In light of recent discussions on this talk and Walter Atkinson's input, this article from Mike Busch is interesting.
John Barrett Sent from my iPad
Begin forwarded message:
SavvyAnalysis July Newsletter
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SavvyNews July 2013
A monthly newsletter full of tips and news for SavvyAnalysis users.
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Mike's Corner
Watch those CHT's on Takeoff!
The “puzzler” chart in last month’s newsletter showed a case where an engine was destroyed by detonation when the pilot took off with a 50-50 mixture of 100LL and Jet A in the tanks. All CHTs rose rapidly after takeoff and within minutes were all above redline. The pilot might have saved the engine from destruction if he’d noticed the rapid CHT rise and taken immediate corrective action.
It’s uncommon to see all six cylinders to go into destructive detonation. Much more common are cases where only one cylinder has a problem. But it’s still critical to identify a CHT runaway, even if it’s just one jug doing the running, and take prompt action. It’s no fun to fly a six-cylinder engine with only five making power, and even less fun to fly a four-cylinder engine with only three burning. The former will cause you to land at the nearest airport and change your underwear; the latter will probably cause you to put the aircraft down in a field or on a road.
You never want to see any CHT rise above 400F…EVER! If a CHT passes 400F and is rising rapidly, that’s a thermal runaway and typically the cylinder has less than a minute to live. If your engine monitor has a programmable CHT alarm, set it to go off at 400F or less. (I have mine set at 390F.) If your engine monitor doesn’t have a programmable CHT alarm, consider replacing it—the lack of such an alarm is a deal-breaker as far as I’m concerned.
When the CHT alarm goes off, take IMMEDIATE action. Throttle back to idle to stop the thermal runaway dead in its tracks. Then throttle up to only the minimum power you need to sustain controlled flight, land at the nearest airport, and have someone stick a borescope in the cylinder whose CHT ran away.
The engine you save may be your own.
Mike's AirVenture Presentations
I will be making 11 presentations on maintenance topics at AirVenture this year. Please plan to join me! It's always great to visit with our SavvyAnalysis users. Browse the schedule.
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Puzzler: What's Going On Here?
Again this month we challenge you to hone your analyst skills! This chart came from a client flying a T182 Skylane powered by a Lyc TIO-540. "About 2:18 into the flight while in a slow climb to 15,500 I noticed a rapid rise in TIT. I immediately reduced MAP and increased FF..." Can you figure out what is happening here? View the chart for this flight.
If you give up or want to compare your answer with our expert analysts, you can find the answer here.
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New Features and Fixes
We invite our readers to follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook. We plan to post news, observations and announcements we think will interest our readers, such as interesting engine monitor data from our clients, new platform features, and Mike's upcoming webinars, articles and presentations.
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Meet the Analyst
SavvyMx clients will recognize the familiar signature "Joe" on analysis reports. Joe Godfrey is the SavvyAnalysis Engine Monitor Data Analyst who presently has primary responsibility for SavvyMx clients.
Joe is a multitalented individual whose primary loves are music, writing, aviation, and his wife Susan (not necessarily in that order). When he's not flying or swinging wrenches on his 1974 Bellanca Super Viking or writing articles for a wide range of aviation publications (AVweb, IFR Magazine, Aviation Consumer, Twin & Turbine, etc.), he's composing or directing or performing music for films, broadcast and corporate media, and advertising. Joe played stand-up bass in the 2003 mockumentary movie "A Mighty WInd" and has composed thousands of tracks for radio and TV commercials. Rumor has it that whenever you hear the "I wish I was an Oscar Meyer wiener" jingle, Joe gets a royalty.
Joe is an instrument-rated private pilot who lives just north of San Diego, Calif. He bases his Viking at Palomar Airport (KCRQ), and does most of his own maintenance. He's a former director of Angel Flight West, the non-profit public-benefit flying organization that facilitates transportation of patients who need specialized medical treatment in volunteer private airplanes. Joe is a computer geek (like the rest of us) and seems to love the challenge of making sense of the data our SavvyMx clients send him even when it's a real head-scratcher that has the rest of us stumped.
Joe is the only member of the Savvy technical team who is happily married to Susan, has played with Dizzy Gillespie, logged time with Ella Fitzgerald, and conducted the London Symphony. He's a true renaissance man, and we're lucky to have him.
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SavvyMx Update
SavvyAnalysis Pro clients sometimes ask us to help them with engine issues that go beyond what we can glean from analyzing the engine data alone. We do our best to point them in the right direction. But a comprehensive program of engine condition monitoring and maintenance also requires oil analysis, borescope analysis, and sometimes just plain visual inspection. Clients of SavvyMx, our full maintenance management service benefit from our comprehensive management of both engine and airframe maintenance.
SavvyAnalysis Pro clients who upgrade to SavvyMx full maintenance management within 6 months of the start of their subscriptions are entitled to a full refund of their SavvyAnalysis Pro fee. And because we usually save our SavvyMx clients many times their annual fee in reduced maintenance costs, we think that's a pretty good deal. Find out more about SavvyMx.
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