First flight after replacing the axle nuts, putting Dyna Beads in the nose tire. During preflight I put the brake lock on and applied the brakes. The left brake was mushy so I bled it and got some bubbles out. Tested when I got back and it still seems okay.
Flight testing went as expected except for the power on stall KIAS @ 60 knots. With full aft stick the plane still wanted to climb at about 400 fpm, 64.5 KIAS. I posted a question to the group if I should add weight, change the CG and retest or if this was good enough. The CG testing starts on the 14th test card.
I'm hearing a metal "ting ting" occasionally. Not sure if its seat harness hardware, the gas cap retainers in the tanks or maybe some of the tools I have stowed in the passenger area.
Found some usual oil leakage. A couple drips were on the lower oil cooler hose. Oil level was just under 8 quarts. Apparently some of the oil bleed back out of the cooler after shutting down as I took off with it showing 7.5 qts and it should have been a little lower than that unless the oil consumption is stabilizing.
The auto pilot seems to be working but the operator needs more training.
Returning to Hicks I tried Kevin Walsh's recommendation: "So, here's a trick that was taught to me by my CFI / test pilot for my first flight:
On final you should have your aim point not translating up or down in the canopy, and your airspeed should be on target.
If you need to add energy to the system, push the throttle smoothly all the way in, and then just as smoothly pull it back to idle. The whole sweep should take you maybe 3-4 seconds.
Then reevaluate your airspeed and the aim point. If you are too fast or high, step on both rudders to remove energy from the system.
If you're really high or fast, add top rudder to your turn from base to final. These planes are slippery, so adding energy to the system requires very little adjustment, taking it away you sometimes have to be a little more assertive."
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