Recovery

Flew the Chief home from Fairmont this afternoon after work. Installed the cowling after giving everything a thorough close inspection. Had to wait for an old straight tail 182 to get pulled out and fueld up.

It was a bit warm and winds were light and variable from everywhere. I put 3.5 gallons of 100LL in, set up the airplane for start, and Chris the local A&P gave me a prop. She started on first throw.


I taxied to the end of 23 to give the engine a little more idle time before I applied full power. Runup seemed fine, though RPM bounced a bit -- too much lead.

Takeoff was good -- though climb was a bit anemic on this warm day. I turned right and followed the river as I climbed at 60. So far so good.

I leveled off at 2500' and set power to 2400 RPM. I listened very carefully for any telltale sign of problems. I'll admit to being a bit paranoid now. I wasn't feeling so hot (allergies?) either, so set a direct heading of 10 degrees for KWAY.

The airplane performed fine -- 75-80 MPH at 2450 RPM at 2500' MSL.

I landed very gracefully in the grass on 27, placing the airplane within 10' of where I aimed while on downwind. I shoved the carb heat back in and taxied to the hangar.

It will take a couple more flights before my confidence in this powerplant is fully restored. I'm looking forward to the top overahul this winter, though, just to have confidence that everything's been checked and re-sealed.