Nemesis

The first and very trusted mechanic that I used, Jason Doscher in MN, told me that it was almost impossible to flood an LB engine before a cold start. (Don got to that one before me.) I use a full 5 seconds of prime. I start counting only when I see the fuel flow gauge rise. Usually there is a change in tone when the fuel pump really starts to deliver fuel to the intake manifold. I also normally need to hit the prime button once or twice as the engine is starting to catch. I have never used high or low boost for starting but I have no doubt that method will work just fine as well. As Don mentioned above, the boost just puts the fuel into a different place - directly into the cylinders. Dave

First, thanks for the many quick reply's. I will try to touch on most or all of the suggestions made so that there is a more complete picture regarding these little flakes. The truth is that it never occurred to me to ground the airplane. If it had been metal then my thought process would have likely been different. The pieces were so small and few and far between, I was just not thinking in that direction. While many might have been writing comments about these little pieces on Wednesday, I was flying my personal airliner to mom's house for Christmas. I put 2-1/2 hours on the fresh oil and it will have more than 5 when I get back. With more than 5 hours on the new oil and filter, it will be a good time to waste the new filter and see if it has captured any more of this junk. Thanks for that good suggestion Paul. For a more complete description of the little pieces, they are 1/16" or smaller. The photo was taken on a white sheet of paper and I think that the orangish-red color comes through accurately. Their thickness is similar to scotch tape but they are more brittle than tape. One comment suggested varnish that had built up and chipped off of some internal part. I like that description but these writings are the beginning of the investigation, not the end. By the time I found them in the filter, the oil was already drained and mixed with other oil making a sample for Blackstone contaminated. I didn't even think about keeping the offending little chunks until I saw some of the comments here. As such, I pitched them in the trash. If I find any more, be sure that they will go to Blackstone with the next oil sample. As far as being plastic parts from a bottle cap or retainer ring, I highly doubt that. The only oil that I use is Exxon Elite with a gold bottle and no other additives. The only funnel that I use is the same blue Phillips oil bottle with the bottom cut out that I have had for 4 years. Anybody that uses Phillips oil can say that the neck on that bottle is very narrow so as to make it difficult to introduce foreign matter. As far as I can remember, there has been nothing red in color anywhere near my oil filler opening, that includes miniature Tonka trucks, thanks Dave. The filters that I use are Champion 48108. I don't know anything about how the internals are sealed together. I only have seen the rubber seals and such for the pressure valve. I have never cut open a new one to see it clean. I have had no failures of any accessories. I have no parts that are powder coated. It is definitely not a remnant of scat tubing or from any RTV sealants. This engine has more than 1400 hours on it and has never been opened SMOH. Dave

I found these specs of plastic in my oil filter the other day. They are orangish-red in color. The square piece in the upper right is about 1/16" on each side. They are very thin like paper thin. What you see in the photo is about all that was in the entire oil filter. The airplane is a 1980 K model with a Cont TSIO-360 LB engine. I have a Merlin wastegate but no intercooler. There has been no recent engine work - not even a spark plug removal - nothing. Can anybody think of some thin plastic part inside the engine that might be coming apart? Dave

Don, For my machine, it is not the air pressure from outside the cowl, it is the ram pressure from inside the cowl. After climb out and as I transition to cruise, if I wait too long and gain too much airspeed, it might become impossible to get the cowl flaps closed. I can always get them to the trail position, but to close all the way is very very hard (fairly easy if I close immediately after the climb). If I am going too fast, they feel like I am pushing against a strong spring or bungee. I have never felt as though there was a hyper extend point or over center point in the linkage. Dave 1980 231

I sure want more options that we all hope a rewrite of part 23 will bring, but... According to Flying Magazine, the FAA will miss the 2015 deadline by 2 years. http://www.flyingmag.com/news/faa-will-miss-part-23-deadline-two-years

