FFF sorry, missed your point! Yes, I would agree that different types of engines may need a different warm up regime although I can't see there would be that much change between different types except for possibly certain rpm's that must be avoided because of resonance or for engines that heat up quickly eg Merlins & Griffons when fitted to Spits (wish I had that problem
) or conversly big air cooled radials that take an age to warm up (wish I had that problem too
). Anybody out there with complex engine experience such as big radials, GITSO's etc to enlighten us??
Personally for Lycomings, Continentals and Cirrus engines I've just pointed them into wind and run at a fast idle around 1,000 - 1,200 rpm until the needle in the temperature gauge moves off it's stop which is usually around the 40C mark. Once the gauge shows some indication then I do my power checks which further warms the engine and hopefully clears any plug fouling during the 1,500rpm power check. Finally taxiing to the takeoff position should get the whole shebang warm enough to take full power safely so it's up to full power to check for plug fouling and off to the big blue sky!
I face into wind because the inefficient part of the prop near the hub doesn't throw a lot of air through the air intakes and the cylinder heads get hotter faster than the rest of the engine and still need a flow of cooling air over them as the rest of the engine warms up.
In the Hewland water-cooled engine in the ARV I was taught to do the same although facing into wind wasn't as important as the heat generated by the heads was circulated rapidly through the engine to warm it up. Also the radiator scoop was under the belly and got (marginally) better airflow from the prop compared to the more common nose intakes. All in all the process was far quicker than for an air cooled engine especially on a cold day. Much more car-like except for the old Beetle of course