New topic: owner tips and advice

[kwmoore]

Not much activity here of late.

I thought that we might all benefit from a thread specifically dedicated to owners' comments and insights on owning, flying, and maintaining these planes. In that spirit in the next day or two I will post an updated version of something I wrote for the old YahooClubs forum: "Tips for flying the 260se." Flying the new one has prompted me to revise some comments that turned out to be applicable mostly just to that particular one (8367E) and add some new things that I've learned from experience. Bill Witrak sent a couple of questions that prompted me to do this. Alternative opinions in response are encouraged.

In the meantime, by all means chime in on any such subject!

[kwmoore]

Note: An article by Budd Davisson in the December 2001 issue of Plane and Pilot (http://www.260se.com/downloads.html) really captures the essence of this plane’s capabilities and feel.

The preflight inspection is conventional Cessna 182, with a few exceptions:
If it’s really cold, preheat the engine for several hours (overnight?) if possible. The plug for the preheater is just inside the oil check door on the left side of the cowling.
Run the yoke through its full range of travel to ensure the canard surfaces are moving appropriately with the elevators.
Todd has placed notches on the oil dipstick to indicate the oil capacity range that will avoid throwing excess oil overboard. At oil/filter change time, have the shop fill it with 11 qt and you will be happy. When kept in this range—presuming a well-broken in engine—it will use very little oil, at most 1 qt in 20-30 hr.

Engine start
Regular starts are done according to Todd’s checklist. I find that the throttle can be just barely cracked or even left at idle to avoid over-revving the engine at start-up. Only 2 or 3 blades will pass by and then you’re running! Unless it’s a very warm day I will leave the cowl flaps closed until the run-up; the engine warms up faster this way.
I lean the mixture 1”-1.5” for taxi. Taxi with the yoke full aft—it’s good practice for off-pavement work.
I do not start the run-up until the coldest CHT (#6) has reached at least 140 degrees, and don’t takeoff until it’s at least 170-180, preferably 200.
I use the GNS430 timer function to monitor “engine-on” time, and the GTX327 fight timer to monitor takeoff-to-touchdown time.

Hot starts can be a pain unless you heed the following tips that Todd taught me; if you thus mind The Master’s teachings, they are a snap.
If you know you will restart soon, park nose into the wind if possible and open the oil filler door, oil check door, and cowl flaps to facilitate cooling.
If the restart is within 20 minutes or so, DO NOT prime with the boost pump. Mixture rich, throttle 0.5-1” open, and crank. The engine will catch. To keep it running, immediately toggle the boost pump to low and keep it there until the engine’s running smoothly. If it still dies, boost pump off, and repeat. If it still doesn’t catch, try priming ONCE with low boost as in Todd’s checklist, then start again. It is important NOT to over-prime, which risks accumulating fuel in a hot engine and starting a fire. This is called a REALLY hot start.
I flooded it once on a hot start attempt and the following worked to get it running: throttle 0.5-1”, mixture idle-cutoff. Crank until the engine catches, then advance the mixture to full rich and retard throttle to idle.
If none of this works, wait 10-20 minutes or so and try again as per the checklist.
If the restart is 20-30 minutes or more after shutdown, use the hot start checklist that Todd provided, which includes a ~1-2 second priming on low boost.

