<VV> Re: jets for power

[corvair at mts.net]

Why no smoke? I assume (I know, I know...) that you don't see the smoke because of the huge amount of air flow from the big fan up front.... dilutes it in a hurry!

At sea level, at full throttle, full rich probably isn't too far off max power afr. How many people fly at sea level though? As you go up, full rich becomes too rich and you need to lean. We're at about 720 asl here and that's enough to make a difference.

Les

> 
> From: NicolCS at aol.com
> Date: 2005/09/21 Wed AM 11:00:22 CDT
> To: virtualvairs at corvair.org,  corvair at mts.net
> Subject: jets for power
> 
> I'm not a piston engine pilot or any kind of pilot for that matter.  I made 
> the silly assumption that the full rich setting on an airplane carb yielded 
> 12:1 or so, which is the max power afr.  Evidently, it's richer than that.  Why 
> doesn't a piston airplane exhibit black exhaust smoke as it does on a car 
> engine when they are over rich?  Why not grey smoke as when an a car engine is 
> passing unburnt fuel out the exhaust?
> Craig (always learning) Nicol
> Sorry guys, every piston engine pilot knows that max power is NOT found at 
> full rich. 
> 
>