"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:GZe1f.405624$_o.128570@attbi_s71...
Let me try that again. How can you overspeed an engine with a (properly)
fixed pitch prop?

In level cruise, full throttle is sufficient in some aircraft (may or may
not be in the particular Warrior in question). Even if full throttle is
not, anything that increases airspeed at full throttle is sufficient:
descent (intended or not) or wind shear, for example.

A propeller -- fixed-pitch, variable pitch, constant speed, whatever --
provides a load on the engine which in turns keeps the RPM below the
designed maximum. As airspeed increases, this load is reduced. Some
propellers (constant speed, for example) can increase blade pitch to
compensate and maintain a constant load on the engine. But a fixed-pitch
propeller does not have this option; RPM is determined solely by airspeed
and power setting. If you increase airspeed without reducing the power
setting, the RPM will increase (and of course, as I stated above, in some
installations full-power throttle is sufficient to exceed the designed
maximum RPM when in level cruise flight).

I'm just passing along what my A&P has told me. He's got 42 years in the
engine rebuilding business, and is an award winning home builder and
antique aircraft restorer. According to him, our Lycoming/Continental
engines are purposefully designed to be slow-turning engines -- even at
full throttle -- in order for them to survive all the way to TBO.

Your interpretation of even the statement you're attributing to your A&P
(and that's assuming you understood him correctly) doesn't support your
previous statement. An engine designed to turn at low RPM does not preclude
it being harmed at high RPM, and in fact if the design calls for low RPM
it's entirely possible (likely, even) that exceeding that low RPM would harm
the engine.

Beyond that, the reasoning given in your description of his statement is
flawed in any case. The primary reason aircraft engines turn slowly is so
that they match the needs of the propeller without adding a gearcase to the
installation.

There is no harm running an O-320 with a fixed pitch prop at full
throttle. You'll make more noise, burn more gas, and go (a little) faster.

Provided you do not exceed the manufacturer-determined maximum RPM, I will
agree with you 100%. However, one needs to be careful not to exceed that
maximum RPM, and running full-throttle makes it easier to exceed that
maximum RPM.

Pete