I finally got some good weather and took the Spitfire to the field for the maiden. I had ran the engine three times prior to this, and it seemed to be performing great. Once again it fired right up and sounded fine, so the moment was at hand to get it into the air. It took off smoothly, and seemed to climb out well. The gear went right up and it was tracking fine. It needed a few clicks of aileron trim and just a couple clicks on the elevator. The ailerons seemed sluggish, so I switched to a higher rate. The elevator seemed fine. I was able to do one full power pass, and I liked the way the plane performs with the 23x8 prop. I am very pleased with the power of the DLE-61. There is no way a DLE-55RA would pull it as well (I have three of them, so I know). A couple minutes into the flight the engine started to sputter a bit as it got hot, indicating it was a bit on the rich side. A touch leaner on both needles and it ran good through the entire second flight. I set up for landing and dropped some flaps. I had about a 9 mph quartering head wind, so I didn't need full, maybe a bit over half. It slowed down really well and I ended up coming in a bit slower than I would like, but the plane flies very light. I hit the runway a little early and bounced it just a bit, but for a first landing I guess it was acceptable. Check out the video of my Maiden flight below. I edited the video a bit, as you know there's a lot of boring time in a maiden as I trim out the plane and get a feel for it.
Second flight was a bit more exciting. The engine ran great, and the plane flew great. On the first circuit I thought I saw something fall off of the plane, never a good sign. A couple of passes and I didn't see anything missing. Once I dropped the gear I knew what it was. One of the wheels had fallen off. I pulled up the gear and did a belly landing. The bottom of the plane is perfect, and there's no damage. I broke the prop (should have killed the engine). I also found that the tailwheel mounting block was a bit loose. Upon inspection it's likely that would have happened anyway, not enough glue. It's all fixed now and ready for more flights. I made sure I locked down the axles better this time. Originally, I didn't use the set screws because I was afraid they'd ruin the threads. I have a lock nut between the wheel and the strut that is locked to the strut. I used a tip from a friend, and dropped a piece of lead shot into the hole before tightening the set screw. The lead stops the threads from getting damaged, but locks the screw in place. I have a video of the second flight and the belly landing. I'll get it edited and will post the link later, not so proud of that one since it was my fault the wheel fell off.