Dan Thomas's latest activity

Yes. Right At or near sea level. But this is a cruise chart. In the takeoff and climb the mixture is richer for better cooling and...

Here's a chart from an IO-470 manual. The 182's POH I quoted was based on the O-470-U. This is the sea-level performance cruise...

Over on homebuiltairplanes.com there's a retired automotive engineer whose job was analyzing engines and transmissions for torsional...

See that little indent on the starter in line with the 25°BTDC mark on the flywheel? Those are your timing marks. Lycomings are easy...

Unusable fuel is defined as that fuel that won't reach the engine in the most critical attitude. So if you have to abort a landing and...

https://drs.faa.gov/browse/excelExternalWindow/FR-ADFRAWD-2023-05339-0000000000.0001 All one has to do is study the stupid POH. For the...

Some Cessnas have a habit of running the left tank down first. That's because the underwing vent comes into the left tank, and the air...

Heck, I always thought that equaled job security.... Maybe I should have loaned them my screwdriver more often??? ;)

2° in 230 hours isn't bad. You're seeing some points rubbing block wear. The larger problem is that the E-gap gets thrown off, and the...

Slick magnetos are supposed to wear the points and the follower at an equal rate, cancelling each other out so the timing doesn't...

Most dangerous thing in the world, according to some mechanics: A pilot with a screwdriver.

There are no springs. Lyc O-540 O-360: Continental O-470: TSIO-520: IO-550 doesn't have any springs either. In what...

Improper MP/RPM sequence detuning the counterweights? That's the first time I've heard that, and I'm a retired aircraft mechanic...

An old circuit breaker or strobe switch can do this, too. Their contacts become oxidized and present resistance, lowering the supply...

I have run into downdrafts sharp enough that my head hit the ceiling of my airplane even though I was belted in. You have to remember...