Page 730 - PPL-engelsk 2025
P. 730
Aircraft general knowledge
8.9 The carburetor
The carburetor's main function is to mix air and gasoline in a ratio that gives the
right mixture for the situation.
By weight, there is about 15 parts air to 1 part gasoline. A mixture with more
gasoline is called a richer mixture.
Our small GA airplanes with Lycoming and Continental engines manufactured in
the USA, where gasoline is not so expensive, run on a richer mixture when
required in connection with cooling the engine.
Normally, you don't think much about the influence of the carburetor when
using gasoline engines. On airplanes, however, there are circumstances that
require us to control the gasoline/air mixture.
These can be conditions such as:
- Change in flight altitude
- Supply of gasoline to cool the engine
- Carburetor preheating
In connection with flying, the carburetor is incredibly important and in order to
understand how the engine works, it is important that you know how the engine
is supplied with energy and what errors can occur.
We operate the carburetor with 3 control levers:
- gas/throttle lever
- mixture lever
- carburetor preheat lever
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Flyveteori PPL(A)(UL)/LAPL Henning Andersen, Midtjysk Flyveskole© 2025 730
