C172: Fire-Breathing Dragon

[Colonel]

That'll buff right out.

[Colonel]

Yeah, that fashionable "Lean Of Peak" worked out great for him. He saved a lot
of money, according to Mike Busch.

I know I only instructed for 25 years, but I always leaned for max airspeed,
and never dented an airplane.

[John Swallow]

I don't have the necessary equipment in my aircraft to be tinkering around with "lean of peak". I just do what the engine manufacturer says...



https://planecrashmap.com/plane/nv/N5311H/

[Colonel]

The pilot's failure to enrich the mixture during the descent, as required by the Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH), and his subsequent failure to follow the POH emergency procedures, which resulted in an excessively lean fuel/air mixture and subsequent loss of rpm.

Contributing to the accident was the pilot's improper decision to land on unsuitable terrain despite the availability of two nearby airports.

Lean-of-peak is pretty sexy, though.

[Colonel]

I never found it very difficult to lean the mixture in cruise.

Doesn't matter if it's fixed pitch, constant speed prop, carbureted,
fuel injected.

Doesn't matter the altitude or the temperature.

Just pull the fucking red knob out for maximum airspeed, at whatever
altitude you have randomly chosen and whatever power setting you have
selected with the throttle (and prop) and whatever temperature is
randomly shown on the OAT.

You can leave the red knob all the way in, in cruise, FTU-style. But
you're burning a lot more fuel than you need to, and you might need
it later.

I just lean the mixture for the maximum indicated airspeed. That's it.

See, that's "best power" which is rich of peak, and isn't as sexy as lean
of peak, or a supermodel with a nasty coke habit.

But it's a lot less fuel burn than full rich, and gets you where you're
going, because flying straight and level on autopilot may give other
people orgasms and they want to spend the rest of the lives doing it,
but I find it a tremendous fucking bore and want to get where I'm going.

Lean for max airspeed in cruise. It's so simple. It's worked for me for
50 years in more types than you can imagine. You won't find this written
down anywhere. No one else will tell it to you. It's because they're so bright.

[Colonel]

Here's another really complicated detail that is also never, ever mentioned:

After you apply carb heat ...

LEAN THE MIXTURE FOR MAX AIRSPEED

No one will tell you that. It's really complicated, and you need a PhD
in Aviation from a puppy mill to understand it.

I know about the same number of people that run lean of peak, that
date a supermodel with a nasty coke habit.

[JW Scud]

I rented a plane where they used lean of peak procedure. But it had Gamijectors. They showed me their procedure and I followed it.

[Colonel]

GAMI injectors are ok, I guess ... one of my airplanes had them, and installed
two more sets last year. They run smoother, and have the advantage of simply
being new injectors.