PLT OF ANTIQUE BIPLANE SUFFERS PARTIAL PWR FAILURE AND LANDS ON WRONG RWY.

Narrative

WAS PUTTING MY FIRST HR ON THIS ACFT TO SEE HOW IT WAS DOING OPERATIONALLY AND TO DETERMINE THE SVC CEILING ON THIS DAY WITH 2 PEOPLE ON BOARD. THE ACFT IS AN ANTIQUE BI-PLANE. I WAS TO FERRY IT FROM MONTANA TO INDIANA AND WANTED TO GIVE IT A FEW HRS BEFORE LEAVING FOR HOME. I TOOK OFF FROM THE ACTIVE RWY AND DETERMINED THE WIND TO BE A XWIND AND NOTED IT. DURING CLBOUT MY RADIO BECAME FILLED WITH STATIC; BUT I BELIEVED IT TO BE GOOD ENOUGH FOR A TRIP TO THE N 6 MI AND BACK. ONCE WE WERE TO THE N; THE ENG BEGAN TO RUN VERY ROUGH. I DETERMINED THE ENG WOULD RUN SMOOTHLY WITH SOME JOCKEYING; BUT AT AN RPM THAT DID NOT ALLOW ME TO HOLD ALT. SO I TURNED TOWARD THE FIELD AND TOLD THEM (TWR) I WAS INBOUND FROM THE N AND WANTED TO LAND TO THE S (A MISNOMER ON MY PART AS I WANTED RWY 12 WHICH WAS INTO THE WIND). THE TWR THEN READ BACK 'CALL A 2 MI R BASE RWY 12' (OR SO I THOUGHT). I THEN SAID I WAS ON A 2 OR 3 MI STRAIGHT-IN AND HE SAID; IN A HESITANT MANNER; 'CLRED TO LAND RWY 12' (OR SO I THOUGHT). WHEN I LANDED; HE SAID HE HAD CLRED ME FOR RWY 20 AND TO CALL HIM AND THEN HE SAID 'JUST BE MORE CAREFUL.' THIS WAS A CLASSIC CASE OF MISCOM; WITH ASSUMPTIONS AND CRUMMY RADIOS MIXED IN. I WAS MORE CONCERNED WITH USING MY HANDS AND BRAIN TO KEEP THE PLANE RUNNING AND GETTING MY PAX AND ME TO A RWY. MY RADIO WAS CUTTING IN AND OUT AND THE #2 WAS COMMON TO ALL COMS. MY RWY DIAGRAM AND CHART BLEW OUT WHEN TURNING FOR THE ARPT AND WITHOUT THEM I WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH THE AREA AND ARPT. THE TWR GUY KNEW THE PREVIOUS OWNER AND ASSUMED IT WAS HIM AND; THEREFORE; THAT WE WERE FAMILIAR WITH THE AREA. I WAS SURE I TOLD HIM WE WERE RUNNING ROUGHLY; BUT HE SAID WE DIDN'T. I COULD HAVE PUT MORE INTO COMMUNICATE (MAYBE) BUT I WAS FOCUSED ON THE FIRST THING ON THE LIST -- AVIATE; NAV; COM.