Hi Denny, the pot is boiling. The Lycoming and Continental flat engines fire both Magnetos staggered, that is to say not simultaneously. So your flame front theory is confirmed. Also back in the late 30s the old CAA mandated 2 magnetos as a safety requirement and I think the upgrade to 2 mags made the extra performance just happen with the addition of the extra mag. The coil and point ignition on our old trucks/cars is all they had back then. The modern HEI without points to burn and go out of adjustment eliminates the need for the old fashioned tune ups every 8000/10000 miles. You remember those, points, plugs, rotor, distributor cap, plug wires, maybe coil adjust dwell, point gap etc, etc. I don't think Its a question of performance as much as not having to do tune ups. I drove my 96 Chevy 4.3 1/2 ton 230K and never changed a plug. Thats what HEI does. It keeps the maintenance down. I don't know that the performance is that much better than a well adjusted old fashioned points and plugs system. So you are 99.9% possibly, maybe, almost correct in your claim that HEI is no better. Some of us would rather cruise than tinker. I know you as you admitted to me would rather tinker than cruise. Did you ever sell that Pitts and get that hangar cleaned out? I am still coming to Sandwich for that cup of coffee. Too cold now, no heat in the sub, maybe in April? Is this the 21st century? Happy turkey day!
Weeds
