Yesterday, the weather was outstanding.  A little cool at 56
degrees, but sunny and no wind.  It was very nice to drive only 15
minutes to the airport, to take the plane up for a flight around
the area.



On the flight bringing it up to NC 2 weeks ago, I thought that the
engine was running a little rich, and after trying option 9 to lean
it up, it really didn't change too much.  Then, in a moment of
sheer brilliance, I decided to lean it a little more using mode 3.
Still didn't change the mixture much, but I was happy with it, so I
left it alone.  When I throttled back upon arrival, the mixture
bottomed out, and the engine stumbled pretty bad.  After a quick
rotation of the mixture control, and a couple clicks on option 9,
it was running good again, until I throttled back a little more,
and started the cycle all over again.



A couple of days later, I went to the airport and decided at this
point, my best option was to return to factory default, and start
over, which I did.  After tuning it for 10 minutes or so, I figured
it was good enough for a flight.



After preflight and taxi, my oil temperature was at 140 degrees,
but my coolant was still laying on the 100 degree peg.  That is
quite different than normal.  I waited for a few minutes until it
started to move, just to make sure that it was working.  When I
took off, I pushed the throttle forward, and the engine roared to
life.  It really roared to life, because it was running at about 8
lbs of boost.  I backed it down a little to 5 lbs, and it backfired
once, but then ran smoothly.   After climb out to about 2000 feet,
the water and oil were only at 160 degrees, which was really a
surprise.  It was a little cooler than normal, but the temperatures
were running about 20 degrees cooler.



I flew for about 20 minutes, surveying my new flying area, and just
enjoying the view.  I then decided to check out the tuning and
started lowering the power.  I found several points where the
mixture was really lean, and I made adjustments (option 9 only) to
get it where it needed to be.  I think that it probably tuned
better now, than it ever has been, so I'm not going to mess with it
anymore.



Temperatures never did get above 160 degrees, which makes me wonder
if I had an air bubble in the cooling system that worked out
during, or after the long flight 2 weeks ago.  Whatever it is, I
like it.  I slowed up to 100 kits approaching the downwind, and
made a perfect approach and landing.  After the decent and landing,
temperatures were at about 140 degrees, and the engine was running
very good.



It's very nice to can add fuel and fly, but I think that before my
next flight, I'll pull the top cowling, and just give everything a
once over, to make sure that everything is still good.  I'll also
re-torque the prop.



Steve Brooks

Cozy MKIV N75CZ

Turbo Rotary - 48 hours and counting.