Actually, the engine cools fine on the ground without the thermostat as it
does have a BIG fan out front.

===>  Ed, does it cool well enough to do extended ground runs at high power,
or just well enough to taxi and run-up before takeoff ?  I'm still debating
a bit about installing the monster cooling fan that I have.


In the air, on cold winter days at modest
power settings (like cruise), the coolant temp can drop down to 150F which
is a bit on the cool side.  

===>  That was exactly what I needed to know.  Thanks.  If having only 150F
in cruise was my only problem, I think I'd consider myself pretty lucky :-)

Not saying don't use a thermostat, just saying I tried twice and for
whatever reason (poor cooling system design?) did not have success.  Almost
cooked my engine twice, so decided it was not worth messing with.

===>  Fair enough. Thanks again.

Rusty