The best example of a business that does not make profits is Mooney itself – is it 4 or 5 times in hibernation or bankruptcy? As I see it, we are lucky with what we still have; halfway decent parts availability. I always try to evaluate from a realistic perspective. I am not saying that other comments are not stated from the beliefs of their respective authors or that their comments are not realistic, it is only that I have a different vision about Mooney and about GA as a whole. It seems to me that is what was asked at the beginning of this thread. Where is Mooney going and what can make it better? New airplanes. Damn, I would love a new airplane. Heck, I would love a newish airplane. Nice big engine with but only a few hours on it or maybe a turbine with a 5000 hour TBO. The price of fuel has been bugging me lately but if I were putting all of that gasoline or kerosine into a new or nearly new airplane, I think that I could go with it. Pressurization, count me in. I put on oxygen below 10,000 as it is – thanks to cigarette smoking. I am not complaining. I loved cigarettes for many years but a pressurized cabin could fix that nagging 02 problem. Wider cabin, sure. I was once told that adding 1 inch to the width of a Mooney cabin would only reduce the speed by about 10 knots. Maybe give me 2 of those. I am sure that it is ok if my 231 is really only a 189. A nice new all-glass panel, or even a panel with some glass and some conventional instruments would work for me over my full set of steam gauges. I don't even have a negative comment about an upgraded panel. Better seating, pilot side door, parachute, quiet cabin, fuel cells, automatic fire extinguisher with sensors, A/C, a pooper. Well, maybe those could be options. I don't mind adding any of those to my airplane except that the useful load just went to negative numbers on me – before fuel and people. I bet some carbon fiber here and there can help out with those payload numbers if we can wait for a decade or so for some certification. One more things, let us not forget that we are starting out with a $650,000 airplane to begin with and adding those features, or any features for that matter, is only going to make that price go up. How about those prices anyway? When I think about the cost of an airplane and for the fuel to run it, I have to think of when was GA really strong? In the 60s and 70s, a new airplane (and that is what we are talking about given the Mooney poll at the beginning) could be had for some portion of a year's salary – perhaps a whole year's salary. That was true for a large percentage of the American middle class. An airplane was a simple purchase for a rich person but also was a reasonable purchase for someone in the middle class. One could buy a car but for not much more, or maybe double, could also buy an airplane. Throw in a little financing and airplanes were flying out the door. That same guy could throw 100 gallons of fuel in for 25 or 30 bucks. Even I can remember when I paid less than $0.25 for a gallon of mogas as a teenager. Of course I know that the monetary scales have slid quite a bit since the 70s, but how many of us on this board earn in 1 year the price of new airplane? A few perhaps. How many could buy a new airplane with 5 years of salary? 10 years worth of salary? How many people on this board could realistically purchase a new airplane even with a 20 year note? Don't forget to add in maintenance, storage, fuel, financing, etc., and balance those numbers with the real utility and freedom gained with your new purchase. Who has that kind of disposable income these days? Can anybody here see more than even a few hands go up? And we are the most captive audience around – we love aviation and we love Mooneys. I am not an economist but the percentage of available income vs. cost of living is just not in favor of GA anymore. In fact those percentages are so out of whack that those of us who love aviation have to look to 30 and 40 year old machines just to participate. And we are the very best that GA has to offer! I was talking with a fellow list member and Mooney owner the other day. At one point the conversation turned to Mooney itself and the factory. The factory is going to turn out as many airplanes as it can sell. Hmmm, novel thought isn't it? It will be 10 this year, 20 next year, more after that. Whatever the number actually is, I am betting that more than 50% of those will be delivered to China. It does not matter to me where the airplanes are sold. As long as the factory is open then parts are available to me and other Mooney owners. Maybe the value of my machine can actually rise a bit if the Mooney fleet is stronger. I speculated that the new owner of Mooney, even though a California Corporation which appears to have something to do with model aviation, was backed by Chinese money. So, Soaring America or whatever the name of the parent company is, now owns Mooney and all that goes with it. I hate to say it but I am guessing that in the next handful of years, and most especially if GA continues to develop in China and more and more Mooneys are sold in China, that we see the Mooney tooling, the only Mooney tooling in existence, loaded onto a boat and headed overseas. If the goal is to sell airplanes and the only emerging market is in SE Asia, why in the world would any company build here? Where wages and benefits are 20 fold what they are on the other side of the big water? (I don't know what wages are in China, I am just taking a guess) Where shipping costs are maybe 5 digits? Maybe copies of the tooling will be made and shipped abroad. All of the plans and dimensions are now available. I was once told by a Chinese telecom engineer, that while they were here installing a cellular system for a company that I worked for, every Chinese employee had 2 goals; install the system as ordered and copy as much technology (photos and paper) as possible. There were rewards for returning with copied documents. Even if only copies of the tooling were made and shipped, how do you think that would eventually affect the operation in Kerrville? Would we have to start ordering parts from overseas? (I know that many people in Kerrville, Texas will disagree with what I just wrote. I hope for their sakes and for their jobs, as well as simple Mooney tradition, that nothing bad happens to the Mooney factory and the good people of Kerrville.) We are the heart and soul of GA and more particularly of Mooney airplanes. If GA were ever to recover to the point that the pilot population would be increasing and new airplanes would be selling, including Mooneys, then the prices would have to come down to approximately what we, the heart of GA, are willing and able to spend. For the most part, that gives a range of $40,000 for a basic model and perhaps $250,000 for fully loaded, all engine and panel combos included between those two numbers. I know that not everybody falls between those two numbers but I am guessing that the largest percentage does. So, once more by a show of hands. How many on this board think we will ever see prices like that for a certified piston single? And don't forget about the fuel. And never start a sentence with a preposition. I really am not a doom and gloom guy. I just see a kind of writing on the wall that something bad is on the horizon for this rebirth of Mooney and for GA in general in America. Dave

