Lood

Quote: jetdriven We took off at Alpine Tx with our dearly departed 25 degree A3B6D engine. Density altitude was around 8000 feet, and we had full tanks, 2 people, and tons of camping stuff. Got off the ground in 1500' and climbed directly to 9500'.

I don't know about runways over in the US, but here in SA, there are VERY few runways that are actually shorter than 2200 feet, except for the few that are used exclusively by trikes and other microlights. It would certainly be dumb to attempt a 2200 feet runway, fully loaded on a hot day at altitude, but under normal circumstances, my F handle these without a problem. If the situation really calls for it, I'd be happy to land on 1200 feet and under good conditions, I would happilly take off from 1500 feet. I just don't see any point in a STOL debate amongst pilots that fly Bonanza's, Mooney's, Comanche's, etc. I'm pretty sure that STOL was nowhere near the equation when these and other similar airplanes were designed. In aviation, you just can't havet the best of both worlds - except with lots of money, unfortunately. If you want to go fast, you can't have STOL. If you have STOL, she's gonna be a dog in the cruise. If I was flying into 1000 feet bush strips all the time, I would certainly not be flying my Mooney or any of the other above mentioned, but a Super Cub or something similar, but that's not my mission. I would like to know how good Bonanza's really are in terms of take off performance compared to a similar powered Mooney? I was once frowned upon by a 300 hp F33A owner when he passed me in the climb and flew away from me. Strangely, he never took into account that I had 100 hp less...

Oh, I also have the Lasar cowl closure installed. This certainly made a difference - even on my old engine.

I've put 47 hrs on my new engine now. The first 2 hours of flying was done at the coast - WOT, 2700 rpm, full rich and cowl flaps fully open. After that, I flew it home to 4000' AMSL and after about 10 hours, I started, or was rather forced by the topography to fly at 7500', etc. I never let any one of the CHT's go above 350 degs. Initial oil consumption was about one quart every 4 hours or so, but I did keep the elevel rather high though and much of the oil was probably blown out if I look at the belly. CHT's came down after about 8 - 10 hours and I could gradually start closing the cowl flaps. Since 20 hours, I fly with the cowl flaps fully closed in the cruise, WOT, 2500 rpm, 80 deg ROP and my highest CHT is at 320 deg. Oil consumption has just about stabilzed and I just fill it above level 6 on the dipstick when I do a 3 hour plus flight. Oil was changed at 10 hours and filter cut open and checked for metal. I was advised that the CHT's, as well as oil consumption would be highish, initially and should then decrease and stabilize. CHT's should never exceed 380 deg and if they come close to it, I would do just about anything to get them down - be it full rich, cowl flaps full open or whatever. I flew many hours with my cowl flaps wide open - even above 150 mph IAS. High temps on any engine is a killer and more so on a new one.

Maybe it's simply flying at too lean a mixture for a certain power setting? An engine will be damaged if it is not properly leaned - be it ROP or LOP. There are many pilots still flying around with a single analogue CHT gauge as the only temperature indicating instrument except for the oil temp gauge. Most of us started out like that and a single analogue EGT gauge was seen as quite advanced. However, in those days, almost every pilot flew ROP and the leaning technique was just about fool proof.

Antares, to answer your question about the fuel indications on the EDM700, it does give it all. I have mine connected to my Garmin 296 and that adds feedback in terms of how much fuel is needed to the next waypoint, reserve after that, etc. Otherwise, all the normal readouts: amount of fuel in tanks, gal/hr, gals already used, flying time left in hr:min on current power setting, miles/gal, etc. If calibrated correctly, it is really very accurate as well.

Quote: aerobat95 Well its listed in the manual. Required for flight: Cyl Head Temp Gauge but the Mooney EGT gauge is not listed. So that would be one gauge I would not need to replace. So here is a question for you guys......what temperature does this gauge read seeing as how there are 4?

@Jim: Just for my own interest. Do you set 60% power according to the POH tables, regardless of the actual altitude that you are flying or do you go up to a minimum altitude where the engine will only reach 60% at WOT?

@Hank: I followed the procedures as prescribed by Lycoming, which is basically the generally accepted way. I was fortunate enough to be able to do the first 3 flights at sea level. After that, I kept low and power at 75% plus, alternating rpm and later power between 70 & 75%, etc. I kept all temperatures cool and never stressed the engine in terms of that. I'm pretty confident that the break-in went as required. @carusoam: Fortunate? You bet, but I can assure you that paying for it is not easy and the costs were phenominal. I had to buy just short of a brand new engine. But that's another story. I flew it again yesterday afternoon and it run really well. In fact, so well that the saying about, when there's absolutely nothing wrong and everything runs too good to be true, then you should be worried, comes to mind.

