Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffAxel
I had GAMIs on my P337 and the engines ran fine with them. Ran them at 65% power, 23-24gph total in cruise which got me a TAS of 185 in the high teens with cool temperatures even in the summer with the cowl flaps closed. My P337 had intercoolers, air conditioning and VGs so was slower than some, you might do better TAS wise. The best part was the cylinders looked clean as a whistle when we borescoped them. Never had to clean spark plugs.
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Air conditioning is the ONE THING this plane doesn't have that I REALLY wanted. Intercoolers, winglets, STOL kits, and VG's are all cool (no pun intended), but when you walk outside into a North Texas August day - 100 degrees, 60% humidity - its AIR CONDITIONING your body and mind are wishing you had!
First flight, I took off south of Denver from about 6700' on a 90 degree day. Wouldn't want to do that in a non-turbo! Heat wasn't really an issue leaving Denver climbing to 17.5K, but cabin temps were beginning to get a bit uncomfortable during the last minutes of the flight as we descended down into the Texas heat to my home airport at about 700' elevation.
Whatever airspeed and useful load you may give up is WORTH IT to have AC!!!
Regarding GAMIs, do you lean to peak TIT, or wait for the last cylinder to peak as you lean for LOP operations? I got about 28 GPH, but I was feeding it fuel like a drunken sailor on shore leave. TIT never went above 1400. I actually ran the rear engine a bit richer to keep its temps in line with the front. Probably should've just opened the rear cowl, or just accepted the temp diff. CHT's were all well under 400, so it wasn't a huge deal, just 10-20 degrees higher in the rear.