With clear skies and light winds, today was the day. My brother Steve came in from North Carolina, and joined other brother Doug and good friend/hangar partner Ross to assist as the first flight support crew. Start up and taxi were normal at this point, so after a thorough runup, external look-over and final check of the instruments I made the call for the first time "Stearman traffic, Experimental 413 Delta Juliet departing runway 17"
The engine developed the full 2700 RPM (thanks Lycoming & Hartzell), airspeed came off the pegs at 20 kts (thanks Garmin) and we were airborne well before we passed my open hangar doors (thanks Van's). All-in-all, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect first flight! Of course there were a few minor issues to deal with during Phase 1 testing--the typical high CHTs, a mushy right brake, and a very steep learning curve for the pilot...none of which is surprising.
Thanks to all my family and friends for their support over the years!