essentially a brand new motor but it's at a good point to run a gallon through and get it really well broke in. Once I do that, I'll check the valve lash and get the low end really set well. Took 6 clicks of up elevator and that was it for trim. Not unexpected with a big fuel tank for the Saito up there.

1st observation: 14x7 3 Blade MAS prop on a Saito 100 is actually too much for the plane. Prop develops enough thrust at idle (forgot to tach the idle) that she wants to go ahead and taxi. We were running around 1/4 to 1/3 throttle up in the air and it felt very happy. Had it set to about 9300rpm at wot (about 300 rpm rich by tach). Go fig I did originally buy the prop & engine to power a 60 size P-40 so no surprise it wanted to have some speed. I'll order some 14x6 2 Blade props and see how well it likes those. I doubt this plane will ever see full throttle except when it's on the starting stand. It feels like it really just wants to cruise around the sky.

2nd observation: Low rates were ditched about 10 seconds into the maiden. Plane felt much happier at high rates. Aileron rates on high still felt a bit slow and I'll probably expand them a bit more than they're currently set. I do have lots of expo dialed in on the high rates which helps when cruising. Rudder was very responsive.

3rd observation: She's definitely a short base taildragger. Have to keep on top of the rudder during takeoffs & landings. I'm not going to claim any trophies with either my take offs or my landings today. Most of that is me just being rusty. We won't go into exactly how many times I aborted and went around today trying to get her on the ground. Responded well to minor changes in the throttle. One of the best visual responses that I've seen to the old throttle=altitude adage.

Very well behaved in the sky. She tracked well off the ground. The little bit of dihedral in the wing wasn't really apparent in flight. She would just sit there and hold attitude when I let off the sticks. Turns felt best with all 4 sticks working...add a little power and fully coordinate the turn and she looked very nice. I didn't do any aerobatics today. I'll save those for later. For now it's back to basics. I see a lot of touch and go landings in my future.

Running at low throttle, we never used more than 1/4 tank on a flight. I'm guessing that I'll never run this one dry before I'm done. Figure maybe 35-40mins of run time at current usage on the 18oz tank. Maybe longer. Nice seeing the reserve capacity in the tank. I've had issues before at the field where I needed to land and due to traffic, ended up ditching in the grass with my electrics.

I've got 3 issues to correct before flying again. I put in a remote glow with the socket right behind the wing on the top of the fuselage. I need to put in a plywood sister underneath it to strengthen the area. It flexes a bit too much locking in the igniter. Next, change the prop to get a little less pitch speed. Last issue is replacing a screw on one of my wheel pants. Blue Loctite vs. Fuel residue from the exhaust....Residue wins and screw disappeared.

Was pleasantly surprised by the relative lack of cleanup at the end of the day. I have a silicone diverter attached to the turboheader putting the exhaust directly under the fuse. Right wheel pant took the brunt (from sitting stationary during engine work) but the bottom of the plane was pretty clean. Most of the mess was from just back of the firewall to just behind the landing gear. Wings and the sides of the fuse were clean.

All in all a good day. Just wish that I'd had someone video the maiden so I could post it Ah well, maybe in a couple weekends.