pdungan1, I do pretty much the same as you regarding taking off, but instead of manually taking off first I just hit the speed button to get the aircraft moving down the runway. I mainly always just use 5 degrees of flaps and a bit of trim as well.
Once airborne and with a positive rate of climb is the time that I hit the autopilot button, then raise the landing gear.
I set my speed at 245, not what you have yours set at as your not meant to go over 250 below 10,000 ft, but I'm sure you know that anyway.
Because I only do fairly short flights these days I also reduce my fuel by about 50% as well.
We all have our own little ways of going about things, but this is what woks for me and it works successfully every single time. :):)
Good luck in sorting out your problem.
WJ.
