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Finish Kit Update April 2011 Updates April 23, 2011 Engine Start Party..... - 2.0 hrs Well today was the big day. Kim and I took Good Friday off work to clean up the hangar and get the plane ready for its first engine start. Saturday we showed up about an hour before everyone else to get things ready. Move the plane out and setup chairs, food table, bbq grill the whole freakin shabang! Everyone started showing up around 4pm. Jon B gave the engine one more look over and then it was time. I set Jon up with my old David Clark headsets to use with the handheld so we could communicate over the engine noise. We talked over the plan. Engine start, idle while keeping an eye on Oil Pressure, Temp and CHT and EGT temps. Mag check, and cycle the prop. Look for leaks..... All started out good. Ran the check list. All 3 controls forward, fuel pump on. Count to 3 shut it off. Turn the key.... engine starts on the first blade.... but wait... it died. Wondering why... turn the key again.... crank crank crank.... no start. look down and I have moved the controls back to off. When and Why did I do that. Controls all forward and pump on for 3 seconds.... turn the key engine fires.... but now its too rich. Should of left the pump off. Engine keeps running rough and then smooths out. Oil pressure rises and temp rises. CHT's all even and good. EGT's even and all good. Once the oil hit 90 degrees throttle up a bit and checked the mags. Left, right, back to both, Time to cycle the prop. First time good and second time good. Then Jon says we got a leak.... I say oil or fuel, shutting down, He says hold on a second. Small oil leak seems to be around the base of the dip stick tube. Time for shutdown. Started with the key to make sure no hot mags. Looking good. Pulled the mixture back and engine dies. All switches to off. IT RUNS!!!! YAY! This website was built to document my work in compliance with the FAA requirements needed to certify my aircraft. My experiences and comments are by no means to be considered as instructions on how to build any aircraft.