First engine start!!
Well, she sputtered to life today, and I do mean sputtered. It sounds like maybe two cylinders are firing at first. Then, at about 0:55 in the video, I throttle up a little, a smoke cloud blows out the tailpipes and she's running far smoother. I did clean the lower plugs before the run, and ran fuel through the system for 30 seconds to purge the preservation oil, but obviously some gunk remained.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDmp4EKFh44
Mostly, things went well. No hesitation whatsoever when switching tanks, and very little rpm drop when switching mags. I did a total of three runs, each for about three minutes and shutting down when the first CHT hit 350. I let the CHT drop to about 130 before starting the next run. Restarts were a cinch...just like cold-start procedure, but instead of 3 seconds of boost pump prime, I just hit the pump switch for maybe half a second. Then mixture ICO, throttle cracked and she's alive in a couple of blades.
Problems: Tach reading is way off. Maximum static rpm reading was 1510, but I'm convinced the engine is making correct power, so it ought be spinning at, what, 2200 static? Also, an indicated 1000 rpm felt like about 1300-1400. I'll call GRT to get it sorted out. Also, I'll verify with some sort of external tach.
Also, fuel senders were showing a decreasing value as fuel was added, not increasing. Again, ought to be a simple programming/menu fix, but I can't seem to figure it out even after tearing through all the documentation. So, GRT question #2.
I also weighed the machine and got some W&B numbers:
Nose: 238.4
Right main: 396.0
Left main: 390.2
Empty weight: 1024.6
Max gross will be 1750 lb.
All calculations keep the cg nicely in the recommended range, with the exception of minimal fuel (5 gal. total), a like-weighted passenger in the right seat (200 lb. apiece for us big & tall shoppers!) and 100 lb. of baggage. But reducing the baggage by just 10 lb. in this scenario gets it in the safe range. I was worried that the light Catto FP prop and SkyTec starter might cause aft cg issues, but no worries.