Test Flying the Stratus

After the Quicksilver left the hangar I wasted no time putting the new trike together. One issue I had is that the new wing is kingposted and will not clear the hangar door. To resolve this I bought a small dolly. When collapsed, both the control bar and front wheel of the trike sit on the dolly allowing me to easily roll it in and out of the hangar. Works great.

After thoroughly inspecting everything I went to flight testing.  I began with high speed taxis down the runway and quickly progressed to crow hops. Finally, on a low wind early morning I committed to taking her around the pattern.

I am still working on takeoff timing, trying to find the proper mix of wing attitude, thrust, etc., for the perfect transition into the air. However, when the trike finally pops off it climbs like a rocket, and flies and lands very smoothly.

Before I fly the trike again I want to change the oil mix. The previous owner was running a petroleum based oil at a mix of 40:1.  I intend to switch to Amsoil Interceptor synthetic and run it at 50:1. Going from 40:1 to 50:1 will require some rejetting of the carb. At 50:1 the mix will be relatively richer, so I will need to lean out the carb a little for smooth running. Some people make the mistake thinking that more oil is richer and less is leaner. This is not true. When we are discussing lean vrs rich we are talking about air and fuel, not oil and fuel. For instance, adding more oil makes less fuel available for the relative amount of air, making the air to fuel ratio leaner. Decreasing the amount of oil has the opposite effect making the ratio richer.