I've put 33 hours on my newly overhauled engine and it is really running very, very wel. I haven't had any problems whatsoever and the oil consumption is just about stabilized. All temps and oil pressure are running fine. Some pilots reckon that there's a certain amount of time within which a new engine sorts itself out and if there are any snags or problems, they normally show up in this time. Some even feel that it is sometimes better to buy an airplane with an engine that has done 100 hours SMOH instead of one with 0 hours. What's your opinion?

My long term average ROP is 10 gph.

Quote: BigTex I aways start my engine on the lowest tank then prior to the preflight checks and runup, I switch to the fullest tank. That way I know both tanks are flowing. I also have a 30 minute alert programmed into my 430 to remind me to switch tanks.

Thanks for al the replies. It's really sad to see your hard work and effort go to nothing right in front of you and not being able to do anything about it. I've had a couple of rounds where hail storms wiped out complete harvests so I know the feeling. Let's hope for a better round in 2013.

A friend of mine flies a R44 and he does a reasonable amount of game counting and darting. A couple of months ago, I accompanied him as a spotter on a flight where he had to herd a rhino cow back to the farm from where she broke out of the boma. It was rather interesting and although I have no wish to either fly or own one, a helicopter is an amazing aircraft and it is capable of incredible stuff.

If you haven't already done so, do the Gami lean test to start off with. This will indicate the spread between your injectors, which is rather important for successful LOP flying.

To be honest, I didn't know that accurate analogue fuel gauges actually existed. The gauges on my C172 were similar to its door latches - they were only there because they had to be but it didn't necesarily mean they worked. I can't recall wether the fuel gauges on my Robin worked correctly - I suppose I would've remebered if they did. So, I just took it for granted when the ones on my Mooney were all over the place from day one. I've actually had the whole cluster serviced and calibrated but the fuel gauges are still indicating whatever they feel like. I just use my self calibrated dipstick together with the JPI EDM700. I must admit though that it is a source of great and endless frustration and annoyment...

Are there any members here living in the US Corn Belt? This will include states like Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana, etc. My reason for asking is that our local corn price is just about directly linked to, and thus very much dependant on whatever happens to be going on with corn in the US. Last year, our prices went rock bottom, apparently due to huge corn plantings over in the US together with the prospect of an all time record crop for 2012. However, we've been receiving more and more sad reports lately about a most devastating drought in the US, threatening its current corn crop. As a result, our local corn prices have shot upwards and continue to do so daily. Unfortunately, I have sold most of my corn on contract at the end of 2011, at a much lower price, but I still do have a couple of 100 tons that I need to sell. If I can get a first hand account of the actual situation regarding the drought in the US Corn Belt, I can make a much more informed decision on whether to sell now or maybe to hold on a bit longer. I know this might sound like doing business on a funeral, but is really not my intention. Last year, we did not even cover our production costs and as a result, I'm actually playing catch-up this year and I really share the hardship that the US farmers are currently experiencing. I would appreciate any information on the current situation over there.

30/85 sounds about right. I calibrated mine twice after two flights, each lasting almost 3 hrs and it came out at 85,???. That's for liters, so I suspect the "30" from JPI to be if you're ure using Gal, instead.

Same here - also no real difference whether I'm fully loaded or solo.

According to the Hartzell website, both their 2 balde and 3 blade props are 74" in diameter. So, no improvement in ground clearance then?

I had the Lasar closure installed on my F. No speed increase and certainly no noise decrease, but my engine is most certainly running much cooler in both CHT and oil temp. And, it looks much better, of course. If you want it for speed, don't. IINM, the oil cooler relocation mod will maybe score you a knot or two, plus it will be an improvement for the oil temp - more worthwhile in my opinion. That said, the cowl closure is not very expensive, so you might as well do it.

I had a Skytek that worked lovely, but unfortunately, it didn't last. During my recent engine overhaul, the engine shop advised me to go for the B&C starter, which I did. It, like the Skytek, is excellent. I'm curious to find out how reliable it is though.

I'm considering the oil cooler relocation mod. I've heard quite a few reports that this is much more effective in term of oil temperature than the original. Can anyone confirm this claim? I've had my oil cooler ultasonically cleaned and it was repainted with a heat conductive paint. Apparently to help dissapate the heat quicker and more effective. I don't really have problems with my oil temperature, but I don't like it being close to 220 deg most of the time. I would prefer it to be between 180 and 200. The old needle gauge can certainly be suspect, however.

My JPI EDM700 was the best investment I've ever made and should I ever, in the future, own and airplane without one, I will have one installed at once. The 700 is the basic model, but it does everything you need and more.

In my personal opinion, anything higher than 380 deg on CHT is too high and from what it seems, most J models don't really go faster than about 155kt.