Takeoff
I always use flaps for takeoff, except at high density altitudes if runway length is no issue. The proper flap setting results in about 1/3 – 1/2 of the flap trailing edge showing beneath the tops of the rear passenger windows.
Lean for high density altitude takeoffs. For example I find that at 5000 feet, leaning to a fuel flow reading of 19-20 gph is about right in my own plane with ample cylinder cooling yet significantly improved performance over full-rich.
As you begin the takeoff roll, the yoke should be at or just slightly aft of neutral (enough to take pressure off, but not lift the nosewheel). At ~37-39 KIAS, rotate just enough to feel the nosewheel lift slightly. You will be rewarded with a prompt, no-questions-asked “levitation” liftoff a few knots later. 55-60 KIAS arrives in a wink and you can do any steep turn you want (the “Peterson Departure”). If you need to climb during the turn, I recommend favoring closer to 60 than 55.
Avoid over-rotating as you will get a bit of mush that unnecessarily prolongs your time near the runway. After this happens once or twice you will recognize it.
Flaps can be retracted if desired at any speed above 60-65. You will not experience the sinking feeling you would get in a stock 182, although the rate of climb may not increase at all until you have attained Vy or greater. Vx with takeoff flaps is about 57, with no flaps Vy is standard 182 (~76 KIAS), but for a real elevator ride try 10 degrees flaps and 70 knots. RPM can be reduced to 2500 for noise if desired while still at full throttle. I usually climb out at 80-85 KIAS for better visibility and engine cooling; the rate of climb is still 1000-1100 fpm at least.
A no-flap takeoff will use more runway but still much less than a stock 182. Lift the nosewheel slightly at 45-50 KIAS and let the plane fly itself off. You will be in a solid climb immediately and can accelerate to Vy or the desired climbout speed easily.

Climb
Once comfortably established in climb at a safe altitude, you may want to switch the fuel to “right.” Like many 182s, 8367E fed preferentially from the left tank when the selector was on “both.” After a couple of hours a fuel imbalance tended to show up, which made my arms tired, my autopilot unhappy, and cruise speed decreased as I was flying in a slip. I ran the right gauge down even with the left, then switched to “both” until the left comes significantly down below the right, then back to “right” for a while, etc. This was not a flight-safety issue, it just eased the workload and enhanced coordinated flight. On the other hand this tendency towards fuel imbalance is much less marked in 812KT and I leave the fuel selector on both all the time. Your mileage may vary. No matter what, I switch to “both” when within at least 5-10 miles of landing.
On really warm days, to keep CHTs below 400 you may need to turn on the fuel pump to low boost and adjust throttle to keep fuel flow below the upper limit on the gauge. In 812KT if I need to do this it becomes no longer necessary above 4000 feet in the climb.
Cruise climb airspeeds from Vy to 120 KIAS work fine depending on altitude, temperature, load, and desired rate of climb. The 260SE will march right up to 15000 feet with little trouble, even in summer. I lean in climb to keep EGTs in the high 1200s-low 1300s and most importantly CHTs below 380-390 (see below).

Cruise
At desired cruise altitude, adjust pitch and trim for level flight, close cowl flaps, and allow the plane to accelerate. Above 125 KIAS acceleration will be slow. You can use the power tables provided by Todd. I have found that above about 70% power there is a poor trade-off in extra speed vs. extra fuel. Thus I personally fly the following for cruise:

Altitude MP RPM
<7500 23” 2450
>8500 max 2450 (or 2500 if I have the need for a few extra kt)

The yellow RPM range (2450-2625 rpm) is there solely for noise abatement; the engine & prop can be run in this range if desired without adverse consequences. At these settings 812KT turns in TAS of 146-148 at 7500-10,500 feet, a little slower above 10,500.

Leaning. Here’s where the EDM700 or 800 really shines. Keep in mind that the critical parameter is CHT, not EGT. The stock Cessna CHT gauge was connected to cylinder #3 in N8367E. In this cylinder, the EDM700 CHT probe had to be put in a different place and thus read hotter CHT than the other cylinders. 812KT on the other hand was set up for LOP operation if desired, so all probes are the same. I run conservatively at CHTs preferably below 380 and EGTs usually below 1400 although I don’t sweat the EGTs too much. This is usually 100-110 degrees rich of peak. Leaning this way in 812KT I regularly see block-to-block fuel consumption of ~13.5 +/- 0.5 gph for a 3-4 hour flight, depending on cruising altitude, temps, etc. Even without a fuel flow computer such as an FS450 in 8367E, I could regularly guess fuel consumption to within 5 gallons or less based on experience. Even after 4.5 hr, the most fuel I ever pumped into the tanks was 58 gallons, meaning I still had 19-20 gallons in reserve. The fuel gauges looked pretty low by that time though!

