Here’s the quick mixture setting for takeoff that works almost all the time at our altitudes: lean about 1/4” to 3/8” lean of full rich. Period. No leaning to RPM drop, restoring, a few turns left, right, then cycling tanks, turning pitot heat on, checking software versions in the GPS, etc. I’m being silly but it’s really quite simple and we overthink it way too much. To understand why, and to help your student understand why, please read below. Also, please remember, you still need to lean for cruise - which is what most folks want to do for takeoff. 

I agree with recent posts about folks having a lot of different methods for leaning for takeoff. It is being, and has been, overthought way too much. As for a single method or setting with respect to how it should be done, that’s hard to pin down because what we are leaning for during takeoff is MAXIMUM POWER. Max power settings change with density altitude so there isn’t a single setting to use for that. There is, however, a good average we can use that works well and keeps equipment happy. Keep reading but before we get to that remember that when you are in cruise, we lean for MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY. It’s a different process. Leaning for max efficiency is what people are doing most often during runup BUT leaning for max efficiency, especially during hot conditions, will lead cylinder head temps soaring and is really hard on the engine during climb at full throttle.

If we take what the POH for the 172 says regarding leaning for max power it reads, “Prior to takeoff from fields above 3000 feet elevation, the mixture should be leaned to give maximum RPM in a full throttle, static runup.” If you were to use this technique, you apply full mixture then full throttle then lean the mixture until the maximum RPM is achieved. Done. That’s max power. If RPM didn’t increase, you were at max power at full rich! You’ll notice that it is about 1/4”-3/8” lean in most conditions for most of our aircraft at our altitudes. Look at the expiration date on your AOA badge. Those numbers are between 1/4” and 3/8” tall for reference. This technique does not require leaning until RPM drop then richening a turn or two or three or whatever. Doing it that way sends engine temps soaring.

All that said, I do not want people doing full throttle runups all the time on every flight. It will chew the props to bits a lot quicker. Demonstrating this technique is fine but knowing that the sweet spot is about 1/4”-3/8” lean (from full rich mixture and at our altitudes) is also fine. Students should know where that setting came from. You can demo this really well on the simulator and run the thing at full throttle on the ground all you want.

Climb out at that richer setting to most altitudes where we work! If you’re going much above 8000, or so, you might want to lean the mixture just a little bit, like a quarter to half turn or so. If you hear the RPM increase, great, if not, richen it back to where it was. Remember, a lot of our targets for settings are a little dynamic due to the dynamic nature of the atmosphere. On average we’ll see about 10-12 GPH during climb if mixture is set properly.
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So, again, short story: 1/4” to 3/8” lean of rich is typically an okay setting for max power for take off and climb at our altitudes. Longer story: during mag check leaning to RPM drop, richening, then arbitrary turns rich does not generate max power and instead encourages an overheated engine. Don’t do a full throttle runup on evert flight but understand where the rule of thumb comes from. See me for any question or to practice this. Thank you!

You all have been doing really quite well in regards to flying respectfully in and around our flying area! I wanted to make sure everyone, especially our newer instructors, keeps that up. We don't want to saturate any single area with pattern or low altitude ops as that is what tends to get the non-aviators out there worked up. Remember that here at KRNO, GBA has some voluntary noise abatement procedures we'd like you to adhere to. Here is a reminder of what they are.

• always make safety and ATC compliance a priority
• avoid pattern work at KRNO before 8:00 AM or after 6:00 PM when possible
• at all times, minimize unnecessary pattern work at KRNO in general (if you need to do a few laps, fine, but keep it to a minimum - see my old email below)
• when 17 in use, extend departure leg past Rattlesnake Mountain if possible
• request right traffic for 17 from time to time
• maximize climb rate if safe while still over the airport and before turning away from the runway 
• if you need to mass practice landings, try to do that at one of our satellite airports

I also want to reshare an email I sent a while back with some thoughts on how you do pattern work. The whole idea was to keep lessons dynamic without getting too saturated in any one area. Here's the email:
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This email is coming after additional conversations with the noise analyst for the Airport Authority. I wanted to toss it out for you to consider in the hopes that one thing we can do to help our noise footprint is to consider how we teach landings. I will send out some abbreviated modifications to our procedures on WhatsApp but I also want you to consider how you teach landings. I'm pretty sure everyone would agree that landings are one of the most difficult tasks to master for new pilots.  

Take a moment and dissect landings in your head. The pilot in training has to balance speed horizontally, speed vertically, engine power, spacing from other traffic, communicating on the radio, adjusting for wind, accuracy of touchdown point, anticipate possible unknowns, etc. Each sub-part is a complex task in itself but all together, whoa! How do we typically teach landings? Oftentimes, we go practice some of the sub-parts a few times then head to the pattern and start banging them out 1000 feet AGL and below in a high-workload, high-stress environment. 

Often times we're going from Three Blind Mice to Flight of the Bumblebee without a lot of in-between. Educationally, we call that massed practice. I get it. We want students to make progress and there is a place for it. I'm suggesting we lean more on what is known as spaced practice - at least at first. Essentially in that, we divide up those sub-parts more and more expecting mastery with the sub-parts before stringing them altogether. We can practice those anywhere - even relatively low to the ground to gain comfort with ops at low altitudes. 

If we push landings too hard, too often there will be a point of no return where learning stops and gains are minimal. When that happens, we end up going around and around in the pattern. Where that point of no return is varies by student but I have seen it in everyone. What I'd like to consider instead is something like this: 

Take off Reno
For your enroute portion, consider working on navigation skills, VOR, hood time, etc. 
Fly to SPZ and make a few landings (could be any airport)
Depart SPZ and head to the dry lake bed for a couple stalls, steeps, etc. 
While enroute and at a low workload talk about the landings
Head to CXP for a few more landings (could be any airport)
Head back to RNO
If time at RNO, maybe a few more landings

What we've just done there is to break the lesson into parts keeping numerous skills alive but not to the point of overload. If prep is done efficiently, you can pack that much into a two-hour block. Now consider what we've just done to our impact to any single area. It might be a good way to enhance instruction at the same time as continuing our mission of being good stewards of aviation in the communities where we fly.