N6ZQ IV 500 hrs.
Rarely
in aviation do we come across something that we would consider a great
deal. If you could not attend the Continental Engine Course in
Fairhope, Alabama, you really missed a great deal, not to mention a great
experience. This will be offered again next year and I encourage you
to take advantage of it.
I can't adequately cover the topics here, but if you are person like me
that learns more from seeing something than just reading or hearing about it,
this might be the course for you. The operations of systems were reviewed,
the physical parts were available to look at in the disassembled
state, and intermingled with this were photos of failures and what
caused them. We got a tour of the factory and got to see the
various stages of fabrication, assembly and testing of our engine parts.
Continental demonstrated the fuel system set-up on a Lancair IVP and
part of the setup on Lancair Legacy (until they identified an issue with the
fuel pump). They demonstrated engine timing, engine compression testing,
and boroscopic inspection.
They showed us how to access information on line and really went out of
their way to make sure our questions were answered.
In the end, they invited us back and challenged us to bring more people
next time. You could not possibly ask for more gracious hosts.
Many thanks to Bob Pastusek and LOBO for setting this up and to Continental for
really making it a valuable experience. And of course thanks to all
the people who attended. Its always fun to talk to others who share your
same passion for these airplanes.