Descent
The fastest 260SE/STOLs cruise within just a few knots of the top of the green arc. However most of us are in the 125-130 KIAS range at cruise. Therefore we average Joes can just pull power back 1”-2” and pitch for the top of the green arc (~140 KIAS) to come down. I find that with power at 19”-20”, descending at ~500 fpm brings IAS up to 135-140, agreeably fast yet still good for pretty much any conditions. Cowl flaps are kept closed to retard engine cooling as much as possible. During descent I gradually retard the throttle so that when leveling off for pattern entry (1-2 miles out on the 45, for example) I am at 15”-16” mp. This gives pattern entry at 100-105 KIAS. At these low power settings one doesn’t have to be too concerned about adjusting the mixture during descent, except to keep CHTs below 380 as described above.

Power settings for IFR. 19-20” gives 120 KIAS, level flight, no flaps. For 100 KIAS, use 15”-16” with no flaps. I prefer the latter, although I have no qualms about using 120 at a busy airport. For a glideslope descent, retard power about 3” mp, or 4”-5” for a nonprecision approach descent. You made need a few nudges of aft trim to keep the plane from speeding up as it goes downhill.
Use your GNS430 here. Multiply groundspeed by 5 to get desired descent rate for an ILS glideslope. Moreover, I hardly even look at the DG during IFR approaches anymore, rather I just use the digital track reference (or even the HSI page on the Garmin 195/295) to track the desired course. This method is unconventional but easier and much more precise. I have also found during practice under the hood that with modern GPS moving map avionics, a vacuum failure is almost a non-event. Just use the turn coordinator and GPS digital track reference and/or HSI page. With just a bit of practice, you won’t even miss the AI, DG, or compass.
If you have to fly an ILS to minimums at 120, cut power to well below 1500 rpm when you break out at DH, and bring in the landing flap setting as soon as you’re in the ASI white arc. You will have a comfortable, normal 260SE landing about 1000 feet down the runway, no problem.

If necessary you can roar onto downwind at 130+ KIAS, then retard throttle to the <1500 rpm range to decelerate and fly a conventional longish pattern this way. However this is a waste of the 260SE’s talents & fuel, and to me aesthetically displeasing. The plane is high-lift, low drag compared to a stock 182, so it will not slow down as quickly as its ancestor. This means you need to plan those long straight-in approaches so as not to be too high and too fast as you near the runway.
The 260SE/STOL really excels at tight patterns with steep, slow, precise approaches to short yet smooth landings. No other aircraft in its class even comes close to matching this capability. This takes some practice, and can be most efficiently learned via some dual with Todd. For me, it also helps to sit high in the seat for better over the nose visibility in the flare. In brief, establish yourself on downwind at 65 KIAS with the same flap setting as described for takeoff (above). This will be a power setting of about 16”-17” mp. Turning base and final, control glidepath with the throttle. As you roll out on final you can start to bring the airspeed back. I use full aft trim on short final, this gives 58-65 KIAS depending on power setting and load/CG position, and a little extra manual back pressure gets the desired 50-55 KIAS. If you motor into the flare even as fast as 60, power has to come off immediately and you will float interminably: 60 is just too fast! If you’re at 55, you can bring power to idle after beginning the flare and a moderate-longish but acceptable float will result. However the really formidable short field capability of this plane is realized at over-the-fence speeds of 46-50 (!), carrying some power all the way through to a full stall touchdown. Not much power--a setting of 13”-14” works for me—but as the yoke is brought full aft the plane will settle smoothly in a nose-up attitude with relatively little float to a cushy touchdown at less than 40 KIAS and what seems like little more than a trot. Then you’ll have to add some power to taxi to the first turnoff and chuckle as tower tells that 152 on final behind you to do a 360 for spacing. Practice, practice, practice—it’s really fun!

