Continental A65 Mixture

[cpirrmann]

Hello All,
Can anyone tell me why my Tcraft has the mixture safety-wired full rich at the carb instead of a mixture control? Cubs and Champs have a mixture control, why not the T-Craft?
A65-8 Continental, Stromberg Carb, 1946 BC-12D

Thanks

[Dano"T"]

Re: Continental A65 Mixture

I've never seen a cub with a functioning mixture control on an A65 through C90.....they don't work for crap on the strombergs....that's why they are wire rich.

[1938BF50]

Re: Continental A65 Mixture

I have an original A-65 operators manual (1944 I think) that specifically calls for the mixture to be safety wired full rich.

[NY86]

Re: Continental A65 Mixture

.....they don't work for crap on the strombergs....

It doesn't have to be that way, but first you gotta believe!

[crispy critter]

Re: Continental A65 Mixture

John,They say that seeing is believing but believing ain't always enough.I tried hooking the mixture up on a few of those old Stromburgs and the out usually wasn't very good.Leave it full rich or trade up to a MS carb.

[Len Petterson]

Re: Continental A65 Mixture

KZU is running rich, can it be what the needle has moved as it was ok before.
I understand the primer pump can leak by and cause the same problem.
The pluggs where carbon fouled= pitch black and she ran on 3 cyl. on the left mag=bottom pluggs. top was better but not good.
Any hints. The big brass screw is idle air adjustment if I am not wrong.
Any hints are welcome.
Len

[VictorBravo]

Re: Continental A65 Mixture

The mixture on a Stromberg carburetor works, in the same sort of way that buying Raquel Welch a drink in a bar works. It couldn't hurt, and it may help under the right circumstance, but it's not exactly a guaranteed magic potion to achieve a lofty goal.

You'll probably still walk out of the bar without Raquel, and you'll probably still take the long way around the mountains

Under ideal conditions (which I now have, thanks to L-2 Gary), the mixture control works. But it works to a small degree, not a big degree. I suspect it will help prevent the plugs from fouling a little, and in my experience it's worth about an extra 25-40 RPM at 5000 feet.

[cpirrmann]

Re: Continental A65 Mixture

Thanks to eveyone who replied. As always, your information was most useful.
I can actually buy Raquel Welch a drink!

[alwaysoar]

Re: Continental A65 Mixture

Isn't Raquel about 107 years old? You're dating yourself.

[VictorBravo]

Re: Continental A65 Mixture

She's exactly as old as my Taylorcraft (1940), and I read somewhere that at 65, her measurements are still something like 36D-25-36...

Now I could have said "Britney Spears", or "Pamela Anderson", but we're on a classic airplane website forum here, and the leading ladies of today can't seem to hold a candle to the ladies that were leading any time within 20 years of when our airplanes were built.

If I found myself in a bar and had to choose between buying Britney or Raquel a drink, well.... you may remember I went for a T-craft not a Cessna 150.

The Taylorcraft will still be as sexy when Raquel is long gone and when all of us are long gone for that matter. I'm hoping that someone in the futurewill make a smart-assed post about the Bendix mixture, comparing it to buying a drink for whoever is the actress du jour 50 years from now!

[alwaysoar]

Re: Continental A65 Mixture

I meant no disrespect to Raquel or you, and of course your anology makes good sense when you consider that our venerable TCrafts have also had face lifts, botox, nips and tucks and all the other cosmetic surgery that makes something 66 look 36.

[crispy critter]

Re: Continental A65 Mixture

Yeah but with the advances in modern processes we can always contiue to make our t-crafts look and fly better and younger no matter how old they are.....try taking Britney or Pamala for a ride in 50 years or try to make them look brand new again! T-crafts are forever.....supermodels are just pictures we hang on our hanger walls and they are thrown out and replaced when the seasons change,but the little t-craft is still there.

[cpirrmann]

Re: Continental A65 Mixture

Yeah but with the advances in modern processes we can always contiue to make our t-crafts look and fly better and younger no matter how old they are.....try taking Britney or Pamala for a ride in 50 years or try to make them look brand new again! T-crafts are forever.....supermodels are just pictures we hang on our hanger walls and they are thrown out and replaced when the seasons change,but the little t-craft is still there.

Here;Here Tcrafts aren't just for those who jump on the latest fad or need to be told what's attractive (even when their instincts tell them otherwise). They're for those who know a beautiful shape when they see it and appreciate what is truly good and beautiful. I can't tell you how many times I've had corporate pilots flying jets and turbo twins tell me they wish they could fly like us.

BTW, If I had to choose a venerable classic, I would go for Sophia Loren. She still looks good and I believe she still has her original grade A cotton.

[NY86]

Re: Continental A65 Mixture

One reason the Stromberg mixture control is so maligned is that the Stromberg hardly needs one. Saying it has little effect is really saying that it was pretty much OK without one. Continental recommends leaving it alone below 5000 ft. Why? Because the carb does fine on its own. Many folk have gone to 10,000 ft and beyond with the mixture wired rich. How? Because the carb works fine on its own. Try that with a Marvel-Schebler wired rich. By 5000' you'll be belching black smoke and running like Carp.

Reason 2 the Stromberg mixture control is so maligned: It does not function as an idle cutoff. It was never intended to, but if the MS carb does it and this one doesn't, the MS must be better.

A properly operating Stromberg mixture control may get you an additional 50 - 100 RPM at 8 - 10,000 ft. More likely it'll just cut a gallon or so off your burn rate. Does this mean it's junk? I don't think so...

Q: Why does my plane perform so much better now that I have this Marvel-Schebler carb?

A: Because your wallet is so much lighter.

TMSAISTI

[alwaysoar]

Re: Continental A65 Mixture

But to be sure, you might want to punch test Sophia.