Forgive me the hackneyed title, but after over 6 months of sitting forlornly in a hangar in this quiet corner of the Scottish countryside, we finally carried out JT’s first engine run and cylinder compression checks yesterday, following  the fitting of the new exhaust shroud and gaskets and, I’m more excited than  a ‘pushing 40’ year old really ought to be.

I’ve really missed flying old JT, as have the other members of our little group and just hearing the perky rumblings of its hard -working little O-200 bursting into life again, really brought the smile back to my face. You know, that Auster grin is hard to beat…….

All the compressions were good and now it ‘only’ remains to do the Magneto cam and timing check and put in a couple of rivets that are missing on the nose cowl. With a fair wind and not a little cajoling, our harassed engineer might have her ready for the permit test flight as soon as next week. I hate giving these little optimistic predictions, because I have been historically and emphatically wrong on each and very occasion! Still, it’s nice to have something to aim for, if for no other reason than to keep track of how far things are slipping behind!