I also can not imagine much of a problem towing forward using the tow bar hole... except, are you using rope or steel cable? In the photo it sort of looks like that cotton rope with a red stripe on it. The only thing that I would worry about is if it is rope and the rope breaks, you might have one heck of a runaway problem. I would hate to see your tail damaged or something worse. Dave

I did my Instrument training with Larry at Executive. A more competent and learned instructor would be difficult to find. On top of that and something always difficult to find, is that he is one of those people who truly know how to communicate an idea. All around excellent experiences. Executive Flight Training - KAPA Centennial - Larry Camden 303-799-7735 Dave

I needed to get a ferry permit because I was sick last month and could not make it for my annual inspection. I called up the San Diego FSDO about mid-morning on Wednesday, went through the telephone menu, and was routed to a voice mailbox. I left a message and got a call back within about 15 mins. After a 5 minute conversation about me (the pilot and owner), about the airplane, and about why the ferry permit was needed, I was told how to fill out the form and either submit by fax or email. I sent the form off by email by about mid day. A couple of hours later I was asked to make one addition to the form. As soon as I pulled up the email this morning (Thursday), there was the email copy of my ferry permit. This was really my first experience with any FSDO, and perhaps a ferry permit is a pretty common request, but I have to say that it was really painless to get this done. Thanks to Gary Glenn at the San Diego FSDO. Dave

