BTIZ wrote:

I'll echo that... we did an overhaul by a local shop. Piper Pawnee
O-540-235HP with STC to 250HP

Then it was start and go.. no ground time.. it was 100F out and we did not
want to overheat on the ground... FULL Power climb to 10,000MSL where the
outside temps were cooler and we could run it full throttle at cruise.

Well, glad to hear it's still doing OK, but in a normally aspirated
engine, you're not gonna' make the higher power settings you need for a
good breakin at 10,000msl. You're prolly not going to be able to make
much more than 55% power, even *at* full throttle.

Would have been better to stay lower where you could make 65-75% power
with that engine during those critical, first break-in hours.