Did the maiden flights today!!!!!! Wow!!!!!!

First I'd like to say a special thank you to Cyberwolf who help me to get the engine running and without him I'd still be flipping that thing. Also to Steve who today helped with the radio/range checks and gave me some tips on flying this big bird. Also to Ron, my right handed friend, who offered encouragement and got me going at a very late hour for maidening airplanes.

I flew three total flights. The first one was only about 7 minutes and the second about 10 and the third was only about 8 minutes because it was cut short when the engine came off.

The EVO 45 engine still is a bit hard to start. Maybe it's me but it took 20-25 cranks to get it going. After that it seems to idle fine with good transiition and pretty good high end speed. This engine is pretty quiet. I'm uncertain to the DB rating but certainly quite a bit quieter than most gassers I've heard. Very nice. Powerful and quiet.

Ground handling was very nice. I was flying off of hard packed dirt/sod. I've only flown off that a couple of times. The plane has reasonable ground control and had no tendency to nose over. Gave me a lot of confidence.

I pointed the CAP into the wind and added throttle. It caught me off guard how quickly the plane jumped into the air. This plane wants to fly. I would guess the plane was airbourne in 30 feet.

My initial impressions were very good. I didn't have a feel of a great big airplane on my hands. Didn't really know what to expect but this plane flys very true and easy. I had my good friend Steve give me 2 clicks of down elevator. That was the only trims I had to input.

I flew the plane in 4-5 circles around the field getting the feel. Then I rolled her inverted. I was holding about 21/64 throttle and the plane would stay level for 300' or so and then start to drop ever so slightly. For all practical purposes this plane is the same either way.

The engine has plenty of power. Already vertical is unlimited. Those that know tell me the engine will certainly break in and gain a few hundred RPM which will give me even more. I started doing loops and rolls and inverted flying on the very first flight. The plane seems to give me confidence and is certainly not scary to fly.

I set up for the first landing and realized I was going too fast and had to make another pass. The plane goes faster than you think and I was trying purposely to keep the speed up to avoid any stalling. But on the second pass I greased the landing. Really pretty easy.

We checked things over and refired the engine. This time it started right up and went right to a smooth idle. Since this is my first gasser I was getting the feel for how the engine reacts. Certainly it has slower spool up than the YS engines I'm used to. You have to anticipate ahead of time what you want to do and start the throttle inputs just a little bit early.

This flight I did a couple of walls and attempted a couple of hovers. I was unable to get the vertical stopped. I was doing a very slow climb but not a true hover. But it was easy and everything was still on low rates. I did several high alpha knife edge passes. They had some moderate coupling to the wheels. Not so much that a simple elevator input won't correct it and I did a couple that looked really nice. But you do have to add elevator. I also noticed that on the straight uplines it coupled to the wheels just a bit also. I also did several rolling circles. I can tell you this is the easiest plane to do rolling circles I've flown. It just super easy and very pretty to watch. I liked that. I landed the second flight without incidence and casually remarked how easy this plane is to fly. I really like the landing gear. It flexs quite a bit on landings and just cusions every little imperfection on landings.

The evening sun was setting and I decided to get one more flight in. It was still light enough to see. Again I took off and again was impressed at how easy this plane leaps into the air. I generally flew at less than 1/2 throttle. Hover will be about 1/2 throttle and it certainly will have very good pull out. But I couldn't get real comfortable with the hovers. I think I'm spooked the engine will let me down in it 's current state of not fully borken in. So I'll have to do the hovers later. I did some more inverted passes and attempted some walls and hovers. I even did a few more rolling circles. What fun. My left handed friend talked me into doing a blender. (I later learned he was pumped full of mind altering pain medication and was out of his mind) At the time it sounded like a good idea. Blenders are my favorite maneuver. Anyways...I went into a blender a I gotta say this plane really went into the blender easy. And it got very VERY flat. Super nice and beautiful to watch. Pull out was nice and easy with just letting the sticks go to center and adding up elevator. Beautiful. On my second attempt at a blender I went right in and then the throttle locked full on. I had lost control of the throttle. I pulled out of the blender and put her into a very steep climb. Pretty much straight up. It got high fast and I thought man maybe I'll go outta range so I started bringing her slowly back down. I did purposing as steady as I could and gently started bringing her in. Well...as gently as you can at full throttle. I flew 2-3 minutes at full throttle wondering what I was going to do when suddenly the engine went to idle. I was high but I didn't touch the throttle stick again and just let her have her way until I got it to a nice but firm landing. I was relieved. Steve rushed over and hit the iginition kill switch and shut her off. The engine had come completely loose. 3 of the four screws were completely gone and the 4th was being held in by 2-3 threads. I had used blue locktite on these bolts.

Anyways...there was absolutely NO DAMAGE done to the plane or engine. I couldn't believe it. I even found the screws in the fuse. I'll just bolt her back in and I'll be in business again.

I didn't get as many flighs as I wanted to offer an initial impression. But still I found out this is a great flying plane. It couples more than I would have liked and I didn't get a chance to do waterfalls, hovers etc. That will come later. I like to get about 20 flights on the plane and then I'll offer a full review.

I don't think I did anything to modify this plane. Everything is stock, including the hinges and tailwheel. Oh...I think I did add carbon fiber pushrods where I could. But that's about it.

The EVO45 is an impressive engine and will offer PLENTY of power. I was also encouraged by Steve's and LHF (left handed friend's) comments about the engine. They've both been around gassers and said this one was very quiet for it's size and showed remarkable power.

When I left the field Steve gave me some very good advice. "Tighten the bolts next time." I think I'll do just that.

Thanks
Barry