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Message-ID: <20041213032804.10170.qmail@web51106.mail.yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 19:28:04 -0800 (PST)
From: Steve Brooks <prvt_pilot@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [FlyRotary] RV-3 down
To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
In-Reply-To: <list-564832@logan.com>
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Rusty,

Wow.  I'll bet that you used up a years supply of
adrenalin on that one.

Glad you're OK, and that the plane is OK also.  I'll
also be waiting to hear the cause of the oil loss, but
I suspect that your initial idea of the evaporator
core may well be the culprit.

Steve Brooks (sticking with the stock Mazda oil
cooler)

--- Russell Duffy <13brv3@bellsouth.net> wrote:

> Greetings all, 
>  
> It was a beautiful day to fly, so I finally made it
> over to see Paul's
> plastic fantastic in Mobile.  The engine was running
> great, the oil temps
> were perfect, and I was seeing 235 mph groundspeed
> as I headed home.  I was
> about 25 miles from my home airport, and started
> descending from 7500 ft.
> At about 6000 feet, I started smelling something
> that smelled like plastic,
> or insulation burning, smoke started coming in
> through the vent, and oil
> covered the canopy.  Not good.  
>  
> My primary fear was fire, and my planned course of
> action was to get on the
> ground as soon as possible, so I pushed the nose
> over, and headed for a Navy
> helicopter field ahead.  I did the 121.5 mayday
> call, squawked 7700, and
> talked to the controller.  He asked if I was going
> to land at the Spencer
> Field, or if I could make another airport.  The
> smoke was subsiding, and the
> engine was still turning, and I thought about trying
> for another field, but
> when I tried to throttle up, the prop stopped cold. 
> Needless to say, I
> confirmed that I was landing at Spencer. 
> Fortunately, I had the field made
> easily, and had to use full flaps and a slip to make
> the part of the field I
> was aiming at.  
>  
> This field is a helicopter training field, and it
> has 4 runways that form a
> square, with each runway being maybe 1000-1500 feet
> long.  Lots of grass
> exists outside of this square.  I wanted to head for
> one of the runways, but
> it was full of RC model guys.  I went instead for
> the parallel runway on the
> other side of the field.  Still, they were mighty
> shocked when I came
> gliding in :-)  I landed a little hot, about a third
> of the way down the
> runway, and ended up running about 200 ft off into
> the grass before coming
> to a stop.
>  
> Within a minute, there were people from the RC club
> at the plane, and I
> could already hear the fire trucks that had been
> summoned by Pensacola
> approach.  Within just a couple minutes, civilian
> rescue folks were there,
> followed shortly afterward by military police, and
> then by the CO of Whiting
> NAS.  I talked to the Pensacola controller, and got
> a call from the
> Birmingham FSDO.  Basically, everyone just wanted to
> know that I was OK.  I
> filled out a few papers for the Navy Police, and I
> owe the FSDO a statement
> via fax, but that should be the extent of the
> paperwork.  The CO of Whiting
> NAS (who controls all the outlying fields) gave me
> permission to either
> repair the plane, and fly it out, or disassemble it,
> and haul it away.  
>  
> The plane was not damaged in the landing, so no
> problem there.  I pulled the
> top cowl off before it got dark, and just can't see
> the problem, probably
> because the oil cooler (evap core) is hard to see
> without removing the
> bottom cowl.   There's a puddle of oil in the oil
> cooler scoop, and oil
> covering the exhaust, and all the bottom of the
> cowling.  I can't prove it
> yet, but I fully expect to find the evap core split
> open just like the last
> one did.  Let's just say I won't be using one of
> those for oil again.  
>  
> The EM-2 was flashing it's ass off, and in the
> middle of trying to get the
> plane on the ground, I never even looked at the
> screen.  My initial
> assumption is that I blew out all the oil, but I
> won't know until I check
> the oil level.  I don't recall the low oil light
> coming on, but that doesn't
> mean it wasn't on.  The engine is not seized now,
> but it does feel low on
> compression.  Once the engine quit, the prop did not
>  turn at all for the
> duration of the glide.    
>  
> The plan for tomorrow is to remove the wings, with
> the help of my good RV-8
> buddy, and haul the plane back to the hanger.  At
> this point, I don't know
> quite what I'll do with it from there.  My wife was
> slightly upset by this,
> but I think she'll get over it.  I also have the
> Slingshot at home already,
> AND I'm going to have to leave the hanger in a month
> or so when they rebuild
> it from the hurricane.  Seems like a logistical
> nightmare.  I don't intend
> to abandon the rotary, but I might re-work the
> Slingshot first (with the
> 912S), so I can get something flying.  I'd follow
> that with a rebuild of the
> RV-3 engine, and a real oil cooler.  Once I do that,
> maybe I'll be ready to
> tackle the single rotor for the Slingshot, or maybe
> not :-)
>  
> Cheers,
> Rusty (I still smell burning oil, 5 hours later...) 
>  
>