1980 K model, Cont TSIO-360 When I bought this plane 3 years ago I put in all new Champion massives. Recently, I had a poor performing (or fouled) bottom plug on my #2 cyl for a month or two. However, if I did just a bit longer run up, the plug seemed to clear and be fine for that days flying. I have never had a fouled plug before or one that simply would not fire, so the longer run up routine was definitely not a fix for me. The only question that my mechanic asked over the phone was how many hours on the plugs. I told him 300 to 350. He said that the plugs have likely reached the end of their useful life. The actual number was 310 hours. Holy crap, useful life, 300 hours!! The plugs in my Mercedes SL500 were in that car since 1998 and had 130,000 miles on them when they were changed last year. I bought the car used several years ago and had no idea that they were the original plugs. They finally started misfiring when the center electrode was worn down flush with the insulator. I got lucky and had no other ignition problems. Now, I know a car engine and an airplane engine are very different and operate at very different temperatures, environs, and power levels, but why in the world do my $7 plugs outperform my $28 plugs by some 800% or 900% (assuming 50 mph in the car) ?? I was there and installed these plugs when new, and at every annual when removed, cleaned, and re-installed. None has ever been dropped or mistreated in any way. He was exactly right in that the resistance readings were off the chart, up to 16.5 k on the offending plug in cyl #2. I found no unusual arcing or cracking, it was simply that the current removable resistor design used by Champion stinks. I stayed with massive plugs but of course went with Tempest. I never had any fouling problems until this high resistance problem showed up, so for me I think the massives are just fine. When removed, all of the electrodes were of the normal tan color so I don't appear to have any problems with oil fouling or anything like that. I have high hopes with the enclosed resistor design of the Tempest plugs that I will likely get a much better useful life out of them. Dave

I am not sure how the system on the M models work, but on my K model there are muffs wrapped around the exhaust headers right after each stack comes out of a cylinder. Oil and oil temp has nothing to do with it. Those headers 8" away from the cylinders have to be 1000 dF. With the owner assisted annuals that I have done, I have personally checked the muffs and associated scat tubing every year. Mine are all very tight with no or minimum leakage. My problem is that 10 minutes after I crack open the cabin heat with a little cabin vent for normalizing, I am just roasting; even when the OAT is -20 dC or lower. It is so hot that I have to keep a close eye on the defrost side to be sure that my windshield does not melt. So, if the M setup is similar, I would first check the muffs and scat tubing under the cowl. Next, there is likely an opening on the pressure side (top side) of the engine baffles that feeds air into the heating system and muffs. I would check that opening and associated scat tubing for a clear air path and no pinched tubing. Then, I would check to make sure that the heat control is opening the air valve / butterfly in the heat box enough to allow for greater heat flow. Lastly, if the baffle seals are worn or are not sealing well against the cowl, there might be enough loss of air pressure so that the hole that feeds air into the heat system is simply not getting enough air. However, if that were the case, I would guess that you would have a cylinder temperature problem as well. Dave

Amelia, I went through this a couple of years ago. I had the original filter and induction box setup, ie - the manual alt air opening in the original air box, ie2 - the automatic alt air box was never installed in my machine even though it was once offered for free as I understand it. #1 There is no air filter for the alt air. Both the old manual and newer automatic alt air setups bypass any filtering of induction air. #2 If there are cracks in your original induction air box, the one where the filter does attach and then goes to the turbo, do not even try to look for one. I tried every salvage and 2nd hand place that I could think of with zero luck. The only difference today is that the factory is gearing up and maybe a new induction/filter box could be had from the factory but I would guess that the price would be prohibitive in a big way - think thousands rather than hundreds. Together with your mechanic, find a quality welding shop and have them spruce up your old box. #3 If there are cracks in your automatic alt air box (this one is remote mounted on the pilot's side firewall), I would still go with the welding option. When I was searching a couple of years ago, Wentworth did have other boxes available. Once I was quoted $450 and then next time I was quoted $1350. My mechanic also called Wentworth and picked up a box for me for $150 as I remember. Rather than go through that trouble again, I would just weld it up if I had a problem in the future. Dave

Try Permatex Battery Protector and Sealer #80370. They also have a cleaner only #80369. Available at your favorite PMA STC TSO auto parts store.

