Rules of thumb from the internet tell me that I should have a static thrust 1/4 to 1/3 the weight of the aircraft depending on the website. At 350 lbs. that puts me at 1050 to 1400 max takeoff weight. That is without the engine developing full power. I weight about 1100 lbs. So the thrust was on the edge but clearly the engine is not developing the maximum HP. At this point I decided that until I resolve the issue there would be no flights.
Verifying the engine performance took some time as I wanted help to be sure I was correctly testing it. Two A&Ps at the airport helped me do compression tests of all four cylinders. Compression looked good. Their opinion was my engine is fine. Better that most they work on. Ok that leaves me with the prop.
