I was inspired by Mark's "Liquid Plumber/Primer" confession to admit my own rookie mistake since it might be of help to some. After about four hours and seven landing on my 6A I was returning from a Phase 1 test flight and "ballooned" on landing. I chalked it up to a poorly stabilized straight-in approach, but the next landing was worse, and I realized my idle speed had crept gradually up to about 1,050 RPM (static). A light RV loves to keep flying and doesn't land well if the RPM's are too high. (I have a fixed pitch Sensenich.)
Turns out the jam nut on my throttle cable linkage had loosened and the cable had backed out of the rod end bearing a couple of turns, so, based on my mistake:
1. Be sure to verify and document in your builder's log that the throttle linkage jam nut is tight, and...
2. I am adding an item to my start-up and run-up checklists to "verify correct idle speed".
John
Turns out the jam nut on my throttle cable linkage had loosened and the cable had backed out of the rod end bearing a couple of turns, so, based on my mistake:
1. Be sure to verify and document in your builder's log that the throttle linkage jam nut is tight, and...
2. I am adding an item to my start-up and run-up checklists to "verify correct idle speed".
John