Good luck with your new machine Doug. I sure sounds like Brett took good care of her. Never having flown a J, I am guessing that my K model is considerably more nose heavy. What I was taught by Bruce Jeager, and confirmed through experimentation, is that it is necessary for me to set takeoff trim about 2 or so needle widths above the takeoff position (nose up) as labeled on the panel. When set that way the elevator has about equal resistance up or down, or perhaps feels just ever so slightly nose heavy. When set in the position labeled for takeoff, I am thinking I am going to break the yoke stalk off to get the nose up. Several other K owners have told me that they set their takeoff trim this way as well. I am not advocating to set your trim as such, but it might be an option if you feel it is necessary. Of course, Brett will have the best info with regards to how he set everything for takeoff. Dave

570 TT, and 315 in my K model. The jitters will definitely fade but for me it was not so much having xx number of hours in any specific model, or even my K model, it was a TT thing for me as well as cross country time. The first time I took a friend flying after having earned my PPL, a friend who is also interested in aviation but never did try for a PPL, we were going from Centennial Denver KAPA down to Pueblo KPUB. Now, I had made that short 80 mile CC several times with instructors, and even used PUB as part of my long CC for the PPL. It is a simple trip. Hell, I only have to parallel the giant mountains that are to the west. Even so, as we were nearing PUB, and having told the tower that I was familiar with the area, and as I was on course because I had checked just a few minutes earlier using the VOR that is just east of the field, I looked down again and had full CDI deflection to the left of course. At about the same time, the tower asked if I had the field in sight. Of course I didn't. He gave me a vector to save some face and I landed with no problems. What I realized that day was that in the pattern or practice area, only two of the BIG 3 skills are being used, aviate and communicate. I had the ability to navigate that I proved before my checkride but not all of the skills taught for a PPL had gelled together. Navigate was the last to be integrated for me and that did not happen until I started to make those short hops to unfamiliar fields (as another pointed out in an earlier post.) With perhaps 125 or 150 hours, and as I was then stretching those CC flights to 500 or 600 NM, and using various different navigation methods instead of just one, that was the point when many of the skills started to gel and be more fluid together and when I really started to settle. At just over 200 hours I got the K model. After 10 hours with Bruce Jeager for insurance, and after a 488 NM CC to take my K model home, I was comfortable enough to operate my new machine. That's not to say that I did not have more to learn about the K, and aviation in general, and still do, but I was safe to have myself and my machine in the air, and off to the next adventure. Use the time in your new machine wisely Troy, and stretch your legs a bit. Dave

Craig, I just uploaded a few pages from a K model Service Manual for somebody that wanted the elec schematics. I think a new download category for 'Service' or 'Maintenance' is needed. Thanks for all that you do. Dave

Given your previous post regarding alternators, I uploaded the relevant pages from the M20K Service Manual. Look under Downloads-Engine Reference Manuals. There is no category for Service or Maintenance. Dave

It has an internal GS receiver and was designed to pair frequencies using the 170B without any other switching etc. As I understand it, slide it in, hook up coax from a nav antenna, and with few exceptions, it is done. No external GS receiver, no VOR/LOC converter. Plug and Play ILS.

Precisely. The internal GS receiver will surely make a rather simple install. There are a couple / few on ebay. I have net seen much movement of any. The prices range from perfectly reasonable to somewhat high for an older instrument. The only thing I worry about on ebay for such an instrument is it's true functionality. None on ebay look clean or what I would consider good shape. It makes more sense to me that if somebody here might have one, then they will know how it was operating when removed. I have no problem with glass that is not perfectly clear and all, but I would sure like to have an idea about what I might be getting so that I can install during upcoming annual next month. Thanks for giving this thread a little attention. Dave

This is a VOR/LOC/GS indicator with an internal GS receiver mainly used for a KX-170B. I would like to get one of these indicators as it would be a simple path for a backup or second ILS. I don't want to spend any real money on the panel before I go for an Aspen and WAAS upgrade. I have non-precision KLN-89B that I am happy with for the time being. If you have one, please let me know it's current status or last known functional state. Thanks, Dave

