Bill Freeman wrote:

Paul,

When we used to run the Canard Flyin here, and on
a business trip (we both work for Allied Signal) I have
discussed with Gary a lot of the fine work that Gary Hetzler has
done with his super fast and efficient VariEZ.  He says
that unless you are above 10K ft there is no real
advantage to electronic over mags for a std
AC engine,   EXCEPT (a big one) for starting
easier.  Basically, you can't gain anything
of significant value unless you are running very
low power and can stand a LOT of advance.

Witness the death of the LASAR (LAZAR?)
system - nobody could figure out how you
were going to get $2500 worth of benefit from
a pair of variable mag/electronic units.  Sorry, but
for 90% of std AC engines, fixed timing is just
fine.  The guys running Long EZs with 150 hp
motors at 17,500 ft ( < 50% power) can get
significant gains because they can run a LOT
of advance.  Below oxygen altitudes, really hard
to locate the gain.

Bill

 
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