Today's Message Index:
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1. 09:21 AM - Re: Re: 70% power (Craymondw@aol.com)
2. 09:23 AM - Re: Re: 70% power (Craymondw@aol.com)
3. 12:01 PM - On Return To Service Flights (MPPalmer@aol.com)
4. 02:20 PM - Re: On Return To Service Flights (Craymondw@aol.com)
Message 1
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Hi,
Thanks for your suggestions. I guess I wasn't very clear. The very
beginning of the problem started on the take off roll just before lift off and
became
worse as we gained altitude. My homebase airport is 750 feet above sea level.
The highest altitude we obtained was less than 1,000 feet or 250 feet above
ground. It was at this point the power out put dropped to what I would guess
was 30% power.
I stopped using the washers on the filter elements years ago. After
installing the new filter I pressure tested the fuel filter assembly for leaks.
I
thought about the possibility of a flap in a fuel line. I haven't replaced them
since 1997.
I have a fuel injected engine and my fuel flow is normally 18 gallons per
hour under full rich and full throttle. I took note that it had dropped to a
little over 14 gallons/hour. After the loss of power, I cleaned the injectors
with Hoppes #9, reinstalled them and test flew the plane. On that test flight
the full power fuel flow went back to 18 gallons per hour.
I talked to the man that sold me the engine and he said he remember
something like this years ago on a Super Cub. He went on to say that after
inspecting everything it was determined that a piece of carbon may have broken
way and
temporarily messed up a valve seat. I had something like this happen in a
Decathlon back in the 1980s. But that plane back fired and mine didn't. We landed
the plane and ran the engine at full power and leaned the heck out of the
engine until we burned away the problem.
Another thing I forgot to mention was that I noticed a soft cylinder on a
cold pull through. I removed the plugs from that cylinder and sprayed in WD40
and hit the valves with a rubber mallet. A few mechanics think the WD40 may
have loosened carbon. I followed through with a hot engine compression test and
all cylinders were 80/80. One mechanic feels that I may have worn valve
guides and carbon has infiltrated the guides and may be jamming a valve on the
cold
cylinder. I added AVBLEND to the gas and will add Marvel Mystery oil to the
header tank. I have 960 hours on this set of cylinders with the hope that if it
is a valve jamming in a guide, it will loosen up. I used Champion Spark Plug
thread Lube and some think I may have shorted some of the plugs and that when
it burned off, the engine regained power.
I broke my own maintenance rule by performing a multitude of tasks. I only
like doing one task at a time because if something goes wrong that task
becomes suspicious. I recently returned from two long flights out west, One to
Utah and One to El Paso Texas, then up to Durango Colorado. I had an up coming
trip Fort Walton Beach Florida and knew that I was behind on several engine
services and decided to do them all at once.
Thanks for your suggestions
Chuck Raymond
Message 2
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Hi,
When you say Spider Finger screen, do you mean the finger screen in the
injector throttle body?
Message 3
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| Subject: | On Return To Service Flights |
Just a general thought, spawned from yesterday's discussion:
Do you know what the most dangerous flight is? It's the "return to service"
flight. That's when the Concord caught on fire.... they had just done
maintenance on an afterburner. (But are trying to claim tire debris caused the
problem.)
In general, you've just changed something on an otherwise fine working
airplane. We ought to treat these flights as "first flights." Even for something
as
simple as an oil change.
We had a guy here answer a cell call while screwing on an oil filter. He's
dead now. He forgot to tighten it fully after his telephone call, took off for
a
return to service flight. He lost oil pressure and crashed on final trying to
return to the airport. Inspectors found a trail of oil from his hangar to the
runup area.
Hope this helps,
Mike Palmer <><
Message 4
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| Subject: | Re: On Return To Service Flights |
Now I can see why some owners say; "If it ain't broke don't fix it!!" I
started flying in small planes in 1955 and was sitting right seat in two separate
landing crashes. Another time I was sitting right seat when the plane we were
flying went into a spin in the middle of the night while in a blinding snow
storm. And one other time I had an oil cooler hose blow while over a huge lake
on
a return flight from Oshkosh. I once had a Pitts Special lose an aileron
bolt on final and when I landed and got out I found that all the new self locking
nuts for the aileron bolts were about to fall off. I replaced all of the
bolts with castle nuts and carter pins. I had just replaced the self locking nuts
and later found out they were bogus. When I first completed my Glasair I had a
right brake fire that set the wheel pant on fire. I have also lost vacuum
pumps, alternator belts and radios at the worse time. Flying is dangerous and
over the years I have lost several good acquaintances in crashes. I am often
mocked for "Over Maintaining" my plane.
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