A taxi test on Rwy 32 at T67 revealed no wheel pants rubbing on tires. Some neighbors stopped to chat while I was inspecting the wheel pants and tires, then took a video of me departing. I departed to the North over T42 and over the XBP. I'd moved the CG aft 1" to 100 from 99 and found the nose was really light when landing in the crosswind. I did several touch and go / go arounds and then stopped for fuel. A fairly strong gust of wind surprised me on one landing and made me wonder if one of the wheel pants had rubbed on a tire but I couldn't find any evidence of that yet.
12 gallons of fuel were added at XBP . Returning to T67, landed on 32. Previously nearly all my landings at T67 were on 14 and I'd become familiar with the bumps on the runway that tend to pop the nose up when decelerating. Landing on 32 with a bit of a crosswind is the beginning of a learning experience since the wind over the hangars and next to the trees does funky stuff, requiring a lot more right aileron than when landing on 14.
Back in the hangar, the cowl was removed and oil drained. A broken hose clamp was found on the pilot side exhaust pipes with safety wire keeping it in place. The wheel pants appear to be solid, but will be inspected more closely tomorrow.
I removed the Tempest filter and the oil hose that had the tiny leak.
The open hangar door invites a constant flow of people and interruptions, so I wasn't able to complete the oil change and address the squawks completely tonight. I'll leave the hangar door shut tomorrow until I'm finished and have the bugs washed off.
Several pilots commented today that the sound of the pusher is different, or it's quiet when taxiing towards them but loud when it passes. A fellow that gave me a nice ride in an RV8 years ago wanted to be my first passenger! He's flown A10's, F4s and big heavies for the airlines. Another pilot commented he saw the video I posted of the flight to Bourland and that the aircraft looks very stable.
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