Checkers, Good questions
If I answer them now folk will be getting a head start in the course
1. Quite easy when you do regular data reviews and know what you are looking at. Ironically John Deakin and I had some email banter overnight about several graphs of data on this very topic. Theses examples and many more are gone over with considerable time to study in the course.
Every owner should do this for every engine and in particular right before the LAME gets it for a 100hrly. Most problems give you ample warning, some 20-40 hours, some problems which could develop into major ones 2-400 hours later can be seen by the trained eye, if there is data and a trained eye.
The very reason I say, ROI for this training is huge, maybe drug running is a higher return, but the risk reward is not so good.
As for the failure Jack is referring to, that may never have been seen coming, but there is not enough information so far. We are investigating though.
2. Shut it down
IMMEDIATELY and divert. No ifs buts or maybe's. You may not have time to even fiddle or dick about with it. A lot more of that in the course. Pictures too!
3. Another good question, not sure who asked it, but anyway, when you do the classes you will soon see why reducing MP delays the ICP and thats fine by itself, however reducing the RPM just moves the ICP back up to a similar theta PP and the double whammy kicks in all at a reduced fuel flow (TCM/CMI is rpm dependant) and even in a Lyc with a mass airflow fuel controller its still not good either.
This old wives tale, that is to this day taught by flying schools, I flew with young PyroTek once and after I chastised him for doing this we did a second go at things. Plane went up faster, forward faster, CHT cooler happy Jaba.
Despite all the APS data shown in the course material, I went and did a test at Watts Bridge, I had a VA B737 guy fly (coz he is gooderer at nailing the numbers) and I fiddled the levers. Using a constant IAs of 120, we did four climbs to 5500'. One was a APS target EGT, a full rich touch nothing, a 25/2500 as the schools teach, and another Target EGT run to prove the data was consistent with the first. You know which one was at TOC quicker, used less fuel etc.....and yes the two options of full rich or full rich 25/2500 were in order of unkind to the engine. Both in terms of deposits and the later deposits and CHT.
APS have nothing to sell you like a snake oil salesman, it is simply data backed science, methods proven over hundreds of millions, no billions of hours in flight, yet flying schools and people on pprune etc keep perpetuating the OWT's
One last point, there is a lot of stuff in an APS class that will never be discussed on an internet forum, some of it is just too hard to explain in one or two posts, and the consequences of doing so is that some half clued up genius gets it wrong.
It would be fair to say that you do not know what you do not know....I am a classic example of this all the time! But no matter what I say here, unless you attend, you will never appreciate it. I think this is why those who do know, sort of sound like some evangelistic nutter to the doubting Thomas folk. Unfortunately the ones who
THINK they know it all and will never sign up, are the very ones who need to attend the most. This can't be taught here.
It all comes back to Return On Investment to me. My training has paid me back in my estimation between $25000 and $30000 so far in terms of fuel and maintenance costs, and most likely extended TBO, just on one aircraft alone in around 750 hours so far. My investment was a lot more than $1290 though, that trip cost me $35K (yeah Mrs Jaba and adult jabettes went too) but it has almost paid for that!!