Crosswind landings. The 260se’s crosswind landing manners are markedly superior to the stock 182. A crab down final works until ~100 feet up and maybe 1/4 mile or less, then the wing-low, opposite rudder method is just the ticket. In the slip there will be little of the sink that I have noticed with the 182 or “canard-less” Cessnas. The 260se will track down final in the slip, aligned with the runway, as though on rails. I favor a few extra knots (55 works well) if the crosswind is significant--10 kt or more for me; higher for more experienced pilots no doubt. Gusty crosswinds will require simultaneous attention to both power and pitch as in other planes, although you have the advantage that bringing up power to only 15”-16” has you in level flight or even climbing. At these slow speeds one can often make multiple tries at a touchdown on even as short as a 2500 foot runway, while in other planes a go-around would be in order for sure. If a go-around becomes necessary, full-throttle will have you climbing as though on an express elevator: roll in the trim for >Vx first, then open the cowl flaps, then retract flaps as desired and darned if you aren't almost at pattern altitude already!

Power-off (emergency) landings. Vg(lide) is 70 at max gross, no flaps. At this speed you will get ~650 fpm down and a 10:1 or 11:1 glide ratio. The slow descent rate means you have more time than in conventional planes to judge your descent path to the target and make appropriate adjustments. I fly another plane with the same 11:1 glide ratio but at a Vg of 94 and 900 fpm down, and the difference is startling! In any case, when you judge yourself too high you have plenty of tools to compensate; flaps to 20 or 40 and back to 20 as required, vary the airspeed in the 50-65 range, even slips although slips don’t seem to be as effective for losing altitude in this plane as in a stock 182. My target is to be at 57-60 on very short final with the takeoff flap setting when the landing is assured. If you get below 57-60 an undesirable sink rate will begin to develop. At 57-60 and power off you have plenty of pitch authority for a gradual flare to a soft touchdown. If really necessary, you can bring flaps to 40 degrees to decelerate faster and shorten the roundout, but I recommend practicing this before having to use it in a real “situation.”

Parking and shutdown
As above, lean for taxi and have the yoke full aft. I keep the cowl flaps closed through to shutdown unless it’s a very hot day. I leave the fuel selector on “left” to eliminate any cross-feeding.

Enjoy your 260SE/STOL! There’s no other flying experience that compares!
:p

[Alfredo]

Kevin,
That is an excellent document, thanks. I have one question for you. On your Climb section you mentioned "you can turn on the the fuel pump to low boost to keep the the cht below 400. You also said that you should adjust the throttle to keep fuel flow below the upper limit on the gauge".
This procedure do not have an adverse effect on the engine? I have never turn the fuel boost pump in flight. Second, what do you mean by "below the upper limit on the gauge"?

In here (Panama) it is very hot all the time, that why my interest... =)

[kwmoore]

There's a redline at the top (actually, the bottom) of the fuel flow guage, it's the one I referred to.

In the last few visits to David's shop he adjusted the maximum (i.e., full throttle, max rpm, sea level ISA) fuel flow upward progressively and now in the cooler autumn weather I don't have to use the fuel pump at low boost in the initial climb. I think my max fuel flow adjustment was initially too low.

[Mike Sullivan]

Kevin,

Thanks for the syllabus of information. Digestion of this material should help to serve as a smooth transition when I train with Todd in the next 3-4 weeks. Right now I'm working to become proficient on the GNS 430 using an instructional video, the downloaded manuel and a Sim on my computer.

I enjoyed meeting you and the Peterson family in Palm Springs.

Best Regards.

Mike

[witrakw]

OK. So I have had my 260se for some time now and am getting pretty comfortable with all of the bells and whistles, including the JPM 700 monitor. No problem with keeping cht's below 400 and I've read tons of stuff, including Deakin's on leaning and LOP.

Question: everybody, every article, even Deakin mandates "full rich" on climb out unless you do the "big mixture pull"(I don't do that). But if you're climbing out with full throttle, rpm 2500, as long as cht's stay below ~390-----why not lean???