I get what the real purpose of an intercooler is. fluffy suggested that an intercooler might help my situation. Even though there is a very small but measureable effect on EGT while using an intercooler, my main problem is turbo speed and turbo heat. Thus, an intercooler won't do very much for me. If I could get the turbo running more efficiently through overhaul, and could spend more time LOP at higher power settings, my CDT might be up too high and then I would have a direct intercooler issue (or lack thereof). Then I would be looking to cool my induction temps. The part that you are missing in your first paragraph is that by changing MP, peak EGT has also changed. True, I also would think that holding FF the same and increasing MP only should result in a leaner mixture overall. However, for me I would still be worried about - how much - LOP. I completely agree as to how difficult it is to measure those numbers with a TSIO-360. I think it is ok to run in the red box for short periods of time while trying to test for peak EGT. However, as soon as you touch the red knob, nothing is held as a constant. As soon as you touch the black knob, nothing is held as a constant. Trying to balance the two for me takes much more time than I am comfortable running in the danger areas. That is the biggest problem with the APS, that MP during the APS topics is always held constant unless fine tuning. Lastly, sometimes it is easy to just get mired in the numbers. If I were trying to operate at 75% power, I would be very worried about the numbers because the red box has grown to a pretty large size on the LOP side. At 70% power, and with the red box only at about 10 dF LOP, perhaps even I would think that simply doing a BMP and trying to hold FF as a constant might be a reasonable approach given all of the other problems we have written about. Dave

"turbonium" - That word rates a post all by itself. Thanks fluffy!! It is true that I have seen the CDT getting pretty warm, but my TIT will always get to 1650 dF before I ever need to worry about the rising CDT. I think the relationship between lower CDT with an intercooler and lower output temperatures is very small, only a handful of degrees, so I do not think that an intercooler by itself would help with my high TIT by more than a few degrees at most. Where an intercooler really shines is keeping that induction air cooler so as to provide a much larger margin between normal combustion and detonation. For both fluffy and jlunseth, what I came away from APS with was that the key to LOP operations, #1, numero uno, is knowing precisely how many degrees LOP the engine is running. Lacking that knowledge is not healthy for the engine and is potentially dangerous for me and my passengers. I have very good instrumentation with my JPI-830 as well, but with my less efficient turbo and my apparent lack of turbonium, meaning that my turbo is spinning faster to give me the MP I want and therefore producing more heat, I have never been able to operate for any extended period of time LOP and at higher power settings. Because of the mechanical link between the MP and FF, I just have never had enough time to get a good precise reading of the number of degrees LOP before the TIT starts cooking. LOP, high power setting, it seems that I can have one of those at any given time but not both. Dave

