Thanks for the words of encouragement! The maiden went off without a hitch. Although the new O.S. running in directions are scary, I followed them to the tee. The 52 settled in nicely after 2 tanks at their recommended lean out/ rich cycle. Still at full throttle the engine didn't sound all that healthy... still some running in to do I guess.

For some reason the plane needed a tremendous amount of right aileron trim to get it to fly hands off. Couple of clicks of down elevator as well. I think the 52 running the MAS Scimitar 11x7 was a little too much to handle so if the plane was flying level at 3/4 throttle, it would bank right if I throttled down. I needed to retrim for landing because it was banking right so hard. Looks like I will need to couple ailerons to throttle. This is the second time I've had to do this with this plane. The first Rambler 30 I had did the same thing. Then I was using a Y.S.63.

After trimming the plane flew okay... only problem is what is stated above. So rolls were fine and axial, inverted flight required just a touch of elevator. Loops were a problem because due to the problem stated above, it would always fall out of the loop on the downleg when I would cut the throttle.

But it is a beautiful plane. I plan to fly it often in the future!

tIANci - the reason I like the 30 is not only because of the size, but also because it does away with retracts. For this plane, I didn't want to bother with the added weight and complexity of retracts. I'll save those for my warbirds. Sorry to hear about the wing crunch. My prop ran into a parked gasser today... felt sooo bad!!! My friend blocked my vision momentarily as I taxied into the pits and before I knew it, the plane ahd parked itself into the rear left elevator of a very expensive looking plane. Naturally I offered to pay for repairs but still felt really bad! Anyway, hope the wing is repairable.