In response to Tom McNerney"

My oleo strut is similar to yours, but mine doesn't have the centering feature or the slots in the flange. It does have the collar clamped around the bottom of the strut to stiffen it.

Based upon your (and others') comments here, I'm going to back off on trying to lift the nose during the fast taxi testing...at least until I have my Airworthiness Certificate and am mentally prepared to fly. There's such a fine line between rotation and going airborne and I don't want to cross it right now. I appreciate the advice.

Being as my engine is a high-compression Don George O-290-D2 (140HP) rather than the stock O-235, I added a ventral fin and 5" on the bottom of the rudder. I know this mod works because Clarence Grubbs tried it first in his N69CG. Also, when applying power for these taxi tests, I seem to have plenty of right rudder to hold the nose straight. You can see the ventral fin in this photo: