Thanks Dennis!
OK, here is the report-
I had a great day, wx was perfect for what we were doing.
I made it to the flying site and was there before my flying buddy, and watched a couple of the other guys buzz around the circle.
My buddy Don showed up and we got right to the business of getting my plane rigged with fuel line, filter, prop, etc. A couple of the guys had some commentary about this or that.
The prop that when on there was a "Magnum" 11 x 4.5 nylon job. Don adjusted the tank height a bit to the "looks about right" setting. Tank was fueled, needle screwed in and out to wherever Don decided to set it. Prime. First flip. Running! After sitting for 2-1/2 years.....
Checked nose up and inverted, broke into 2 cycle on nose up, ran OK inverted, tweaked the needle a bit, then killed it by nosing it down stationary for a few seconds. All good.
Don hooked up the lines, and we set the neutral together. All set. I told him to "Go for it."
So off it went on its maiden. Seemed to fly almost perfect, needed a bit of tip weight removed (1oz start, 3/4oz second flight). Plane was almost perfectly level, but on landing we noticed an almost imperceptible warp in the main wing (I mean, almost not there!!) that likely was causing slight roll out upright, and slight roll in inverted. So, I will be fixing that tonight or tomorrow.
Don says it almost flies perfect, and he did some square maneuvers and says it even has a decent corner as-is!
As for me? Did I fly it? NOPE! Next time I will though.
But I DID fly Don's 80mph beater combat wing (not sure what it is, but an Enya 35 on it), and I also did my first launch of same for him for the tuneup flight. So, first flight, no problem, they were all stoked. I did a couple of loops and a couple poor excuses for a wing-over. All good, and as graceful a landing as one can do with a combat wing on grass.
The second flight, I was a bit more comfortable, and after a loop or two, I decided to try an outside loop.....But I didn't QUITE MAKE IT around to inverted! D'oh!
The boom broke back by the stab, and the prop obviously was gone, but that seems to be about the extent of the damage.
And, I'm almost certain I saw a gopher pop his head up and give me the finger.
So, Don says to me, "And THAT is why I had you fly the combat wing over the grass before you flew the Banshee".... What a buddy, eh?
A little embarrassing, but I have to say that its fun to fly something that pulls on you, and I can't wait to do it again, hopefully soon. Over lunch afterwards we discussed the flight plan for next outing using lazy eights to work into the outside and inverted stuff.
Don called just a while ago and reported that the boom is epoxied back together, and ready for the next crash test, and to thank me for buying him lunch (Really? after I crashed your plane?!).
I managed to snap a couple pics, here they are. All in all, a successful outing and I'm looking forward to the next one, I hope its soon.