So, the construction blog is gone and now it is time to start flying. On Saturday I was able to fire up the engine and taxi N90HS to the gas pumps for the first time. Also, for the first time, I saw how much a “fill up” will cost!

When I taxied up to the pumps the header tank was full (about a gallon) and each wing tank only had unusable fuel. When we weighed the aircraft we had only unusable fuel in all three tanks and I had added enough to fill the header tank after the weight and balance check. So, the “fill up” was just what I expected, just over 25 gallons of fuel. Although I used a short step ladder to fuel the airplane I also tried fueling while standing on the tire. Not as easy as the ladder, but quite doable and perhaps necessary in the future. There were no leaks while fueling and the next day there were no puddles on the floor of the hangar.
 After filling the tanks I spent some time taxiing. Both to see how she handled and also to warm everything up and break everything in. See if anything leaks or breaks lose. I also want to get used to the view over the cowling before my first flight. The winds were 18 mph with gusts to 25. I was reluctant to taxi for the first time in this kind of wind but as one of my friends and mentors at the airport said, “You’re going to have to deal with it sooner or later”. So, sooner it was. I went through everything just like I plan to on my first flight except I taxied down the runway instead of taking off. Everything worked perfectly except the brakes would not hold the plane for run up. I fixed that on Sunday by “breaking in” the brakes.

I had waited to taxi until everything was done and the airplane was ready to fly because the rule for this type of airplane (able to become airborne at low speeds and having a high power loading) is that you don’t put it into motion under its own power unless you are prepared to fly it. Well, even though I was strapped in tight and had plenty of fuel, I did not become airborne. The smile lasted for hours.