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       What happened to the "lean burn" engine TCM seemed so proud of a few
years ago?  When I talked to the TCM rep at SnF this year, he acted like
he'd never heard of it, and grumped that TCM didn't recommend LOP
operations, period.

       I ran my first ES (IO-550-G) about 75 degrees LOP almost all the
time in cruise.  It seemed very happy there, smooth, nice and cool on EGT
and CHT.  The airspeed penalty was about 8 kts, the fuel burn reduction
about 20% (from 15 to 12 gph), which is pretty good savings in my book.
When we did a complete engine inspection at 80 hrs (pre-sale), everything
looked fine.

       Like anything else, there are always ways to screw up.  Leaning too
much, or at the wrong times, could cause problems, but so what?  The only
times I felt I didn't quite know what to do were when reducing power to
begin a descent.  Rather than chase the lean side of the curve all the way
down, I would usually flop it over to ROP and chase it down that side.
Either way, you have to fiddle the mixture all the way down.

Jim Cameron
ES (N143ES reserved)

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