Flying on 3 or 4 cylinders

"Robert M. Gary" wrote:

Anyway, it got me wondering what would happen if you lost both plugs
in a cylinder during cruise (certainly take off would suck).

I took off from Princeton once in a Cessna 150. She started running rough after
takeoff, but she still had enough power to climb, I was already at altitude, and I
judged that it was safe to make the short trip to Kupper rather than return to
Princeton. About half way to Kupper, the roughness got worse and I lost some more
power, but I was able to maintain altitude at nearly full throttle. When I throttled
back for the landing, the vibration eased up quite a bit.

When the mechanic checked it out, we discovered that the plug wire for the top plug
on one cylinder had died. The other plug had fouled under the combination of a heavy
power demand and cool cylinder.

So. To answer your question. In that aircraft, there was more than enough power to
maintain altitude. There was a great deal of vibration, which could have damaged the
engine mounts had it continued for very long. If it happens to you, you should be
able to make the nearest airport, but you will probably not be able to execute a
go-round if one becomes necessary.

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.