Originally Posted by
rutan around
Just like I expected the POH in my 210 to be written by engineers and expected my brand new IO520 designed by engineers to have all 6 cylinders put out pretty equal power whatever the mixture. Luckily 3 non engineers sorted out both problems and saved me a bucket of $$$$$$$.
Or they convinced you there is a problem with a perfectly good engine.
I hate to burst your bubble, but on the lean side of
peak power i.e. if you lean at all, power is more dependent on fuel quantity than air. So if the airflows to each cylinder are uneven it doesn't matter much.
A bit more air moves you further from peak power mixture, a bit less air moves you closer to peak power mixture. If the
fuel flows are even the power from each cylinder will be reasonably even.
If you make the mixtures the same, the power from each cylinder will be uneven, matching the uneven airflow. But you can get leaner overall before the first cylinder gets too lean to run.