Finally, it was time to crank up the Aerovee for the first time. I tied a rope thru the spar tunnel to the rear skid and then to a tree. The engine started after about 3 prop rotations, quite a thrill! It throttled up and idled ok, but seemed a bit rich, so I'll tweak it per the Aerocarb instructions. I shut the engine down after a few minutes and looked for leaks. Unfortunately, I found an oil leak at the rear of the engine. So I had to pull the engine again :-(. Actually it wasn't too difficult, as I left the engine mount in place and unbolted it forward of the mount -- just be careful that you have the engine well supported and can pull it straight forward so you don't damage the ingnition modules. Anyway, I removed the flywheel and found that the rear oil seal was leaking. Not sure why, but I'll order another from Sonex.