jlunseth, I too have been to the APS. Was that about the best money ever spent on aviation or what? Even given that statement, I too found the info lacking with regards to turbo-supercharging. For those that don't know, turbo-supercharging (TSIO) is where the air induction system generates more than normal atmospheric pressure for 100% HP ~ 36" to 40" MP or even higher for some older engines. Turbo-normalizing (TN) is where the system generates only normal atmospheric pressure for 100% HP ~ 30" MP or so - in other words, normal sea level pressure. Both systems are turbo charged but supercharged engines use lower compression ratios - for TSIO-360 purposes 7.5 : 1. Normalized (TN), normally aspirated (NA), and carbureted engines use 8.5 : 1 for the most part. As Buster1 pointed out, much is made at the APS about always using WOT, but WOT can not apply to us TSIO guys because the fuel system would likely go to cut off before we ever made it to LOP or the stoichiometry between peak EGT and cut off would be very narrow and unstable. In addition to that, as you pointed out, there is no way that I would want to try a BMP beginning anywhere close to 100% HP. Moreover, we could never operate at 40" MP (37" MP or so for intercoolers) because of excessive TIT and/or CDT. So, the question remained in my mind, in a TSIO engine, what MP could be considered as WOT? The answer is simple and of course is about 30" MP because that is what is approximately normal pressure at sea level. There still remains a difference however and that is the lower compression engines that we use. Braly, Atkinson, and Deakin all thought that going to perhaps 32" MP in a TSIO engine would be enough compensation for the compression issue. I still think that 32" MP is a bit low, but higher MP will once again get that TIT and CDT creeping up. I know that CDT is probably not an issue for you but it is for me. I think there is an inherent advantage that a TN engine has over a TSIO engine. I am sure you remember the part about what happens at peak EGT, on the rich side of peak EGT, and on the lean side of peak EGT. For those that have not been to APS or have not really thought about it, at peak EGT the fuel / air charge is equal and there is nothing left over except some trace gases. If on the rich side, there is excess fuel that is not being burned, that is wasted, that more readily turns to carbon, more readily creates deposits inside the cylinder, and most importantly creates the highest cylinder pressures and temperatures. On the lean side of peak, there is excess air but all of the fuel is burned, cylinders stay cleaner and the internal pressures and temperatures are lower. The key to that last sentence is that there is excess air in the fuel / air charge. That is why when LOP, adding even more air (MP) or even reducing some air (MP) makes no difference to power output. All of the fuel is burned and there is always leftover air. Adding more MP does nothing because all of the fuel is already burned. The one thing that I have not seen in any of your writings is how far LOP that you are trying to operate. Remember also that as the percentage of HP increases, so does the size of the red box, even on the lean side of peak EGT. At 60% or less, the red box pretty much disappears and an engine can be run with the mixture set anywhere. At 65% the red box extends up to peak EGT. At 70% it goes to maybe 10dF LOP. AT 75% the red box goes to about 30 dF LOP. So, to safely run at 11.5 GPH LOP and pretty much any MP that will support that, for myself I would be shooting to be at least 50 dF LOP and maybe a little more. As I have written about before, I am severely limited by TIT when trying to operate LOP. Anything over about 62% for me and 9.5 GPH LOP, my TIT shoots up to over 1650 dF so my turbo is just less efficient than I would like or need. However during those brief excursions that I have tried at 70% or 75%, I have found that the balancing act of MP vs. FF has been very tedious and unstable. The engine is smooth all the way to 80 or 90 dF LOP, the MP and FF are stable at a given setting, but trying to adjust FF while trying to keep MP the same so that I can check on the number of dF LOP is almost impossible because I run out of time for the rising TIT and because I want to be in the red box only briefly while I check. When I am at 62% or less, I have all of the time in the world to check how many dF LOP I actually am operating. At higher power settings I do not. I would suspect from my own experiences that somewhere before, during, or after your transition from 29" MP to 34" MP, that your FF as related to the number of dF on the LOP side has changed and some or all of your cylinders may have intruded into the red box and back to the rich side where changing air flow does affect HP output. Let me know what you think. With regards to your discussion with Bruce Jaeger about rising EGTs, my TIT is high because of a less efficient turbo and that it has to spin faster, not because of rising EGTs. Burned valves are not because of LOP, ROP, or even peak. Valves burn because of poorly mated valve seats which TCM is famous for. Remember, we are shooting for LOP operations therefore by definition the EGTs are lower. EGTs are max at peak and are lower on both sides of peak, lean or rich. If your EGTs are rising for any reason, then your mixture settings are changing and getting closer to peak EGT, regardless if you are coming from the rich side or lean side, and at higher power settings, that peak EGT can be a rough place for an engine to be. Dave 1980 M20K 231, LB, Merlin, no intercooler

The LB engine in my K was done by Poplar Grove by the previous owners. It has over 1400 hours on it and still going strong. The logs do not show any engine work after it was installed except timing and oil changes - no cylinders ever removed. My lowest compression at last annual was 65 but that does not bother me. I probably won't mess with that cylinder until in the lower 50s unless there is some over riding reason to do so like a bad borescope photo or rising oil consumption. If I remember right, low compression by TCM specs is 45 or so. It uses only between 0 and 1/2 quart for 25 hours. Seriously, I never add oil between changes. I will likely send the same engine back to them when the time comes. Dave

fluffy, please don't take this the wrong way. I would never wish anything bad on anyone, especially somebody that I don't even know. The first two times I read your post, this is what I saw: "I have a 231 and might be passing away sometime in the next week. If it works out, I'd be happy to stop by." I started laughing at myself when I realized my mistake. I hope laughter is the only response to this post. Dave