It seems like all emphasis demanding full rich mixture is on avoiding detonation but according to everything that I read, there is no way it is going to happen in a non turbo engine as long as cht's stay reasonable.

In general, it seems with these IO470's as long as you keep the cht's reasonable, nothing bad is going to happen--no matter what the power setting.

Is my logic fuzzy on this, or what???


thanks for your comments. bill

[kwmoore]

In fact I do lean in the climb, as noted above:

"I lean in climb to keep EGTs in the high 1200s-low 1300s and most importantly CHTs below 390"

In recent weather/temperature condiitons out here I can start to lean at 3500-4000 feet with the above EGT/CHT parameters in mind. In the summer I had to wait until above 5000 feet. This is not aggressive, lean-of-peak leaning, just gradually retarding fuel flow to keep EGTs and CHTs as stated. Of course, the higher your climb airspeed (and consequent cooling from the airflow), the more you can lean, still maintaining temps.

[Todd Peterson]

I would tend to agree that it is ok to lean on climb as long as the hottest CHT is below 380F. In some ways too much fuel is not all that good either so you want to shoot for a happy medium.

TCM in their manual says no leaning below 5,000 ft but with all the new engine mointoring equipment we have we now know much more about what our engine is doing than in the past.

On the airplanes we build up here we install all the EGT probes at the same distance from the exhaust port. On some of the airplanes that have been field modified this distance may vary which will in turn give you a different set of EGT temps. Because of this I am cautious in using the EGT as a point of reference on airplanes I am not familiar with. The CHT is always a good reference however. You just want to make sure you are actually using the hottest cylinder for the reference as the temps can climb quickly if your not on top of things.

[kwmoore]

There's an interesting article by Steve Ells on p. 153 of the Nov. 2002 AOPA Pilot on breaking in a newly installed engine. He emphasizes [his opinion] that the first 1-2 hr of operation are really critical to get the rings properly seated and avoid "glazing"-- which I gather is formation on the cylinder walls of the mineral oil version of a creme brulee crust. I was quite unaware of many of the things he discusses in this article.

Of course by the time we take delivery of a plane from Todd, it is well past the 1-2 hr mark. I had good luck on 8367E and now 812KT following his instructions for the later phase of break-in: run at high power settings and low CHTs, with mineral oil for the first 50 hr. After break-in 67E used a quart of oil in 20-25 hr, while 2KT uses only a half quart in 35-40 hr.

I wonder about others' perspectives on the Ells article. Todd, what did you think?

[Mike Sullivan]

Kevin,

Would you mind describing in a little more detail your method for leaning prior to take-off at a high density airport? With a fixed pitch prop, I leaned full throttle, best rpm. That's difficult to do with the governor on a constant speed prop.

Thanks.

Mike

[kwmoore]

Todd would have a good last word on this.

The classic method as I recall is to lean for maximum manifold pressure, then enrich a half-turn if you can afford to be a bit gentle on the engine. Of course, this was from the days before JPI engine monitors and FS450 fuel flow instruments, and it was anyone's guess how CHTs were doing.

Now that I have an FS450, what I have done is mentally note the fuel flow readings at various altitudes during climb (full throttle, 2500 rpm), with the mixture leaned to give EGTs in the high 1200s-low 1300s and CHTs 390 or below. At sea level, full throttle and mixture rich, it's about 22 gph. In fact I would prefer 23 gph but none of the mechanics I've gone to have been willing or able to set it this high. As best I can recall, it decreases about 1 gph for each 2000 feet altitude gained. Based on such experience, if I were departing a 6000 foot elevation field I would lean initially to 18-18.5 gph fuel flow; at 8000 feet, about 17-17.5 gph. A little more on a colder-than-standard day, a little less on a warmer-than-standard day. Once off the runway and established in climb you can fine tune it. Your mileage may vary.

Prompted by your question, I will keep some written records on the next few flights. If they differ substantially from the above estimates, I'll post again!

812KT is currently at Bay Avionics (OAK) to figure out why the GNS430's VOR reception is so poor compared to the SL30, and why neither the GNS430 nor the SL30 can receive a glideslope very well. I'm hoping to get her back by the end of the week.

