"gpa" wrote in message .. .
Thats an interesting question especially for the M14P radials that people
are importing from eastern europe. Those engines I am told have a
recommended "TBO" of 500-700 hours (depending on who you ask). But I
understand what those countries do for an overhaul is not equivalent to what
we do in this country. It's more of an inspect and replace if needed, I'm
told. I heard that one of the importers of this engine ran one for 20,000+
hours on the stand adding oil as needed. I would love to know if this is a
true story and who did it and why they stopped the experiment (excess oil
consumption, low compression, etc.)


20K+ hours continous would be a little over 28 months of 24 hours a
day. You would also be talking about over a quater million gallons
of fuel, at an average of $2 a gallon......for an engine that cost
less than $20K new.

You have to remember that Russian designs call for maintenance by
people that were essentially uneducated goat herders last week and are
now aircraft mechanics this week. They also design in great lattitude
in manufacturing tolerences because of this education and skill level
problems. Having worked on some of the most cutting edge aircraft from
the US as well as some of the best from MIG, it is understandable why
they do things the way they do. When the people from that region
manage to catch up with the west's level of normal education...look
out because they will possibly surpass us in building anything that is
mechanical.

Craig C.