donshapansky

I have recently aquired a SuperStar with 350 Lycs that from the Chieftan Navajo and other large twins. The max allowable mag drop is 175 rpm, this was written as a snag at the recent annual. On the run up after I got the airplane home this drop was still there. I pulled a plug to see what was installed. It had fine wire Champion plugs that were 3 or more yrs old but less than 100 hrs TT, I installed a set of Tempest massive electrode plugs. I wasn't even thinking about the mag drop I just had heard on the Aerostar forum of high altitude missfires and the Tempest plug construction that seems to be an improvement over the older methods and materials, so I was being proactive. The first run-up I realized the mag drop was eliminated!

I forgot to answer your one question about the GAMI findings, Tim said they found that the fine wire plugs did not operate well LOP, his words were "sorry I know you spent money with expectations but we have found they don't offer any solutions for LOP ops"

I experienced very unpleasant intermittent roughness saying to me it was unhappy. I'm within .4 gph and when the richest cylinder (No.2) is -50 LOP the leanest (No.5) is -85 LOP. The DA makes a difference of course as to where LOP occurs, in Texas summer it's always 15.5 to 16.0 gph vs winter at 16.5 gph. My power settings were suggested by GAMI and Powermaster agreed, Bill flies a 210 with the same engine package as me (ECI Nikisil) and predicted my summer fuel flow to the tenth of a gallon. My power settings are 32.5" MAP @ 2450 rpm for 70 - 73% depending on fuel flow according to the EDM 930. I can finally close the cowl flaps mostly by over half in cruise and the hottest cyclinder will be No. 2 vs No. 5 ROP. The oil stays golden colored through 30 hrs with no oil added. I have an M20 air/oil separator and start off at 12 qts and end up over 11 qts at change time of 30 hrs which is usually monthly. However I have acquired an Aerostar 700, which has yet to enter service so it may not get as much use next year. Don

Interesting fact is I was having trouble getting my Rocket to run smoothly LOP, talking to Tim Roehl at GAMI he said the fine wires don't work well LOP. My fine wires looked great and had about 500 hrs on them. After some deliberation I changed to the old massive electrodes and voila! I get 15.5 gph LOP hottest cylinder 360 -370 depending OAT in Texas. Interesting is my numbers vs the Missile in cruise at 8,500' I get 190 - 194 KTAS depending on OAT @ 15.5 gph. The difference is I have adjusted my fuel flow to match my boost for max power, eg 37 gph and 37 " MAP with CHT's in the 330 - 350 F @ 1700' ft/min 125 KIAS or cruise climb of 155 KIAS @ 900'/min. Don

I have just gone through this exercise purchasing an Aerostar 700 for business and some personal use. Montana offers the best by far in terms of simplicity and the best tax setting with the legal protection that an LLC offers. I used Deer Creek Corporate Services in Helena, MT they are a one stop service for the complete package. You register the aircraft in Montana, no sales tax due, you have a hangar at a specific airport, which is listed as the aircraft's base of operation, the hangar you may have elsewhere is where the aircarft is currently operating from. You have a bank account, the company formed is perpetual, you have a legal mailing address. The Montana registration fee is 50 - $75 for singles. You also regiser as a pilot for the aircraft. My total bill was $1,690.00 and took 3 days total to get it up and operational. You will need a fax and e-mail capability. My $.02 worth

I have 1800 hours of using GAMI products on 2 different TCM 520's, one normally aspirated and one turbo charged. Both were operated LOP. The Rocket has 850 hrs SMOH now, I got it with 60 SMOH and ran it 700 before removing the cylinders to find corrosion from sitting in FL before I bought it. The overhauled cylinders made a dramatic difference in LOP operations, oil consumption and performance, the ECI cylinders with Cerminil did not show any wear but corrosion had stuck rings on 2 cylinders. I was always getting high normal wear on the oil analysis reports, it also discolored the oil to black within a few hrs and would use oil after 10 - 15 hrs even though the leakdown rates were in the 70's right until teardown. Blowby is not easily detected by doing the leakdown check, the true signs I now know is oil discoloration to black in a few hours. Now the oil stays a golden color and stays at 12 qts. through to change time at 30 hrs. I have installed an M20 air/oil separator, which cleaned the belly up dramatically and keeps the oil in the crankcase. I would download the GAMI spreadsheet from their website and do the lean test at .2 gal intervals at altitudes of 7 - 8 K. This will tell you if you need to do any injector tuning, you need a digital fuel flow, an engine monitor with TIT info and probably an hour straight and level. After the test, circle the fuel flow and the EGT the first cylinder peaks at, then the fuel flow and the EGT at which cylinder was last to peak, Continue to record all temps until the last cylinder is at least 50 LOP. If the spread is over .5 gph, fax the sheet to GAMI and they will then be able to send the required injectors to be changed . You can send me a PM if you like for more info.

