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Champions New Plugs: Quietly Redesigned

Over the last several years, there have been incidents of pre-ignition in large displacement Continental engines. In many cases, it was suspected that cracked or broken ceramic insulators on Champion Aerospace fine wire spark plugs were to blame. The issue led to Cirrus issuing a service bulletin for spark plug applications on its turbocharged models, as did Tornado Alley Turbo, for its aftermarket turbo-normalizing mod.

Over the last several years, there have been incidents of pre-ignition in large displacement Continental engines. In many cases, it was suspected that cracked or broken ceramic insulators on Champion Aerospace fine wire spark plugs were to blame. The issue led to Cirrus issuing a service bulletin for spark plug applications on its turbocharged models, as did Tornado Alley Turbo, for its aftermarket turbo-normalizing mod.

Subsequently, it turned out the problem wasn’t isolated to turbocharged engines—even normally aspirated engines were damaged.

Larry Anglisano

Editor in Chief Larry Anglisano has been a staple at Aviation Consumer since 1995. An active land, sea and glider pilot, Larry has over 30 years’ experience as an avionics repairman and flight test pilot. He’s the editorial director overseeing sister publications Aviation Safety magazine, IFR magazine and is a regular contributor to KITPLANES magazine with his Avionics Bootcamp column.