Extended full-power in small pistons

In rec.aviation.student Mxsmanic wrote:
Michael Ash writes:

This is the kind of amusing idealism that is common from someone not very
well versed in the real world.

I don't think there's anything idealistic about it. My guess is that
certification of engines is so extraordinarily expensive, and private plane
owners are so (relatively) poor, that nobody could afford to pay for a truly
modern piston engine. So the same designs are used for decades.

What a total non sequitur. The idealism was referring to your statement
that it would be great if pilots could just concentrate on the flying and
ignore the engine. Well it's true, it would be great, but there's this
little thing called reality which gets in the way.

It's like saying "wouldn't it be great if everybody could just get
together in harmony and we wouldn't fight war no more". Well yes, it
would, but that sort of thinking is still hopelessly idealistic,
especially when you run with it instead of just having it as a passing
fancy.

The situation is different with airlines, because they have more money and can
save more money. The economics favor advances in engine design and control,
and certification is much less of an expense.

At least that's my guess. But it does keep private pilots back in the 1940s.

Airliners may have better engine management systems but it's still there.
And don't paint all private pilots with the same brush. There are great
differences from one type of plane to another.

I used to feel the same way, but reality simply is not cooperative in this
respect. Technology can compensate to some degree. You no longer need to
know very much about cars at all to own one (for which I am eternally
grateful). But you still need to know some things. The car can't protect
you against everything. You still have to think about when to get your oil
changed (even if the computer reminds you), you still have to know that
shifting into reverse while on the highway is not a good move, etc.

Yes, but you don't have to adjust mixture and timing as you drive. You don't
have to worry about the exhaust temperature. You have a cooling system that
doesn't vary dramatically in efficiency with your speed. And so on.

Yep, but my point is that you still have to think about it to *some*
extent. Try starting the car in -20 degree weather, then immediately
flooring it while in park and holding the pedal to the floor until the gas
runs out. This is going to do bad things. Try driving around in 1st gear
all the time, ditto, even though it will force an upshift at redline. Try
hooking up a big fat trailer to a small car and then driving up and down
big mountains at 70MPH, your transmission will be lucky to last the week.

If you think engine management is distracting, you should see what *I*
have to go through to stay aloft. All sorts of thinking going on there.
And yet I and every other glider pilot manages to fly the plane too.

But glider pilots like going through the extra stuff, otherwise they wouldn't
be glider pilots. And you don't have to worry about an engine.

And you think that no power pilots like engine management? From what I've
seen, for a significant proportion of these guys, getting maximum
performance out of the engine, minimizing fuel burn, holding CHT to the
exact right value, and tweaking that last few miles of range out of the
engine is an enormous thrill. I don't share in that enthusiasm myself but
it's definitely there in some guys.

--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon