KRnetHeads, I'm not sure if this is wisdom or folly, but I have no springs on my Ellison installation, either mixture or throttle. My theory is if they're not there, they can't fight each other, conjure up "unintended results", or cause me problems in any other way. I have one of those bulletproof connections between throttle cable and carb interface, http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/wiregrip.php, which grab a cable and steadfastly connect it to the throttle or mixture lever. Then I never touch it again! Even after the nut is loosened, this thing acts as a "chinese finger trap" to stay connected.
If I'm pulling the throttle back to land and something happened to that connection, I'm OK because I'm already within landing range to put it on the runway, and already plan to slip it in if I'm too high (that's the way I land). If it came loose somehow while going full throttle, that's fine too, I can kill the engine and glide in somewhere...just like it was spring loaded full open. Keep in mind though, I've done over 2800 landings in N56ML, and it has shown no sign of letting go yet! The concern may be primarily based on pulling power back to land, but I don't do that unless I have the runway made. I see a lot of pilots "dragging it in" from way out on a three-mile final, where an engine failure would put them down a mile short of the runway. I chop the throttle to idle on downwind abeam the numbers, and glide through the rest of downwind, base, and final, and rarely add power for anything other than a go-around, three-pointing the plane near the approach end of the runway and letting it roll out on our short runway. I like to think of it as practicing for a dead-stick landing EVERY time I land. That experience is invaluable... Mark Langford ML at N56ML.com website at http://www.N56ML.com --------------------------------------------------------
