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During my first flight of 0:28, I flew at reduced throttle settings and prop full forward (high RPM). This is not really recommended for several reasons: 1) the throttle full forward enables an enrichment path that increases fuel flow and helps to cool the engine during breakin, and 2) for engine break-in you want to fly with 65-75% power for the first 5+ hours to ensure you seat the rings. By flying with reduced throttle settings, i bypassed the enrichment circuit and had higher CHTs (or this is my working theory).

The desire is to have CHTs during climb stay below 400 F and CHTs during cruise in the mid 300’s. My CHTs peaked at 434 F during climb and were in the mid 300’s during my low power circuits around the pattern.

On my second flight, the goal is to fly full rich, and possibly pull back on the prop control to keep airspeeds reasonable while still enabling the full throttle enrichment feature. My airspeeds during first flight never exceeded 115 KIAS, but with these settings for my second flight I may see airspeeds > 150 KIAS and will need to be ready for the rapid pace in the KHEF class D (4 nm radius).

It is quite the dilemma for the 2nd flight. KHEF class D has a ceiling of 2000 MSL and 4nm radius. Warrenton airport (8 miles away) is outside the Washington DC SFRA and I could have unlimited altitudes out there. Should I depart the proximity of manassas in exchange for the added safety of extra altitude available near warrenton, but risk the 8 nm flight between the two airports during flight 2? Current plan is to wait till flight 3 for that. I will try to fly flight 2 inside the KHEF class D at higher power settings.

You can see the advice I got from Vans Airforce here:VAF First Flight Post