Flight test update - endpoints and elbows

A few more hours in the past few days.
I took the Bud Dake news as a wakeup call and
pulled the airplane apart and inspected everything
on Monday. Nothing scared me, so it went back together.
Oil is still dark, so I figured I'm getting blowby
somewhere (more on that in a sec). More than one A&P
has suggested this is due to the engine not being fully
broken in, so I'm still running it hard. EGTs and CHTs
have come down nicely across the board, with EGT around 1350
and CHT ~360-380 in cruise. 150 deg split in EGTs, 80 deg
split in CHTs. I figured things were working out OK.

Did a post maintenance flight yesterday with speed runs and
a little maneuvering to make sure I got all the greasy bits
back in the right spots, and everything was fine. Came back
into the pattern, high and hot as usual, and worked like a
dog to slow down. I ended up high and tight abeam when I
finally got the flaps down, and rather than stretch final over a
housing development I turned in early and ended up way high
on final. Slipping didn't work (that's how high I was)
so at about midfield and several hundred feet AGL I started
to go around. I made a call, cobbed the power, and the engine
went "chugga...chugga...chugga..." Heck with this. I
made a call something along the lines of "everybody get
outta my way!" and started a turn to downwind when the engine
caught and started running normally. Made a circling approach
and landed on-speed, amazingly enough, but tailwheel-first,
then chirpchirpchirpchirp. Off the runway everything ran fine.
Runups, mag check, jam accels, no hesitation or rough running.
Checked it over closely, and found oil on the #2 plugs. Cleaned
and reinstalled, and everything checked fine on the ground.
Couple of flights today and everything was good until the last
landing, when I bumped the throttle to clear the engine and it
hesitated again. On the ground this time CHT showed the #2
bottom plug wasn't firing well or not at all. Pulled the plugs
again and could see a little oil in the #2 cylinder. It's hard
down until I get this worked out. I'll swap plugs tomorrow and
do the 25 hour checks and see if that works. If not, the
cylinder probably needs work. Dang.

Other than that flights are progressing well. Got a 6g endpoint
today, so envelope expansion is complete for g's, zero to six.
I don't have inverted oil or fuel injection, so while -3 is the
negative limit 0 will suffice for my purposes. Altitude and
speed to go. Been to 8.5K and 170 KIAS. I plan on going to
11K (maybe) and Vne (183 KIAS), but getting there gradually.
Everything everyone says about RV's being slick is true, and
getting under the Class B tier from 10 miles out and
while trying to keep the engine running hard is sometimes
challenging. Always fun, though.

Also cruising up the river this afternoon it was a little bumpy.
Best I can tell, I bumped the canopy lever with my left elbow.
I don't remember doing it, all I know is that I was zipping along
and all of a sudden the CANOPY UNLOCK light came on. I just
read an article in Van's newsletter about someone who did something
similar, but his first clue was a face full of canopy and a lot
of wind, noise, and blood. I looked at the handle AND CONFIRMED
THE RIGHT WAY TO MOVE IT (aft is lock, opposite of the normal
sense), and moved it. I expected that the contact switch had
shifted, but sure enough, the lever moved back about 1/2"
and the light went out. I'm glad I put that little light in.
I have no idea how much more travel would've been required to
fully unlock the canopy, nor do I want to find out. (I also have a
personal story about loose canopies and supersonic flight, but
that's for another time).

So the bottom line is: down for engine work after 24 flight
hours. I'll know tomorrow whether or not I have to pull the
cylinder.

Dave 'Daddy Lowbucks' Hyde

RV-4 in flight test, EAA tech counselor