I was watching an episode of Jay Leno's Garage where he was showing the progress he'd made on some of his ongoing projects during the pandemic. He began by running a massive steam engine he has mounted in his shop. It weighs 12 tons and was built out of a single casting during the Lincoln administration (Abraham, not McConaughey). It still worked, but it's a dinosaur. Sound familiar? You could describe a piston aviation engine the same way. They work, but they are far too heavy and inefficient for the technologically advanced era we live in. When I change the oil on my Ram diesel after hundreds of hours of use, the used oil's color can still be described as amber-hued. My Bonanza's oil looks like it came from the La Brea tar pits after only 20 hours of use. Imagine telling a new car buyer they must change their oil every 50 hours and that air conditioning is a $25,000 option. Good luck.
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