[jimbarstow]

Originally posted by kwmoore
Todd would have a good last word on this.

The classic method as I recall is to lean for maximum manifold pressure, then enrich a half-turn if you can afford to be a bit gentle on the engine. Of course, this was from the days before JPI engine monitors and FS450 fuel flow instruments, and it was anyone's guess how CHTs were doing.

Now that I have an FS450, what I have done is mentally note the fuel flow readings at various altitudes during climb (full throttle, 2500 rpm), with the mixture leaned to give EGTs in the high 1200s-low 1300s and CHTs 390 or below. At sea level, full throttle and mixture rich, it's about 21 gph. As best I can recall, it decreases about 1 gph for each 2000 feet altitude gained. Based on such experience, if I were departing a 6000 foot elevation field I would lean initially to 18-18.5 gph fuel flow; at 8000 feet, about 17-17.5 gph. A little more on a colder-than-standard day, a little less on a warmer-than-standard day. Once off the runway and established in climb you can fine tune it. Your mileage may vary.

Prompted by your question, I will keep some written records on the next few flights. If they differ substantially from the above estimates, I'll post again!

812KT is currently at Bay Avionics (OAK) to figure out why the GNS430's VOR reception is so poor compared to the SL30, and why neither the GNS430 nor the SL30 can receive a glideslope very well. I'm hoping to get her back by the end of the week.

Is you plane still at bay avionics? I fly out of alameda aero club at OAK and have been thinking of buying a 260 se. I haven't seen one in the flesh and was wondering if you'd mind if I dropped by to take a look at it. (I promise I'll be good and keep my hands in my pockets.)

jim barstow

[kwmoore]

It's there until at least tomorrow (Friday) afternoon. After I received your e-mail the other day I called to let them know you might stop by to look at it.

They found the problems in short order and are getting them fixed.

[jimbarstow]

Originally posted by kwmoore
It's there until at least tomorrow (Friday) afternoon. After I received your e-mail the other day I called to let them know you might stop by to look at it.

They found the problems in short order and are getting them fixed.

I stopped by this afternoon and you have one beautiful plane. (Makes the 172's I fly seem even more shabby than they are.) Now if I can just get my wife to agree that we need a plane...

Thanks for call. I walked in and they were all prepped.

[kwmoore]

If you'll e-mail me your contact info (phone #'s etc.), perhaps we can go for a ride when I pick it up, or one of the following weekends.

Thanks for the compliments--I guarantee you'll think it flies less shabbily than those 172s! :)

[kwmoore]

I picked up 812KT at Bay Avionics today. With a little time to spare I flew for a while to test the VOR and glideslope reception. Both are MUCH improved, and apparently ready for prime time.

I also did a fuel-flow vs altitude at climb power profile as promised for Mike. Conditions were pretty close to standard, density altitude never more than 400 feet greater than indicated altitude. Altimeter 30.08. My own hottest cylinder is #5, with #4 just a couple of degrees behind. The data below are from #5. For the climb I used full throttle, 2550 rpm, cowl flaps open. Mixture was full rich until 4000 feet, when I started to lean to keep EGT at 1320-1335 on #5 which I know is obtained when I lean to best power. Much more importantly CHTs were always 371 or less. IAS varied from 115 down low to 95 as we reached 9500 feet to achieve a rate of climb of 600-700 fpm. Fuel flow is from the FS450, but my analog fuel flow gauge is pretty close too.

Altitude; OAT; #5 CHT; Fuel flow, gph

4000 52F 352 19.5
5000 49 355 18.3
6000 48 362 17.5
7000 48 366 16.7
8000 45 369 15.7
9000 41 371 15.4
9500 39 360 14.8

So, at Big Bear (6749' elevation field), I think I would feel pretty safe leaning to 17-17.5 gph when starting the takeoff roll. YMMV--each engine is different. I know Todd's 58780 and Glen's 2099X seem to burn about 1 gph less than mine at cruise. You can do this for your own plane using the analog fuel flow gauge if you don't have an electronic one.

