Need A Definition

[Jay Beckman]

Hi All...

I came across a term the other day I'm not familiar with...

Back in WWII, when a new plane came off the assembly line, a WAC would take
it up and "Slow Time" it.

What was/is "Slow Timing" an airplane?

Was it for single-engine fighters only, or was this something done to all
aircraft?

TIA,

Jay Beckman
Student Pilot - KCHD
17.4 Hrs ... Nowhere to go but up!

[C J Campbell]

"Jay Beckman" > wrote in message
news:GpGnc.17430$k24.9020@fed1read01...
> Hi All...
>
> I came across a term the other day I'm not familiar with...
>
> Back in WWII, when a new plane came off the assembly line, a WAC would
take
> it up and "Slow Time" it.
>
> What was/is "Slow Timing" an airplane?
>
> Was it for single-engine fighters only, or was this something done to all
> aircraft?
>

It was running the engine at reduced power to break it in after maintenance
had been performed on it. It was done even after such simple measures as
cleaning and gapping the spark plugs. You did not want to introduce the
engine to the high stress of combat flying until it had been run in for a
few hours. Slow-timing was not necessarily done in flight; there are
paintings and photos of rows of B-17s all sitting on the ramp slow-timing
their engines.

The engine was not run at a constant speed, but varied, and sometimes run on
just one magneto for periods of up to one minute (you can get an argument
going about whether running on one mag is good or bad for the engine).
Although all airplanes needed slow-timing, temperamental aircraft such as
the P-51 needed it more.

Modern engines still require a break-in period, using mineral oil for the
first 50 hours or so. It is still a good idea to slow-time a new engine on a
trainer aircraft, avoiding maneuvers such as touch and goes for a few hours
until the engine is broken in.

[Jay Beckman]

"C J Campbell" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Jay Beckman" > wrote in message
> news:GpGnc.17430$k24.9020@fed1read01...
> > Hi All...
> >
> > I came across a term the other day I'm not familiar with...
> >
> > Back in WWII, when a new plane came off the assembly line, a WAC would
> take
> > it up and "Slow Time" it.
> >
> > What was/is "Slow Timing" an airplane?
> >
> > Was it for single-engine fighters only, or was this something done to
all
> > aircraft?
> >
>
> It was running the engine at reduced power to break it in after
maintenance
> had been performed on it. It was done even after such simple measures as
> cleaning and gapping the spark plugs. You did not want to introduce the
> engine to the high stress of combat flying until it had been run in for a
> few hours. Slow-timing was not necessarily done in flight; there are
> paintings and photos of rows of B-17s all sitting on the ramp slow-timing
> their engines.
>
> The engine was not run at a constant speed, but varied, and sometimes run
on
> just one magneto for periods of up to one minute (you can get an argument
> going about whether running on one mag is good or bad for the engine).
> Although all airplanes needed slow-timing, temperamental aircraft such as
> the P-51 needed it more.
>
> Modern engines still require a break-in period, using mineral oil for the
> first 50 hours or so. It is still a good idea to slow-time a new engine on
a
> trainer aircraft, avoiding maneuvers such as touch and goes for a few
hours
> until the engine is broken in.
>
>

Thanks C J

Now I know!

Jay

[Jay Honeck]

> few hours. Slow-timing was not necessarily done in flight; there are
> paintings and photos of rows of B-17s all sitting on the ramp slow-timing
> their engines.

Can't you just imagine the glorious cacophony of sound coming from all of
those wonderful radial engines?

Man, to have witnessed that would have been something...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Big John]

CJ

All ever heard on "slow timing" (and I flew a number of missions like
that) was airborne flight. May have been some extended running on
ground but don't beleive it was called "slow timing".

Extenced running on the ground (both lqiuid and air cooled) did not
give same cooling as during flight.

Those missions were rather boring (round and round the flag pole) and
lots of pilots made excuses to not fly and others had to do the 'dirty
deed' :o)

Your corrrect on power setting. We would run at slow cruise for maybe
30 minutes and then full throttle for 5 minutes and then back to slow
cruise. I forget but times may have been different (10 minutes slow
cruise - one minute full throtle, etc., etc.)?

Y'all have a nice day.

Big John
`````````````````````````````````````````````````` ``````````````````````

On Mon, 10 May 2004 08:19:06 -0700, "C J Campbell"
> wrote:

>
>"Jay Beckman" > wrote in message
>news:GpGnc.17430$k24.9020@fed1read01...
>> Hi All...
>>
>> I came across a term the other day I'm not familiar with...
>>
>> Back in WWII, when a new plane came off the assembly line, a WAC would
>take
>> it up and "Slow Time" it.
>>
>> What was/is "Slow Timing" an airplane?
>>
>> Was it for single-engine fighters only, or was this something done to all
>> aircraft?
>>
>
>It was running the engine at reduced power to break it in after maintenance
>had been performed on it. It was done even after such simple measures as
>cleaning and gapping the spark plugs. You did not want to introduce the
>engine to the high stress of combat flying until it had been run in for a
>few hours. Slow-timing was not necessarily done in flight; there are
>paintings and photos of rows of B-17s all sitting on the ramp slow-timing
>their engines.
>
>The engine was not run at a constant speed, but varied, and sometimes run on
>just one magneto for periods of up to one minute (you can get an argument
>going about whether running on one mag is good or bad for the engine).
>Although all airplanes needed slow-timing, temperamental aircraft such as
>the P-51 needed it more.
>
>Modern engines still require a break-in period, using mineral oil for the
>first 50 hours or so. It is still a good idea to slow-time a new engine on a
>trainer aircraft, avoiding maneuvers such as touch and goes for a few hours
>until the engine is broken in.
>