Mike Busch on Engines: What every aircraft owner needs to know about the design, operation, condition monitoring, maintenance and troubleshooting of piston aircraft engines

Manufacturers recommend rebuilding or replacing airplane engines long before they are worn out. This book, written by the person who knows more about airplane upkeep than just about anyone, is full of tips and recommendations. If you're ready to rethink what you know about airplane engines and you want your engine to last, get this book.

Well written and organized. The book is an excellent distillation of the authors many years of aircraft ownership and experience as a mechanic.

I bought this book to "add to my collection," and usually when such a book arrives, I read a little. Maybe the first chapter, maybe just a few sections. This book hooked me. I guess it's appropriate to make jokes about suspense and whatnot here, but I'm not so good at that. But the book grabbed me. Mike Busch introduces things using technical terms, but tends to throw those terms away for more colloquial terms when appropriate and convenient, leaving the book feeling like a discussion with a highly experienced friend. He covers each detail about aircraft reciprocating engines with care and experience. He talks about the economic aspects of these engines, and the pitfalls of working with mechanics that can be overzealous in their desire to send you away with more new parts than you really needed. He addresses all sorts of aspects in the field of aviation engine care and feeding. This book will make you want to buy an engine monitor if you don't already have one. It can also save you tens of thousands of dollars in unnecessary repairs.My current, biggest take-away from this book is (and I've only read a third so far) that I really should go start my plane at least once every two weeks, to keep the thing oiled properly to prevent corrosion of internal surfaces.

First read the Manifesto, and now I'm a stalwart devoté of Mike's recommendation of only maintaining when required, rather than prophylactically. And this book really gave me a ton of useful information and background to help me diagnose problems, talk with A&Ps when making changes, or switch to LOP operations (and love it!).

Mike Busch has done more to expand owner knowledge in aircraft operation and maintenance than anyone I know.When I built my RV-6 with a new Lycoming engine, I managed to glean just enough about aircraft engines to get by but not much more than that. I have the Lycoming engine overhaul manual and some other books, but they're awfully dense and thin on operational aspects. And as I've maintained it over the years, I've felt more or less starved for digestible sources of information of how my powerplant works and how to maintain it.Then I started watching Mike's webinars, reading his articles, and most importantly, this book. I feel like it's taken me over a hump, and now have a much better working knowledge of how the thing works and a clearer idea of operational, diagnostic and maintenance practices. And really an enjoyable time doing so, as Mike provides just enough interesting and often humorous anecdotes to make it interesting (but not so much as to be annoying), while at the same time dispelling many myths and debunking old wives tales. This and the other Mike Busch books should be required reading for anyone who flies or maintains piston engine aircraft, including A&P and IA mechanics.

Mike's book is outstanding. There is so much helpful information in the book. Every airplane owner should own a copy of this book.

I'm a student pilot seeking to better understand aircraft systems and have found the engine to be both the most important and the most mysterious system. Reading Mike Busch's book "Engines" felt like I was able to crawl inside the engine to deeply understand the most critical system for safe and performant flight. I had the privilege to hear Mike speak at a 2019 AOPA fly-in -- it's clear that he knows his stuff inside and out.The book teaches about piston aircraft engines in the spirit of reliability-centered maintenance that Mike preaches, which is the data-driven approach used by all commercial operators. "Engines" covers everything from philosophical context ("what is 'infant mortality' and why go beyond TBO?") to the tactical steps ("inspect your oil filter and get your oil analyzed at every change") needed to understand and apply science to engine management. This is an incredible read by a well-respected expert in piston aircraft engines.The advice in this book applies equally for flying behind a piston aircraft engine, as well as maintaining it. I will apply these lessons on flying the engine through my training and into my private. If and when I get my own aircraft, "Engines" will be the invaluable reference I turn to for maintenance too!

I have owned 12 planes over the years, had three flight schools, and as the owner/operator, have done a lot of the maintenance in house (Part 43 is very good about defining what is OK!). We recently had an overheating cylinder which was not responding to the usual (baffling, mixture, etc) and this book helped me dial down the trouble shooting. It did NOT find the problem, but it found what was not the problem and sometimes that is just as helpful! (It turned out to be a bad oil sump which meant the plenum was not tight, we had air leaks, which of course causes an excessive lean mixture, high EGT and high CHT goes with that) I love the way Busch writes, he does not dumb it down insultingly but he also keeps it understandable for us pilot/operator wonks!

Worth every penny, I'm amazed at the range of topics and information contained in this book (it is 500 pages) Mike describes and validates many different aspects of operating Continental and Lycoming engines.If you want to get the most out of your engines in performance, reliability and longevity, read and heed what Mike says. I have been a commercial pilot for over 45 years and I learned a great deal from Mike with this book.

Um livro que todo proprietário de uma aeronave a pistão (principalmente), mas, não se limitando, Piloto, engenheiro, mecânico ou aspirante a uma aviação prática e de responsabilidade deveria ler.

A must read for all aircraft owners. Should be required syllabus por private pilots! Looking forward to the next book.

First time it's ever happened but after being recommended this book, paid for and downloaded only to get the error message that it wasn't compatible with my device. A first after dozens of Kindle purchases from Amazon.

I only rent, but still I want to make sure I treat the engines on the machines I fly as properly as possible, to make sure the club planes keep running smoothly for many years to come. This book was just what I had in mind. Mostly, I wanted to learn about leaning, but I ended up learning about the main engine killers and how to avoid them. Great purchase.