Before you head to the field, go back over everything with a critical eye. Make sure your throws are set correctly. Set up your elevators for more throw than the manual calls for. Make sure all the screws are tight. Put a drop of CA on the screw holding the horns in place. Make sure your motor is tight to the mount, and the mount is tight to the firewall. DON"T overtighten the bung on the tank. That tank splits really easy, and what a mess to repair. After bench running a tank of fuel, checking the servo action under power, go back and check things again. Make sure you have the CG correct. Get an instructor to take it up the first time and trim it out. Fly it till it breaks and the fix it and fly it again.

It is easy to overlook getting something secured down correctly in the rush to see your plane in the air. It almost cost me a new plane today. I forgot to put thread lock on the ball joint stud on the throttle arm, and it came loose soon after takeoff, sticking full open. Not the best way to wring out a new plane, but it came through OK. We just waited for it to run out of fuel and then came in for a dead stick. It ate up about 7/8 of the runway before touching down , but no harm done. Tomorrow.

Don