ORIGINAL: PlaneKrazee
All BME engines came with a CH degree wheel and timing instructions and you were supposed to check the timing before running. You'd think a new engine would be ready to go from the factory and keep running properly. Too much prop load would act like advanced timing.
None of mine came with them but they were also purchased in recent years and were supplied with the RCExcel ignitions. They were all set spot on for timing as received. (I check every engine I get, no matter what the brand or history). You are right though. New engines should not need checking but for some reason many of the suppliers in this hobby seem to disagree with that concept.