A little Friday fun

[akflyer 1427]

Finally got to hook up with Randy and a couple other friends and do some sight seeing and try our hand at fishing for Kings.  The fishing was slow so we took a little tour around to show a buddy who is up from Texas for the summer a few new spots.  After our last drop in we took off and me and the buddy in the SQ2 headed for home.... About 5 minutes later at 500' I had an engine out.  Everything was in the green and going along just fine till she just up and quit.  I got a restart about 50' before I would have gone into the trees.  I am not yet sure what happened as it seemed to be running fine after the restart so I went into a cruise climb and grabbed some air before crossing the open waster to get home.  Once I was tied down at the airport an hour later I took a quick peek under the hood and it seems the coolant reservoir was low and looked black inside so I am guessing at this point that I blew a head gasket.  That does not really tell me why it shut down on me but I will be doing a full tear down when I get home next time and see what the bad word is going on with the bird.

All in all it was still an awesome day!

The following week I was recruited to help my brother get started building his hangar house.

Its 50 wide x 40 deep with 16' walls on the bottom floor and 10' walls on the top floor.  Went pretty quick with basically the 2 of us building with one feller who is a 40 yr framer doing the lay out.  Can't wait to be able to park in the Avid indoors!

 

 

[Kahle76 22]

Sorry to hear about your engine, but glad you made it home OK.  

[marshawk 82]

Glad you got it restarted the trees didn't sound like a good option

[nlappos 413]

Leni, nice job! Restarting just before the flare tells me how bad those trees were, you get a gold star.

You never mentioned your underwear, means you are far braver than me.

Nick

[akflyer 1427]

It was not so much the 70' tall trees that worried me, it was more the rocks hiding in them.  All I could do was tr the restart till the last minute till I went in.

Nick.. you are a test pilot.. you know that everyone says they about crapped their pants during a wreck or a close one.  I call BS on that.  At that moment you couldnt put a greased finish nail up there

There is a good lesson here as well.  train train train.  When your getting your ticket most flights should include simulated emergencies.  I know my primary instructors favorite saying was I would never know what a full powered flight would be like till the day I got my ticket.  He was right.  May be a good reason he got instructor of the year a couple years ago.  While no one is every really ready to loose an engine, when it does happen training is the only thing that will help you keep your cool and run through the list like a robot instead of freezing up and riding it in screaming like a lil girl that got her pig tails pulled.

I just happened to get lucky and get the fire lit again and the pilot cooling fan turning in the nick of time.

 

[nlappos 413]

Yes, Leni, we used to say that when things got rough you could slide up an ice pick!

And you are right, training is key, in the actual emergency, sometimes your brain turns to mush and you need to fall back on training. I find even just thinking thru the items, as you look at them in the cockpit, helps. Restart in flight: 1) trim and airspeed, maintain flying speed; 2) Forced landing spot, sighted and ahead; 3) Fuel on; 4) Throttle set; 5) primer cocked and fuel pump on; 6) starter engaged 7) know when to quit trying.

Look at each item, say the action, then go to the next. Do that three times and you are set for a month.

[akflyer 1427]

One more thought... I LOVE the clutch on the prop especially for cold weather starting and for float operations, however, in an engine out situation with that prop freewheeling it turns into a giant speed brake and you really have to point the nose down at a pretty good angle to keep the keep the speed up.  At 60 mph I was dropping at over 1000 fpm.  Does not give much time or much of a glide ratio.  I am seriously considering pulling the clutch and dealing with the cold weather shakes as I know I can glide much better when the prop is stopped.  A lot of things to think about for me in the next couple of weeks as I tear into the plane.

 

[TJay 1041]

Maybe now is a good time for that big boy engine that has been sitting on the floor collecting dust,

[Av8r3400 1179]

He's got a 912 sitting on the floor?  Well get on it, man!

Edited 5 Jul 2016 by Av8r3400

[akflyer 1427]

He's got a 912 sitting on the floor?  Well get on it, man!

I think he is talking about the 800.... but I am going to put that on the amphib as the exhaust wont be an issue on that one.

 

[EDMO 1078]

Joey has a NSI Soob, if you want dependability!   EDMO

[akflyer 1427]

Joey has a NSI Soob, if you want dependability!   EDMO

too heavy for me... any engine can have a failure.. the ole subie didn't work out so well for the Pursang.

 

[EDMO 1078]

Joey has a NSI Soob, if you want dependability!   EDMO

too heavy for me... any engine can have a failure.. the ole subie didn't work out so well for the Pursang.

 

I agree - you have to maintain them, and keep tanks from going empty - watching "real" aircraft with "real" engines go down most every week down here.   EDMO

Edited 5 Jul 2016 by EDMO

[lostman 198]

Joey has a NSI Soob, if you want dependability!   EDMO

too heavy for me... any engine can have a failure.. the ole subie didn't work out so well for the Pursang.

 

It's true that the any engine can fail. However it wasn't the engine that failed on the Pursang. Yes, it stopped running but it wasn't and engine issue. It truly was a fluke of an event that would have been very hard to discover before hand. Knowing what I know now I wouldn't hesitate to fix the issue (actually already have) and hang it to fly again.

[EDMO 1078]

Joey has a NSI Soob, if you want dependability!   EDMO

too heavy for me... any engine can have a failure.. the ole subie didn't work out so well for the Pursang.

 

It's true that the any engine can fail. However it wasn't the engine that failed on the Pursang. Yes, it stopped running but it wasn't and engine issue. It truly was a fluke of an event that would have been very hard to discover before hand. Knowing what I know now I wouldn't hesitate to fix the issue (actually already have) and hang it to fly again.

When I said, "You have to maintain them", I was not talking about your neglect, but the condition of this engine/plane when you bought it.  I would consider the ignition to be part of the engine.  Remember what I said before you bought it?  I had contact with the owner over the past 20 years.  But, as they always say, "Shit Happens!"  EDMO

Edited 6 Jul 2016 by EDMO

[nlappos 413]

The number one cause of excessive quiet in an airplane is the pilot allowing too much air to be stored in the fuel tanks.

[TJay 1041]

? got her done yet

Edited 14 Jul 2016 by TJay

[lv2plyguitar 172]

Hi Lenny,

Did you figure out what caused the engine to quit on you?  I am pickup up my old avid flyer tonight that I sold two years ago.  The guy never flew it and texted me a few months back and wanted to sell it back to me so I took it.

Jeff