I am a graduate of the GAMI pilot's school and I should clarify the parameters for running ROP. Below 8000' you are subject to a never operate zone of 100 ROP to 50 LOP due to operating stresses placed on piston/cylinder wall loading etc. etc. Above 8000' all limitations disappear for all naturally aspirated engines. The other parameter is fuel flow at full power, that being all EGT's should be below 1300 F preferably 1250 F. In the case of the IO550 you will need to be at 29 - 30 gph is my guess. I bet you that those figures are not in your Rocket Engineering manual. Case in point, my Rocket Manual for the TSIO-520 said the fuel flow needs to be 33 gph. With that setting my TIT was 1450 - 1500 F way too hot and cylinder head temps soaring to the 400's My engine man and GAMI both told me to raise the fuel flow to match the maximum manifold pressure I was seeing. My EDM 930 showed 37 - 37.5 in. By raising the fuel flow the TIT dropped to 1280 and the cylinder heads all sit at 350 F or less even on a hot Texas day. From my mechanical knowlege ( licenced auto, heavy truck and motorcycle) and 1800 hrs of using GAMI products and procedures I will not buy that LOP does exhaust pipe damage. At my current fuel savings of at 6.0 - 7.0 gph I have paid for exhaust system and cylinder replacements several times over. My $.02

The comment about the exhaust failing because of LOP operations makes no sense. If you fly it 50 ROP the EGT's will be higher than 50 LOP will result in. I had to yellow tag my Rocket exhaust even though the prior owner ran it ROP. I have 800 hrs of operations both ways since the yellow tag repair and everything looks great. Do not neglect a high temp lubricant on every slip joint at every oil change! Don't attempt LOP if you don't have digital fuel flow and a monitor system My $.02

I remember picking up an new 1977 601P Aerostar at the Santa Maria plant and they were trying to get the hours under 5000 to build a Pressurized model. I was told that an Acclaim was in the vacinity of 5000 hrs by knowledgeable source, that was a real problem for MAC.

The turbine wheel expands as exhaust temp increases, probably a combination of centrifgal force which would relate to turbine rpm and exhaust gas temperature.

The turbo has 2 turbine wheels, one is driven by exhaust the other is the compressor for engine intake air supply. The exhaust driven wheel is the the area of the housing that the TIT (turbine inlet temp) measurement is tanken, if this turbine wheel expands too much it can hit the inside of the turbo housing. The first step you need to complete is to download the chart at the GAMI website and follow the instructions on a long flight where you can complete the form in .2 gph increments to see what the GAMI spread looks like on your Rocket. This data is faxed to GAMI and they will determine how many if any injectors need to be modified.

The TAS is of course related to altitude, last week at 10,500 with 15.2 gph 32.5 " MP @2450 rpm the EDM 930 showed 70% power with 194 KTAS the TIT was 1565 F or 95 F below recommended max. GAMI says that the temp is not the concern but the exhaust side of the turbine can expand and strike the turbo housing, this is from the engineers at the turbo end of the business.

I don't know the details of the relationship, but the concern by my informant was that the tooling would get lost over time by being borrowed to make the parts, but he was assured that this was not happening and that the structure of the relationship was a firm relationship that eliminated those concerns.

My Rocket has 100% power to FL240, otherwise known as critical altitude. Still climbs at 1000'/min at FL250. I have 800 hrs now in the left seat in 36 months, been everywhere in summer and winter, what a great combo of power plant and airframe. Finally got it fly LOP 15.5 gph and 70% power, all cylinders below 370F even in Texas on a summer day. The deal with LOP difficulty was excessive blowby even though the leak downs were all in the 70's/80, the TIT would blow through 1650 - 1700 during the leaning process. We found 2 stuck rings on 2 cylinders, after overhaul max TIT is 1625 F during the leaning process with 1550 F being the norm with all cylinders at least 50 F LOP. Range is incredible, recently non stop Granbury, TX to St Cloud, MN (828NM) 4:35 hrs with 30 gals remaining. Return 2 days later from Fond du Lac, WI nonstop to Granbury, TX in 4:45 hrs with 18 gals remaining due to greater climb time and more climbing due to weather enroute. But it looks like the mission is changing with greater payload needs and deice more needed going into IN in the winter and fall so I'm probably going to the 'dark side' as Don Maxwell puts with an Aerostar 700. So the Rocket will be for sale in a couple of weeks or less.

