On Tue, 6 May 2008 10:29:14 -0400, "Darkwing"
theducksmail"AT"yahoo.com wrote:


"Tina" wrote in message
...
I've read conflicting information on how often SEL airplanes have to
land 'right now' because of engine problems. In 3000 hours, most
behind an IO 360, we never have had that kind of emergency, but have
landed because of alternater failure, having a bank of spark plugs
fail, vacuum pump failure, those sorts of things. Someone wrote, and I
don't remember if it was supported by hard data, that on average an
unavoidable unplanned landing might be as often as every 1500 hours or
so. Do you know? Information like that would allow a more reasonable
estimate of the risks associated with long overwater (or night IMC IRF
-- we do that a lot) flights.


I'm sure there are student pilots who have lost an engine on their first
solo and there are pilots with thousands of hours that have never had any

First solo? How about first lesson. We had one of our aviation
scholarship winners blow a jug on the first lesson in a 150.

Me? At bout 1100 hours the engine in the Deb quit without warning on
takeoff. Climbing through bout 50 feet @ 100 MPH and nothing. Instant
silence. The diaphragm in the spider (fuel distribution block) blew
shutting off the fuel to the cylinders, but pumping a quarter inch
stream of gas out onto 6 *hot* cylinders.

kind of emergency. Statistics are interesting reading but personal
experience varies greatly I'm sure. I'm in the low hundreds as a pilots and
haven't has any kind of emergency, I had an engine run rough for a couple
seconds in cruise and I have had a couple run ups that were rough enough to

I've had a few that required going back to the hangar and pulling the
plugs.

warrant leaning the mixture and running the engine up but thankfully I have
not had anything major but I'm sure there are pilots out there with equal
hours that have had problems. It is just the luck of the draw.

Roger (K8RI) ARRL Life Member
N833R (World's oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com