Running lean-of-peak is nothing new. Lindbergh used LOP mixture settings so he didn't run out of gas crossing the Atlantic, and he taught his technique to P-38 pilots in the Pacific.
So, if LOP has been around for at least eighty years, why isn't it more commonly used? Pilots are generally taught to use full rich mixture on takeoff and only lean after reducing power. This is usually done seat-of-the pants by leaning the engine until it gets a bit rough, then enrichening the mixture. In other words, there are probably a lot more pilots running rich-of-peak than run lean-of-peak, even though avgas is ridiculously expensive. There are several reasons why: To do it right, you need an exhaust gas temperature gauge with probes for each cylinder. Also, carbureted engines have poor fuel distribution, and even most fuel injected engines have quite a bit of variation in the amount of fuel that gets to each cylinder. So the conventional wisdom is it is safer to run rich-of-peak EGT than lean. Never mind that a lot of pilots (including Lindbergh) have proven it works.
FWIW, you probably drive a vehicle every day that is running a fuel mixture that is at peak EGT. Most cars with catalytic converters and oxygen sensors run very close to a stoichiometric air-fuel mixture, because that's where the catalytic converter works best.
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Today's Featured Article - Listening to Your Tractor - by Curtis Von Fange. Years ago there was a TV show about a talking car. Unless you are from another planet, physically or otherwise, I don’t think our internal combustion buddies will talk and tell us their problems. But, on the other hand, there is a secret language that our mechanical companions readily do speak. It is an interesting form of communication that involves all the senses of the listener. In this series we are going to investigate and learn the basic rudimentary skills of understanding this lingo.
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