I had expected some rough running until I could dial it in. This AeroVee had been built and set up exactly as the manual prescribed. Earlier, I had not been happy with the sliding action of the Aerocarb; it felt sticky. I disassemble it (really simple) and lightly sanded some rough edges on the delrin gasket and noted a great improvement. When I put it back together I arbitrarily set the carb needle in and locked it in place in a very generic manner; I figured I'd have a fair amount of adjustment to do once I ran it.
Well, it ran like a Porsche right off the showroom flow. I absolutely could not believe it. No hesitation. No stumbles, belches, or whatever. Shocking. It sounded so pretty. I did note a drop of about 100-150 RPM with the electronic ignition (should be 50 or less) meaning I either need to advance or retard the timing slightly- not sure which. No big deal and is to be expected. Ran it three times-not for long, as I didn't want anything close to overheating. Never really got the CHT up much so there will be more pre-flight testing to come. I'll wait until I get to the airport for that. All instrumentation ran correctly and my alternator was making electrons (when above 2000 RPM).
The thing ran so well that I would have flown it as is. I am amazed and a bit proud. Overall, a massive success! Am very glad I had it tied down as the aircraft really wanted to move even though I didn't push it above 2300 RPM -T/O power is above 3000. Loud and an incredible amount of propwash for that tiny propeller.
