Bill thank you for your response.

I am surprised you have never heard the words Heat cycle to break in a nitro engine? Heat cycle is something you do for the first 5-7 tanks of fuel. You heat the motor up with a heat gun, fire up the engine using the recommended break in settings (very rich) You stop the motor before its going to run out of fuel and move the piston to bottom dead center and let it cool then repeat the process. Of course No half to full throttle runs etc.

I am also surprised you are so negative on the recommended needle settings. You have to start somewhere? THE ENGINE SHOULD RUN WITHOUT MAJOR ISSUES AT THE BASELINE unless you are in extreme conditions ie freezing cold etc.
I have broken in many many engines and the baseline settings are always the place to start before you start leaning out the motor. If these settings are wrong then what baseline settings should be used?

I will start leaning out the HSN and richening the lsn and see where that gets me.