Wunwing,
The 20,000 hours of jet time you have participated in has been a tiny part of the problem. The invention of the jet engine and the jet age. All the knowledgable folk, engineering effort and focus was shifted from piston to jet. As a result 50 years ago the trouble started.
There is no Witch Dr stuff in the science of combustion, it has been well known and documented since pre WWII and the basis for much of the APS class that "yr right" seems to fear so much. In fact that knowledge base got lost with the advent of the jet.
The fact that the guys back 50 years ago had it right, and with modern data collection and development by a small few in the last 15 -20 years simply proves they had it right back then, speaks volumes.
The facts are the fuel burns the same today as it did in the 40's and before, the cylinders know no different either. What happened was lots of technically unsound stuff crept in and folklore was made. Most of which created a big drift between knowledge that was correct and that which was misguided. The cause of this was not understanding the difference between correlation and causation.
hope that helps.