They are using former employees on a contract basis to make parts for them off site, which has helped keep a lot of aircraft flying. Molded plastic parts and gear doors are not being made as far I can gather.

Every CEO in the past number of years at Mooney had the brilliant idea of subbing out the assembly of most items that were labor intensive and required skilled labor at Kerville to make the items. This was a cost cutting move that would enhance the bottom line, but nobody ever found a source that could manufacture the parts.

It works if you hook the return line up to where it's supposed be hooked, Don tried returning the oil to valve cover, it puked 2 qts in 30 minutes of flight. I got a picture from RAM aircraft showing the detail of returning to the oil to the turbo scavenge pump, which was difficult to get to. It turns out all Acclaims have the same set-up as standard from Mooney.

I had Maxwell put an M20 Air/Oil Separator on the Rocket, I have 75 hrs since the install in March 2011 with oil level at 12 quarts. In 30 hrs between changes I add no oil and none on the belly! Yesterday at 15 hrs since change, the stick shows over 12 qts. A worthwhile mod!

Use a kerosene fluid that is oil based with airpressure that way it cleans oil off and does no damage to water sensitive components, the smell is gone almost immediately.

Hey Parker, glad to hear you're about to get a 252! I agree with your personal limit, anyone above Fl230 better be a jet jock with high altitude chamber experience because it's 2 minutes to lights out at FL250! A couple of flights back I climbed to FL200 from FL180 at 1000'/min LOP was 15.5 gph smooth at 214 KTAS, ground speed was up there at 265 KTS in light snow.

To keep the engine CHT's below 390F ROP running 29" @ 2450 would take 22 gph after the cylinders were OH so it's 5.5 - 6.5 gph! and much cooler CHT's. The exhaust tip has changed from white to colorless no carbon deposit, I hope the internals are the same. The oil stays golden color right to 30 hrs when it's changed.

TAS at 6,500 on a close to standard day was 187 KTAS, today at 9,000 way above STD (I think it was 17C) true was 185 KTS. The EDM today calculated power was 70% at 32.5" and 2450 RPM and 15.5 gph. TIT was 1565F today. Prior to my cylinder overhaul my TIT would shoot to 1700 quickly, now I never see over 1650 F for a brief period, much less stressfull, I don't do the big pull. I just slowly roll it leaner and watch each cylinder EGT peak and fall to at least 50 LOP that way I can see a direct correlation to effect DA has on where the engine peaks on each flight, you also get the max speed as you can work the mixture to keep the power up as much as possible, I find a gallon per hour difference between a close to standard day and typical Texas summer day. GAMI's prediction of fuel flows of 16.5 gph were accurate for a standard, day my engine guru has the same engine in his C210, his prediction was bang on of 15.5 gph on a typical OK summer day.

If you can stay within .5 gph and get all cylinders to peak there is no need to do anything. Download the GAMI spreadsheet and do the numbers at cruise then circle each peak and look at the gph chnage from the first to the last. Try to step in .2 gph increments.

GAMI says many rockets will run LOP without much change due the good airflow designed into the intercoolers, compared to the Cessna twins that use this engine the intercooler causes serious airflow disruptions from one side of the engine to the other. What I have found now that I flown over 30 hrs LOP is that the density altitude directly relates to where the TIT and EGT's will peak. The flight to MN was the closest to STD I have seen and the fuel flow ended up at 16.5 gph to get all cylinders 50 LOP head temps were all in the 350 - 360 F range excpet NO 2 which the hottest always at 370 F. Today at 9000 the OAT was 18C RPM 2450 MAP 32.5", fuel flow was 15.5 gph with No 2 50 LOP and CHT 365 hottest. My EDM 930 said we were getting 13.5 NMPG @ 215 KT GRD Speed.

I don't have the 360 engine anymore, it's a TSIO520NB from a Cessna 414, 340, P210, Baron 58P 58TC etc. with feathering prop. rated at 305 hp in my application.