GeeBee

I disagree. The engines in my boat is 7.3L (454 cid) MPI. Multi-port injection, roller cam and lifters. 5 years earlier the same engine without MPI produced 250 hp, this engine produces 310 hp. They don't make this engine anymore, why? Because the 6.7L engine produces 380hp on the same octane fuel Smaller, more power less fuel consumption. The current fuel injection on both Continental and Lycoming simply blasts fuel continuously. Rather than timing the injection with the cylinder like an MPI system. We could reduce our fuel consumption by 30% with a computerized injection system. Mixture control would be a thing of the past as the engines would always run lean. I am not blaming the manufacturers themselves, they have had to deal with a moribund FAA. But we now have pure electronic ignition STCs put forth by companies with a lot less engineering and administrative capability than the manufacturers. If they can do it, so should Lycoming and Continental...a long time ago. They don't have build new engines, they need to re-invent the spark and fuel delivery systems of existing engines and that could have been done long ago.

I didn't want to be precise, I was using the current vernacular. Bear Bryant was not really a bear either.

XM weather will give you the METAR for any airport and the FT.

I thought of this thread yesterday when I was enroute from KRAP (Rapid City) to KCOU (Columbia, MO). The forecast went bust as it was 1800z and T-storms were popping that were not supposed to pop until 2100Z. I wanted to file an IFR out of KCOU for my QT there. I had called Columbia Jet Center before leaving KRAP to arrange a QT but that went by the boards after the refueling truck ran out of fuel in the middle of fueling. So it was all for naught. I looked at some charts including index and skew-t and decided to play whack a mole going east towards ATL with the T-storms by going low (5000) staying in VMC and dodging the rain shafts with the aid of XM. XM was good....but not great. FIS-B was less than that. Real time NEXRAD would have been nice. If the fuel truck had not run out of fuel and I was able to file an IFR in the air with a full brief, even better.

I taxi'd by it and it looked good.

Ryan is that you plane down at Rapid fuel?

Yes. I was referring to Continentals. Lycomings are easy, get a holed rubber scientific flask stopper of the appropriate size, stick a piece of tubing through, put the stopper in the oil filler in place of the dip stick Here is my Continental solution: Use pourable flex seal to seize the tube in the funnel Funnel sits nicely and seals the filler bypassing the breather tube. Much easier than snaking up the breather line.

The problem with the breather tube is as said, it can separate. The problem with going in from the top is you need to bypass the breather tube which connects at the top of the oil filler neck. I took a small skinny funnel, I put the tube. down the funnel until it was flush with the exit of the funnel. I then filled the funnel with "Flex Seal" liquid rubber and let it sit overnight. Now the tube is fixed in the funnel. I remove the dipstick, stick the funnel in which bypasses the breather outlet and nearly connects to the oil tube below with a seal. The funnel nicely seals around the oil filler neck and the dry air gets down into the crank case. I will post a picture of my unit.

One thing you can do if you are using incandescent is to orient the filament vertical. That makes it less susceptible to breaking. The factory did this on the R models and up. It requires cutting a new orientation notch in the retaining ring. That said, do not discount the value of prop balance. It makes everything from avionics to fasteners last longer. I usually get 3-5 years out of a balance.

You won't feel vibration (barely) until about .04 ips and a prop balance will get you to .02 or .01 ips

Ford makes a silicon remover called Motorcraft Silicon Gasket Remover, part number ZC-30A available on Amazon. It works like no other. I use it to safely remove the glass globes on my outdoor lights that are RTV'd into place. I also use it on my boat to remove deck hardware and such. It takes about 24 hours to work, but work it does. That all said, what is pictured is no worse than most. I don't spare the silicon on my engine and in cruise my cylinders run in the low 300's. Don't let "pretty" be the enemy of cylinder life.

Cool cylinders are way more important than pretty RTV.

If the bearing spun it likely would show up on oil analysis. What is that telling you?

The law firm representing the case has a 1000 batting average at the SCOTUS on civil forfeiture cases. I also think there is one SCOTUS justice that might be with the defendant in the case.

I agree that an ASTM standard is important to production and distribution, but face it, we could have an ASTM standard for rubber chickens. The question is, can you burn it in your engine?

Because it is an STC, detonation testing is the responsibility of the STC applicant, not the FAA. Swift needs to get a test cell with full instrumentation including knock sensors. Lots of detonation is undetected by the operator without sensitive knock sensors. Equally so the FAA requires a 12% detonation margin. The anecdotal fact that a Cirrus ran, "detonation free" means nothing in certification. The hp/cylinder is equally meaning less. Cylinders have different volumes, head designs, piston tops, intake and exhaust efficiencies. There is a reason why "It's a Hemi" actually has meaning in ME terms. There are few test cells designed to detect detonation and believe it or not, the best test cell in the world is owned by.........GAMI.

Full detonation testing on a big bore engine. (Which is an FAA requirement) Also hp per cylinder is not the only measure There are issues of volumetric efficiency and effectiveness. I am not saying it won't work, I'm saying it needs test results that has not been revealed.

The question remains....will it work in the big bore engines.

https://avbrief.com/supreme-court-asked-to-hear-cessna-206-forfeiture-case/?utm_source=newsletter-20&utm_medium=email

Welcome to aircraft ownership. You might think that when you pay for an inspection, everything is inspected. Not so. I've had brand new aircraft with tools left in the inspection bay and the inspectors stamp to ok the close up of the bay on the inspection panel. A lot of shops service the airplane in accordance with the MM, lubricate, clean filter etc but do not poke around. Some get into the weeds more than others. You will find good shops who carry a lot of Roundup. Those are the ones you want as they will keep you ahead of problems. The avionics shop seems like those kind of people.

Before you start tearing into things, try getting a large Gats jar and push up all the way to fully open the valve and get lots of fuel out. Do it several times. There may be some gunk under the seal which will clear out with a substantial draw. I've found most people don't pull enough fuel out to fully flush the valve on a regular basis. Do it several times to see if you can clear any gunk under the valve seat.

Pawl rivets was the progenitor of a crash of an Aero Commander at South Lake Tahoe. It left the owner of Rosedin Electric a well known Bay Area electrical contractor and philanthropist a paraplegic. It resulted at the time (1967) the largest aviation tort liability in award in history (11 million). Small thing, results in big disaster. Good job recognizing that something was not right.

I would suggest you forward it to AMS. They might have a viewpoint.

This!^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Again I would contact Aircraft Magneto Service. I only fly two kinds of mags, new Bendix or a Bendix serviced by AMS. Everything else is crap IMHO. They can advise you on fitment.