QuestionC206Driver
 

Whats the best way of leaning a 206 engine (IO-520) for T/O in say conditons for D/H equal to 4000ft, to get max performance, when T/O on a gravel strip and advoiding prop damage. Also Short field take off tech
used by others also.
Don't say POH cause it's not there.
Thanks

Is there anywhere that would allow you to do a runup? Not necessarily in the RWY or holding point area of course.

Otherwise your options are:

1. leave it full rich & lean after t/off

2. Lean it while on the move - possibly during a taxi along the runway. Be careful with this as it would be an understatement to say that it is easy to lose control!

3. Briefly set full power & lean while on the flight in to the airstrip. Obviously this needs to be done as close as practicable to the aistrip elevation & temp.

Note the mixture position & use something richer than this for take off.

Flew lots of 206s in parachuting operations for a few years. I reckon option 3 is a pretty good plan...

If you have more than one aircraft, they will tend to lean to different positions but otherwise you should be able to find the max. power mixture position in a climb at full power at your take-off altitude. This is going to be a little richer that the point where the engine starts sounding a little rough. If you set the mixture just rich of this point it should work out fine provided you always give it full power right at the start of the roll to check - most of them will hold full power against the brakes.

For v. short, suggest plenty of flap, but each aircraft varies a lot in what works well. The former float planes will fly much slower as they have huge elevators. Ideally you want Robinson STOL flaps. If you use extra flap don't forget to trim back a bit and try it out on a longer runway first.

Please be careful with all this stuff. Practise as much as you can somewhere long and safe cos you only need to cock it up once !