Watching a few YouTube videos where you can see the fuel flow gauges (all looked like shadin digiflows) can’t really tell if they were ground leaned or not.

Fuel burns all per engine:

421 (unsure if ram etc)
Idle 7gph
Takeoff: 46gph

414 Ram IV
Idle 4gph
Takeoff 32gph

Aerostar 601P
Idle 3.7gph
Takeoff 28gph

Aerostar 700
Idle: 3.7 gph
Takeoff: 41 gph

Navajo Panther
Idle 4.7gph
Takeoff: 46gph

Kinda interesting. Post your idle and takeoff fuel flows below if you want to compare...

421 RAM

Idle 4.5-5gph
Takeoff: 43gph

4.5-5gph at idle leaned and usually 43gph at take off power. I think the take off power range is 43-46gph in the books.

For 421 you only stay take off power setting until 500ft. I wait until 1000ft. Technically you can run full power for longer but at 1000agl I go to Rams recommended cruise climb of 35/1900 31gph. Which works out to 75% power and keeps temps cool in a 125 IAS climb speed.

RAM 421 engines are not much different than the stock engines. The power is the same. its not like with the other 300-400 series Ram upgrades.

Mike

Trey, usually in our 421 we ground lean to somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.5GPH at 900 RPM which constitutes our “idle” as the gearing on GTSIO-550’s is sensitive to lashing at lower RPMs. This allows smoother running engines at idle. Takeoff is somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 GPH per side if my memory is serving me correctly. Have been flying the bonanza a lot more recently

1980 421C
METO power 44GPH if the engines are warm from a previous flight.
If the fist take off of the day the FF at METO power is 45 GPH to 46 GPH.
TIT’s 1480 to 1500

421C for me I get

3.5 idle 900 rpm leaned
43.5 full power

I mounted a GoPro under the cowl of my Aerostar 700. Here's what takeoff fuel flows look like:

421C 45/45 on TO
1000’ Pull Back to Top of Greens for Climb 1900- 35” leave Mixture Full, gives me 31/31 gph
Then Cruise per Ram chart 1800-31.5” -21gpm = 75%
I try to run TIT below 1550f. 1650f is Max per Ram
CHTs always around 300f

Also spoke to CMI about gear lashing sound at the TwinCessna Convention
Said it was the Counterbalance Weights slapping at idle not the former.
I’m not sure who to believe. I was told by an old charter operator “You got to treat her like a woman Mon”
Nice and easy when I makes my moves...
He had 4 421s at the same time, always ran to TBO
Sage advice
Still on the fence about LOP and Shock Cooling
AB

414 w/ RAM VI
Idle (leaned) 3
TO 36
Climb 28

Alan I know looks are subjective but that's easily the best looking twin Cessna I've ever seen.

I’ve got a thing for red heads

The first of these two is not in the piston twin realm, but if it interests anyone:

Epic LT, PT6A-67A, approximate sea level numbers
low idle: 22 gph
high idle: 32 gph
takeoff power: 100 gph

On the other end of the spectrum

Diamond DA42-VI (Austro engines)
idle: 0.2-0.3 gph per side
takeoff power: ~18.5 gph total

It's harder than it should be to sort fact from fiction, people get emotional about finding out they've been doing something wrong for X number of years.

Shock cooling and LOP are pretty well sorted by now though. Shock cooling is very straightforward to debunk, here's one article of many: https://www.avweb.com/ownership/shock-c ... -the-myth/

LOP is a more complicated topic as I'm sure you know, but the number of people running LOP keeps going up every year based on most of the owner surveys. It's a good thing if you want to spend the time to learn how to do it and don't mind keeping your ignition in good shape and your injectors balanced. This is probably the best place to learn more about it: https://www.advancedpilot.com/ but you'll still be doing LOP takeoff and probably climbs, just LOP for cruise if your engine is up to snuff.

Trey, not sure if you've seen Josh's video but 700s can actually be flown on shockingly stingy fuel flows:

viewtopic.php?f=49&t=112926&p=2055431&hilit=bsT2mhfwi4A#p2055431

Aerostar 700P
Idle is 3.5
Takeoff is 43