Return-Path: Received: from out011.verizon.net ([206.46.170.135] verified) by logan.com (CommuniGate Pro SMTP 4.2.5) with ESMTP id 572338 for flyrotary@lancaironline.net; Sat, 18 Dec 2004 14:33:49 -0500 Received-SPF: pass receiver=logan.com; client-ip=206.46.170.135; envelope-from=finn.lassen@verizon.net Received: from verizon.net ([4.12.145.173]) by out011.verizon.net (InterMail vM.5.01.06.06 201-253-122-130-106-20030910) with ESMTP id <20041218193318.EBAQ4717.out011.verizon.net@verizon.net> for ; Sat, 18 Dec 2004 13:33:18 -0600 Message-ID: <41C485F9.6060301@verizon.net> Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2004 14:33:13 -0500 From: Finn Lassen User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 (ax; PROMO) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Rotary motors in aircraft Subject: Re: [FlyRotary] Engine damage thoughts References: In-Reply-To: Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="------------090303080602050908010407" X-Authentication-Info: Submitted using SMTP AUTH at out011.verizon.net from [4.12.145.173] at Sat, 18 Dec 2004 13:33:18 -0600 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------090303080602050908010407 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sounds reasonable. Couple of things you might want to do: Poke each apex seal through spark plug holes to see if they move freely in the grooves. Check compression (after lubricating with oil, so you don't get falsely low readings). Finn Russell Duffy wrote: > Greetings again, > > I've been thinking more about the engine, and wondering what the > chances are that there's any damage inside. > > I'm pretty sure I noticed the oil about the instant it started to lose > any significant amount. As soon as the oil started to leak, I pulled > the engine back to idle, and descended ASAP. I'm sure I was doing at > least 2000 fpm from 6000 to 2000 ft, which only accounts for 2 minutes > of time. At 2000 ft, is when I tried to throttle up, and the engine > quit, so no time after that counts. I'm absolutely sure the engine > quit because I had the mixture knob set way lean for cruise, and not > because it seized up. > > This means that at worst, the engine idled for 2 minutes with no oil > pressure. My guess would be that it was more like 30 seconds or > less. With this in mind, I'm thinking that it's worth doing some > ground runs of the engine to see how healthy it seems. If I can > thoroughly run it on the ground without problems, then I can follow > that with about 10 hours of circling the field. By that point, I > can't imagine having any further concerns. If there was a problem, it > would damage the engine further, but still continue to until I made it > to an airport. If I'm wrong about how much damage there might be, it > will get expensive, but shouldn't be life threatening. > > Many of you have a lot more experience with these engines than I do. > Does this sound like a reasonable plan? > > Thanks, > Rusty (late for the airport as always) > > > --------------090303080602050908010407 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sounds reasonable.

Couple of things you might want to do:
Poke each apex seal through spark plug holes to see if they move freely in the grooves.
Check compression (after lubricating with oil, so you don't get falsely low readings).

Finn

Russell Duffy wrote:

Message
Greetings again,

I've been thinking more about the engine, and wondering what the chances are that there's any damage inside.

I'm pretty sure I noticed the oil about the instant it started to lose any significant amount. As soon as the oil started to leak, I pulled the engine back to idle, and descended ASAP. I'm sure I was doing at least 2000 fpm from 6000 to 2000 ft, which only accounts for 2 minutes of time. At 2000 ft, is when I tried to throttle up, and the engine quit, so no time after that counts. I'm absolutely sure the engine quit because I had the mixture knob set way lean for cruise, and not because it seized up.

This means that at worst, the engine idled for 2 minutes with no oil pressure. My guess would be that it was more like 30 seconds or less. With this in mind, I'm thinking that it's worth doing some ground runs of the engine to see how healthy it seems. If I can thoroughly run it on the ground without problems, then I can follow that with about 10 hours of circling the field. By that point, I can't imagine having any further concerns. If there was a problem, it would damage the engine further, but still continue to until I made it to an airport. If I'm wrong about how much damage there might be, it will get expensive, but shouldn't be life threatening.

Many of you have a lot more experience with these engines than I do. Does this sound like a reasonable plan?

Thanks,

Rusty (late for the airport as always)

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