A little progress XL H-58

[Chuck in Indiana]

Nope. Fixed the leak..a smaller than a pin hole.  It was behind the mount and apparently so small I couldn't see a bubble behind it.. and.. it bled off pressure so slowly that the rubber glove stayed inflated for an hour. 
I did one more runway hop before pulling the tank, though. Just flew down the runway a little farther that time. Seems normal, and maybe rig is even close. (!) Put the wing back on a couple of days ago, but the wx has been crap. Snow tomorrow. Maybe late next week if the runway dries out.

[Chuck in Indiana]

First (sort of) real flight report..
Naturally, since Bullet has been ready to go, the weather hasn't cooperated. At all. Walked the runway yesterday, and the wind was finally drying it out enough. Finally, a half hour before sunset the wind settled down to 6 to 10 with a little crosswind component. Rain forecast for tomorrow, opened the hanger door, pushed her out, kicked the tires and lit the fires.  Needless to say, I had already pre flighted all afternoon. 
The tach still wasn't working at idle, but seemed stable and indicated 2250 during a full power static run up. Perfect. Ed Sterba knows what he is doing..
By the time I had taxied to the other end of the runway, we had 15 minutes left until sundown. Opened the throttle slowly.. I was always taught 3 seconds.. and before I hit one thousand and 3 she was climbing, and making the houses get smaller really fast.  There is no altimeter, so the rest of this is mostly speculation. I would guess we were at 1000 feet by the time I crossed the end of the runway. Throttled back to 2100, and was indicating 60. (!) Without a sensitive altimeter it was difficult to tell when we were in actual level flight, but throttled back some more, and was indicating 55 on the Hall windmeter. Awesome.
Trim fore and aft seems about right. Roll isn't Pitts like.. I didn't take my feet off the rudder pedals to see how yaw trim is yet. By this time, the sun was telling me to get back on the ground.
Landing was a no brainer, although I had to throttle way back to get her to come down. Carried 45 indicated down to ground effect..nothing to it.
Still much to learn about her, but the "flies like a Cub" with the doors open on both sides seems appropriate. *Much* lighter controls, though.

The Verner never lets you forget that you are operating a flying machine..what a hoot!

[Tom H]

Awesome!

[Chuck in Indiana]

Verner noises.. 

[Chuck in Indiana]

For the most part, my "experiments" have turned out well. The engine mount hasn't cracked yet, and the Verner isn't flopping around like a fish out of water.  Takeoff performance is uh.. exciting, as is flying. Trim is about right. Cruise at 2000 rpm is 60 according to the Hall windmeter, for whatever that is worth.
However.
I grossly underestimated the load on the tailwheel. I had just made bronze bushings for the scooter wheel to run on the 5/8" tubing. Bad idea. It got hot enough to melt the wheel. 

Replaced it with an aluminum cart wheel from McMaster-Carr aircraft supply. All of my weight savings went out the door because it probably weighs a pound. It is now the strongest part of the aeroplane.  I'll investigate a scooter wheel with bearings and see if they can take the load. I had the neighbor pick up the tail when I was sitting in it, and he said it was too heavy. (!)
At any rate, the extra pound in the rear didn't change the pitch trim much..
More later.

[Kamcoman77]

These scooter wheels are made to take a load. They have an aluminum hub & spokes with polyurethane tire. I'm going to use a 110mm on my plane.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Ooh, those are nice. Where did you get them? The closest I've found have a M9 hole.
Really nice tailwheel bracket, too. Where *is* that thumbs up emoji? 

[Kamcoman77]

I got the wheel from eBay (vendor footful_mall). $17 four years ago. Made the bracket from 1/4" x 4" 6061-T6 angle using plans from internet. Most planes have used 100mm wheel which will be lighter. If I build another I'll use a 3/8" bolt for the swivel instead of 1/2". 3/8" should be plenty strong for an XL.

[Chuck in Indiana]

These just came from Amazon today.. 10 bucks for the pair.  Supposedly "aircraft aluminum" and the bearing is supposed to be for a 9mm bolt. Nope. 5/16"  So much for accurate advertising, but that should work.

Just for grins, I just weighed the tailwheel with me in the seat. My lovely assistant (tm) said 80, maybe 81 lbs, so these wimpy little bearings should be fine. I'll just weld two pieces of 3/32" like the cad drawing to the 5/8" tube steering arm.
Some day when it's raining, or something,though.  The sun is out, the wind has quieted down, and I'm going to go test fly some more.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Two flights this evening. The last at sundown was cosmic. It was the first time Bullet has seen smooth air. No wing heaviness, yaw seems ok. Nose heavy, but control pressures are so light it's no big deal, and a heavier pilot might find it to be perfect. Tends to over bank in a turn, and a little opposite aileron is needed to stabilize the turn. Ground handling and landings are ridiculously easy.
The Verner pulls like a train. 2290rpm with the Sterba 67-36 prop at 45 indicated makes the houses get small in no short order. Cruises 55 at 1980-1990 rpm.
The stupid (new) oil pressure sender bulb is leaking..
I know.. pix or it never happened, but the camera mount suction cup doesn't get it..

[Chuck in Indiana]

Dawn patrol this morning. No contact with enemy balloons or ships..
 

[Kamcoman77]

When are you putting bullet on "Bullet". Last photo is terrific!

[Chuck in Indiana]

Thanks, Keith. I had bullets on "Bullet" for the first flight, but the more I looked at them the less I liked them. She has this pre WW1 vibe going on, and those early birds were extremely plain and basic machines that somehow managed to get aloft. 
You can briefly see the bullet logo on the first flight video.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Cold and windy today, so I replaced the electric oil pressure sender.

While I was at it, rebundled the wiring to include the OP tubing.
Made a clamp/mount for the antique Swan video camera.

It's not in the same league as "modern" cameras, and without video stabilization may be unusable. Oh, well, it gave me something to do all afternoon while wearing my winter coat as the wind rattled the hanger door.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Took a couple of videos, and as I suspected the video was unusable. I won't subject you to it. Just ordered a "better" one, and will give it a go next week. Maybe..