Chippy’s alive! First start of the new Lycoming Thunderbolt engine and ground tests were on Good Friday. It cranked right up using the Electroair electronic ignition on the left side, with the old Bendix mag on the right. It was the culmination of close to a hundred hours of work over the past 3 weeks to install this new engine and rework the systems. Then on Saturday, Carlo Cilliers came over from Frederick to inspect the airplane for airworthiness and signed it off. With nothing left on the checklist left to do, we flew in the afternoon!
We were airborne before I even advanced the throttle all the way. Wheels left the pavement in maybe 3 seconds, before we even reached the end of the runway’s displaced threshold. We flew circuits at 1500′ for 45 minutes to test the engine and continue the break in. Everything looked perfect!
It was such a joy to get Chippy back in the air where he belongs! We had a strong crosswind gusting to 20+ kts. For the landing, Chippy reminded me once again that a Chipmunk is an almost perfect airplane. Unlike many taildraggers, put it down straight and it just track straight as an arrow without much help from the pilot. Easy peasy. With its wide gear and long tail, no airplane handles a gusty crosswind better than a Chipmunk.
All systems performed, with no discrepancies to correct. Running 2500 RPM and 25″ MP, oil temperature was stable at 180F (right where it should be), oil pressure right in the middle, cylinder head temps between 300 and 338. (Middle cylinders ran cool, forward and aft a little hotter). CHT actually dropped on the hottest cylinder (#6) by 9 degrees during the flight, an indication that the engine is breaking in. Oil temp dropped about 5 degrees.
We did a couple of circuits at full power per the Lycoming break-in guidance. Max airspeed was about 5-10 knots more than the old engine – but where we’re looking for more performance is low speed, straight up! I think we’ll have it.
