VAF Forums - Test flight #4 in the books

5.1 hours on the tach after shutdown.

The plan was to fly it hard until it reached 5 hours, then land and do the first oil change.

Flight data at mid-flight:

One thing I gotta say... I am sooo happy I went with a taildragger. Being a very low time tailwheel pilot, I was pretty apprehensive to start phase I. But, this thing is a piece of cake. Far easier than I expected. There was about an 8kt crosswind today and I barely noticed it on landing. The RV's have tons of control authority when slow. What an aircraft!

The Rocket Steering Link and Doug Bell tailwheel (one of the few mods I did), makes taxiing and ground ops a no-brainer compared to springs. Highly recommended.

Next up...

First oil change, send sample off for analysis, pull a bunch of panels and do a very thorough inspection checking for anything that moved, leaks, or is rubbing.

If everything goes well, I'll take it up again this evening.

Edit: The oil change / inspection all looked good. It was gusty outside my comfort zone in the evening so I didn't push it.