Is it possible to cruise at less than WOT?

FORANE

FORANE

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FORANE
Think I have heard this somewhere.
Is it possible to cruise at less than WOT? Or, is it just crazy talk?
 
In a rental? Nope, not possible at all. ;)

In the club plane (where we pay by tach time, not Hobbs, and have ownership of the aircraft and any related maintenance expenses)? I generally cruise at ~65% BHP.
 
mjburian said:
In a rental? Nope, not possible at all. ;)

In the club plane (where we pay by tach time, not Hobbs, and have ownership of the aircraft and any related maintenance expenses)? I generally cruise at ~65% BHP.
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If it's a dry rental it's possible
 
In the emb145 nope. wide open gives me maybe .78 We climb and cruise wide open and descend at the barber pole and we still get overtaken by everything else. :D

If i'm going nowhere than i'll throttle back in GA aircraft. If i'm going someplace then balls to the wall.
 
I lean my engine by feel and I read that I can't hurt it no matter what I lean it to if I'm at 65% power so if I am not high enough to stay below about 2300 RPM at WOT, I throttle back.
 
It is kinda like the debate when deciding between a 172 and 182...an argument is that you can always dial back the 182 to a 172 fuel burn, but not the other way around.

...but why would you?

FRP baby! (full rental power)
 
It's possible. I tried it once. Didn't like it.
 
FORANE said:
Think I have heard this somewhere.
Is it possible to cruise at less than WOT? Or, is it just crazy talk?
Click to expand...
Flying, driving, or boating?

Doesn't really matter I guess, the answer is no.
 
Pull the mixture knob back until RPM's come back down below redline.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Pull the mixture knob back until RPM's come back down below redline.
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My method as well, with FI. WOT reduces pumping losses for greater efficiency, like a throttle-less diesel. Whenever above 8000' DA, I just crank the mixture till I get a speed or fuel burn that I like (with CHTs under 400 F).
 
Full rental power baby, I'm paying the wet rate reguardless of how much I burn.
 
If I am 25' off the deck which I often do, I am not WOT, because I'm at 600ish MSL.
 
With my ROTAX, I do have to pull back a tiny bit to stay out of the yellow rpm band - no mixture control.

Though it’s a flawed analogy, I’ve heard a partially closed throttle compared to a dirty air filter. The alleged point is why would you voluntarily want to do anything to impede the flow of air to the engine, be it dirt on an air filter or a partially closed throttle valve? I think I first heard this when WOTLOP* was being discussed on the Cirrus Owner’s site or a Pelican’s Perch article.

*Wide Open Throttle Lean Of Peak.
 
I thought of this the other day while cruising my Cherokee at 9500'. I still had to power back not to exceed my Tach OCD of 2450 RPM
 
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