After takeoff; the engine started running rough and one cylinder head temperature was reading high; ...

Narrative:

I was conducting a post-maintenance flight over the airport before continuing on course to my final destination. The reason for the post-maintenance flight was the mags had been overhauled. The plan was to circle over the airport twice before proceeding to [my] destination. The preflight revealed no issues. The initial runup revealed no issues. Tower cleared me for takeoff. On the downwind is when I pulled the RPM and throttle back; the engine began to run rough. I scanned the cylinder head temperature's (cht) and found one cylinder reading 400 degrees F - not normal! I decided to turn base to the runway that was outside my window. I realized it was not the runway I was given the option for. On short final; I told tower that I had a rough running engine so that I would be given clearance to land runway 03L. I was given clearance and landed without issue. I conducted a second runup and the mags failed the check. I parked the airplane and called the mechanic familiar with my airplane and issue. It was clear to me that I was task saturated because of the mechanical issue and being single crew resource. This was the reason for losing situational awareness of the runway environment. I was concerned that an engine failure was imminent.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: After takeoff; the engine started running rough and one Cylinder Head Temperature was reading high; while paying attention to those issues; the pilot lost runway orientation; and landed without incident.

Narrative: I was conducting a post-maintenance flight over the airport before continuing on course to my final destination. The reason for the post-maintenance flight was the mags had been overhauled. The plan was to circle over the airport twice before proceeding to [my] destination. The preflight revealed no issues. The initial runup revealed no issues. Tower cleared me for takeoff. On the downwind is when I pulled the RPM and throttle back; the engine began to run rough. I scanned the cylinder head temperature's (CHT) and found one cylinder reading 400 degrees F - not normal! I decided to turn base to the runway that was outside my window. I realized it was not the runway I was given the option for. On short final; I told tower that I had a rough running engine so that I would be given clearance to land runway 03L. I was given clearance and landed without issue. I conducted a second runup and the mags failed the check. I parked the airplane and called the mechanic familiar with my airplane and issue. It was clear to me that I was task saturated because of the mechanical issue and being single crew resource. This was the reason for losing situational awareness of the runway environment. I was concerned that an engine failure was imminent.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1332690
Time
Date	201602
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	M-20 J (201) / Allegro
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Magneto/Distributor
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 47 Flight Crew Total 1010 Flight Crew Type 100
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Clearance

After takeoff; the engine started running rough and one cylinder head temperature was reading high; while paying attention to those issues; the pilot lost runway orientation; and landed without incident.