Walter
A X A posted
. I'm pretty sure that RutanAround was being ironic
He is correct and I'll risk outing myself here when I tell you that you and I have met and chatted at an Australian APS. I learned to fly in 72 ( well started then. I'm still learning) When I asked my instructor how leaning hurt the engine he said the excess oxygen rusted out exhausts. I asked how just a few molecules of oxygen could do that. He didn't know - it just did. Then I asked how come diesel trucks didn't burn out their exhausts because diesels always have an excess of oxygen in their exhausts. He said they must have different metal in their exhaust systems. He also said leaning even further caused rough running due to lean misfire.
Only in the 90s did I learn the real reasons for these problems and then at the APS the whole picture was explained with great clarity.
The reason for the sarcasm was that people who won't look at data or are too lazy to try and understand it really annoy me. When hard data contradicts what they were taught they appear to prefer the unsubstantiated information given to them by someone just parroting whatever they were taught.
My father in law and a good friend both died of stomach ulcers even though the cause and cure had been discovered by then. It took 20-25 years before the medical generally accepted the data. How many people died a miserable death because doctors were too stubborn or to lazy to to critically examine the new data as it became available?
How many aircraft engines life will be shortened because some pilots don't understand the data?