Kent:
My Bee: 305 lbs.
My Weight w/ helmet etc: 190 lbs.
So with fuel, me, the Blue Bee, we take off at 515 - 530#
Dragon wings 23ft fly FINE for that weight and MSL, and 24 ft will fly fine AND land with more forgiveness, but will take much more runway to spin up.
How about the prop pitch, can you lock up the gyro on the ground (Point the nose into a building and rope the tailwheel to your truck hitch) and get the engine to hit redline?
If not, and if the engine is tuned and the fuel/oil mix is CORRECT, then you may have TOO MUCH Pitch (like tuned for cruise, not power) and need to adjust it back a bit.
How about fuel? IS IT FRESH!!! Mixed at the right ratio? TOO much or TOO little oil can be a power killer, a marginal engine anything you can do to get more oomph is a smart thing to do. Dump the fuel and start over with fresh mix that you know is perfect.
Carbs? Jetting is the same for your seller's airport as for your??? Who knows, maybe one day the jetting was OK, but conditions changed enough that now it isn't right? I dont', too variables to talk about here. But if you are over jetted, then you are losing precious power.
Plugs? When were they changed, what color are they?
In other words, what is the engine doing back there, giving you 100% power or not? Cuz you're going to need ALL of it with that little weed whacker Rotax.
If you dont' have enough room to take off with the 24's, put the 23's back on.
Oh, and when you put your rotor on the head, you should be tightening the teeter bolt to take out ALL the slap and space between the bearings, THERE SHOULD BE ZERO, and I do mean ZERO play between the rotor hub's block and the teeter tower bushings or bearings, what have you.
WHen you say you cut down the bushings to fit, I don't like that one bit. Maybe it's OK for someone else, but I can tell the difference in my stick shake if my rotor is not perfectly centered by as little as 0.0005", and that's a fact jack.
Why arent' you doing a crow hop if you can get the RRPM to 250 with a 24' disk? Seek experienced help, get someone locally who knows what they are doing in the seat to check this out and give you a hand.
I had, at one time, 25' DWs on my Bee for years, and flew them as slow as 220 WHEELS UP, and 280 cruise! I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS FOR YOU.
The 23's should be wheels up at 260-280, and flying at cruise around 320-340. So if you are at 250RRPM, you are just about ready to crow hop, just floor it and go, man. Once it gets 3 ft off the ground, push the stick forward and build up airspeed, then pull her back and climb at 45 mph max. Then land it for a crow hop.
Too bad you are so far away, we could help you out at Bensen Days April 3-6, NP.
Best wishes,
Gerg