[Mike Sullivan]

Kevin,

Thanks for the very useful information. I think it will give me a starting point to determine my own settings when flying into high density airports. I have several friends who tell me they always depart full rich no matter the altitude of runway. I've had enough experience with motorcycles in Colorado to know not to do that.

So you're saying you keep full rpm and full throttle through the entire climb? I haven't been doing that. My instructor told me to bring rpm's and throttle back right after lift off. Says it will save the life of the engine.

#4 cylinder is my hottest cylinder, the one I lean to, but while flying on Friday the JPI gauge quit scrolling the #4 CHT. Bummer!! I called Todd and he says it's probably a bad prob. Also, my oil pressure gauge is reading excessively high which concerns me more than the probe. Took it to a shop this morning for probe change and oil pump adjustment.

Can't seem to get enough flying hours in.

Thanks for your settings.

Mike

[kwmoore]

No I do not usually climb the way I described. I did that to simulate as closely as possible takeoff power/performance at the various altitudes.

Normally I reduce rpm to 2500 in the initial climb and keep it there. I do not reduce manifold pressure, although I guess there's little harm in doing so. I used to do this until I noticed that backing off from full throttle markedly decreased fuel flow and actually worsened engine cooling in the climb! The 260se climbs so well that in less than 4 minutes you're above 4000 feet and manifold pressure is down to 25" or less on its own anyway.

The IO-470 is rated to TBO at full power/full rpm. A few extra minutes (seconds?) at high power likely aren't going to hurt significantly, so long as you use your EDM700 to maintain CHTs in the safe regime. Your instructor sounds like he maybe hasn't quite absorbed the use of the EDM700 and the significance of the information it provides. :confused:

[Mike Sullivan]

Believe me, he hasn't, and he's real old school. But that's ok, he's a good pilot.

My JPI just had a loose wire and the oil pressure gauge is way out of calibration. Thank God!!

Mike

[witrakw]

Deakin has some pretty informative and "how to" articles on the AVWEB site listed under "columns". He gives a pretty cookbook approach to power settings, cht's, egt's during climb, cruise, and descent in several of his articles that make a lot of sense to me.

Especially if you have an edm . I pretty much do as he says(hope he's right!!!)

bill

[Todd Peterson]

I think his views are pretty well thought out and proven through a lot of experience. I always try to evaluate for myself his recommendations then follow those that make sense to me.

I have been getting a little more experience doing annual inspections on 260SE's that are being run LOP. Our own 260SE, N58780, has been run LOP quite a bit as have some of the others I have annualed. At present I cannot say that it seems to have caused any problems. Spark plugs are clean, oil consumption is very low, filters and screens are clean and the compression check indicates no problems.

I do believe the biggest issue is keeping the CHT's within the normal range. This being done everything else seems to work out fine. However as with most everything in aviation if you do not have a full understanding of operating LOP I would not suggest you go there.

I am also finding something interesting with the 260SE's. In the past I have always found a cruise rpm of 2,400 to 2,450 to be the smoothest and therefore probably the best rpm to run at. Lately I am finding that with the prop dynamically balanced that a power setting of 23"/2,300 rpm seems to work very well with maybe a knot or two of speed improvement. I have been running N58780 at 23 square for a while now and like it. One of our Millenium Edition 260SE's just came in for an annual and we went out and found 23 square worked good for it to. On this particular airplane there was a small amount of canard vibration which all but stopped at 23 square so there was an added bonus.

While I would still probably not recommend this for airplanes that have not had their props dynamically balanced I would suggest for those of you that have had this done to give 23 square a try and see how you like it. At altitudes of 5,000 ft and below this results in a power setting of about 67% which is pretty much the same as 22'/2,450 so the fuel consumption will be roughly the same. For those of you that try it let me know what you think.

Happy Flying

[kwmoore]

...in response to some questions I received from someone interested in the 260se.