Book about light aircraft engines

[Nev]

I’m reading the book “Mike Bushe on Engines”.
It’s a very well written book about aircraft engines, how to maintain them and the pros and cons of different types, automotive etc. Also covers diagnosis of problems. Many already have a good knowledge.....it’s certainly been informative for me.

[Chewie]

I just learned of that title and was curious about it. Thanks for the review! I haven't bought it but did come across some of his webinars on YouTube on the same topic.

[whee]

I’ve been listening to Mike Busch’s webinars for years and bought the engine book as soon as it came available. For anyone interested in their engine it is a fantastic read.

[Bcone1381]

Me too. Awesome book for gear heads. I like Mike's data driven decision making process.

[Bdflies]

I haven’t read Bush's book, but have heard nothing but praise about it. A friend, who has the book, absolutely holds Bush as an esteemed authority. My buddy also preaches Bush's theory of Lean of Peak ops, as do some folks on this forum. I’ve always been reluctant to go LOP, but the argument and explanation makes an awful lot of sense, so I figured I’d do some checking. Having avoided such, I wasn’t sure how well my carbureted O-360 would respond. The G3X provides so much real time information and assistance, I boldly went where I'd previously feared to tread! To my surprise, my first few experiences went well! CHT's have always been fairly close, as have EGT's. At 54%, EGT's displayed 26 degrees spread when leaned. Not bad for a carburetor. The CHT's dropped 30 degrees! Wow! And it wasn’t running rough yet! still in the interest of information gathering, I wanted to know how efficient the plane was, in the LOP mode. On that day, 54% yielded 123 mph TAS, burning 6.4 gph. That works out to 19.2 mpg. Not bad! Pics attached.

Bill

[whee]

Bill, If you haven't you should listen to both of Mikes leaning webinars that are in the EAA archives and read the section of his engine books that discusses leaning. Lots of great information.

In his basic leaning webinar he lays out a procedure for leaning an engine with no instrumentation. Something like a J3 or a T-craft or a Luscombe. After listening to the webinar a few times I started leaning my C85 powered Luscombe according to Mikes instructions. The results were incredible. 100mph on ~3gph is pretty economical flying. I really interested to see how my BH does using Mikes techniques,.

[Bcone1381]

Bill,

When you leaned her out, did you experiment with carb heat? They say that cracking the carb heat can change the airflow characteristics thru the carb which often improves fuel distribution. The same is true for operations at wide open throttle..... Cracking it closed a small amount can the improve fuel distribution. You will see the fuel distribution improvement indicated by a tighter GAMI spread. Anyway, I'd be interested in hearing about your GAMI spread, and those two adjustment to try to tighten it up.

Mike Busch had a recent EAA webinar about running over square. That another interesting arena to explore.

http://www.gami.com/gamijectors/leantest.php

[Bdflies]

I’ve heard so much about the book, I'll surely get one. And I like Whee's idea about the webinars!
Brooks, I didn’t try carb heat. But that sounds like another angle to experiment with. Seriously, I’ve only tried the LOP thing in the last month or so. I’m enough of a gear head geek to admit that I really enjoy playing with the electronic gadgets and engine stuff. Oversquare ops I’m familiar with. The Husky crowd used to make a big thing about 1900/24” cruise. It’s actually really quiet! I think Lycoming approved ops at 5” oversquare. That might have changed. As I recall, Continental had no problems with LOP, but Lycoming did not approve of such. As I said, that might have changed.
The wonders of systems like the G3X enable such experiments, comfortably.
I'll post pics as I learn stuff.

Bill

[Bcone1381]

Mike Busch has 90 webinars on his website. The two that Jon referred to are titled are titled 'Leaning Basics" and "Leaning The Advanced Class" "EGT myth" is also a top on my list. I look forward to a two hour drive when listening to Mike's webinars. Mike's real world, data driven approach will help one feel comfortable understanding the pitfalls that drives Lycomings recommendations.

LOP at low power settings- cooler CHT's, complete combustion events, no unburned hydrocarbon contaminants, longer engine life. But I would want to know what my GAMI spread is. If one cylinder runs richer-hotter that can be a concern, and I think it may have been Lycomings concern which was established before we had engine monitors.

I am planning on an IO-360 with mechaincal fuel injection to give me an element of control over that spread.

[svyolo]

One of the reasons I chose EFI (should be shipped right after the holidays) and an O-540 is the combo will allow me to take off, reduce power to <75%, and run LOP for the rest of the flight. A 75% power climb in a 540 is still an outstanding rate of climb compared to a Cessna. There is a LOP switch that you flip to tell the ECU to run LOP and alter the ignition timing a bit. I will slowly add power to maintain power until I am WOT at about 8-9k. So for the vast majority (other than a minute or two for TO and clear of terrain) the engine will be running LOP, without having to adjust mixture in the climb or descent.

If I screw up (me?) and forget about the switch, and try to run over 24" MP LOP, the ECU has a safeguard to switch back to ROP ops.

I don't expect any more power, I think I will save some gas. Hopefully better plug life/oil life/engine life. I hope..

[Bcone1381]

Confession: I have no experience running LOP yet, but have a concern that someone might go out and hurt their engine if they try LOP at high power settings. Bob B. told me once "A lot of bad stuff gets put on forums by people with little experience." May I not be that person.

The data suggests running LOP above 65% power increases exposure to high CHT's. A carubrated or non EFI engine can't control individual cylinder mixtures like EFI can. Fuel-Air Mixture may vary between cylinders, which means the richest cylinder could be at the hottest point (high CHTs over a long period of time will reduce service life of cylinders) when the leanest cylinder is in the LOP sweet spot.. They say running at low power below 60% power pretty much eliminates the risk of high CHT's. For more information Research and understand what the Red Fin and the Red Box are and how to avoid operating in it. Also research "The big pull."

Here is a really good thread on another forum thats free.
http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...ad.php?t=75132

[svyolo]

I thought I remember the figure as either 70% or 75% being the max for running LOP.

[whee]

If your going to get into LOP ops I think this webinar is also beneficial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZLx...RJ_kGA0Ld&t=0s

And a link to all of Mikes webinars: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...A6XdJRJ_kGA0Ld

[JimParker256]

Or just bite the bullet and take the “Advancd Pilot Seminar” where they taught Mike Busch what he knows about LOP operations. (And where they take exception to some of the “over-simplifications” he uses in his writing and seminars.) The website is https://www.advancedpilot.com/

And, by the way, if any of your cylinders are running at or above peak EGT, you aren’t operating LOP, by its very definition. To be LOP, ALL cylinders must be LOP. And if you do that, your CHTs will be cooler than if you’re operating ROP.