Nasa Icing courses

("Jim Burns" wrote)
As many of you probably know, recent midwest weather has been a steady
stream of low overcast, misty, and foggy days prohibiting most VFR flight
and making IFR flights a spin of the icing roulette wheel. I thought it
may be a good opportunity for us to review NASA's icing online courses.

http://aircrafticing.grc.nasa.gov/courses.html


"The streak of cloudy days continues. If it weren't for about 2 hours of
filtered sun on New Years Day this would be the 14th completely cloudy day
in a row."

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crnews/display_story.php?wfo=mpx&storyid=1047&source=0
NOAA - Persistent Lack of Sunshine in the Twin Cities

http://www.kare11.com/weather/weather_article.aspx?storyid=115912
Local news blip


Montblack

: "The streak of cloudy days continues. If it weren't for about 2 hours of
: filtered sun on New Years Day this would be the 14th completely cloudy day
: in a row."

Hey... that little window let me fly home (Wisconsin-Virginia) on New Year's
Day.... Take what you can get!

-Cory

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

Hey... that little window let me fly home (Wisconsin-Virginia) on New
Year's
Day.... Take what you can get!

Hey, we flew VFR from Iowa City to Janesville, WI (and back) last Sunday.

The last 45 minutes were, um, interesting. The temperature and dew points
began to converge, as the sun began to set, and sky conditions dropped from
11,000 broken to a very optimistic 1300 overcast -- across a 250 mile wide
stretch of terrain -- in about 20 minutes. It was the most widespread
deterioration I've ever seen.

I was glad to be on the ground at the end of that flight. We were still
legal VFR, but visibility was 5 miles or less, and nasty icing was occurring
less than a thousand feet up.

Other than that, we haven't flown diddly squat in weeks. Our last fly-in
guest was sometime around Thanksgiving. Worst flying weather I've ever
seen.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
Hey... that little window let me fly home (Wisconsin-Virginia) on New
Year's
Day.... Take what you can get!


Hey, we flew VFR from Iowa City to Janesville, WI (and back) last Sunday.

The last 45 minutes were, um, interesting. The temperature and dew points
began to converge, as the sun began to set, and sky conditions dropped from
11,000 broken to a very optimistic 1300 overcast -- across a 250 mile wide
stretch of terrain -- in about 20 minutes. It was the most widespread
deterioration I've ever seen.

I was glad to be on the ground at the end of that flight. We were still
legal VFR, but visibility was 5 miles or less, and nasty icing was occurring
less than a thousand feet up.

Other than that, we haven't flown diddly squat in weeks. Our last fly-in
guest was sometime around Thanksgiving. Worst flying weather I've ever
seen.

Yes, I feel your pain. I haven't flown since a trip in October to New
Hampshire where I got some ice on the return trip. I was off two weeks
at Christmas and the weather was either icing conditions or low vis
every day the entire time I was off work!


Matt

Jay Honeck wrote:

Other than that, we haven't flown diddly squat in weeks. Our last fly-in
guest was sometime around Thanksgiving. Worst flying weather I've ever
seen.

So between the weather and my work backing up, at least my engine picked
a good time to make metal. It is off the airplane waiting for the crate
to arrive from Penn Yan. I last flew on a return trip over Thanksgiving
weekend. Pulled the filter right after that trip (11 hours after
finding metal in the filter during the october annual) and found as much
metal as the previous 30+ hour filter had in it, so I grounded it.

The engine is 26 months and 178 hours out of a new limits Penn Yan
overhaul with new ECI titan stud assemblies, new cam, new accessory
gears, new oil pump, all new accessories, etc. About all that wasn't new
was the crank and case, and those were reworked during the overhaul.

The intake cam lobe for the #3 and #4 cylinders failed and is worn down
considerably, hence the engine coming off and waiting for the crate.

On 7-Jan-2006, Ray Andraka wrote:

The engine is 26 months and 178 hours out of a new limits Penn Yan
overhaul with new ECI titan stud assemblies, new cam, new accessory
gears, new oil pump, all new accessories, etc. About all that wasn't new
was the crank and case, and those were reworked during the overhaul.


So, is Penn Yan providing the new engine at no cost, or pro-rated? Are they
picking up any of the removal/reinstallation and shipping expenses?

--
-Elliott Drucker

wrote:
On 7-Jan-2006, Ray Andraka wrote:


The engine is 26 months and 178 hours out of a new limits Penn Yan
overhaul with new ECI titan stud assemblies, new cam, new accessory
gears, new oil pump, all new accessories, etc. About all that wasn't new
was the crank and case, and those were reworked during the overhaul.



So, is Penn Yan providing the new engine at no cost, or pro-rated? Are they
picking up any of the removal/reinstallation and shipping expenses?


Well, I don't know the full story yet. It will at least be pro-rated
because I am still in the pro-rate part of the warranty period. They
cover it full for 2 years then after that it is pro-rated 40 hours/month.

The intake cam lobe for the #3 and #4 cylinders failed and is worn down
considerably, hence the engine coming off and waiting for the crate.

I've been following your engine woes with great interest, Ray, and not a
small bit of horror. To say you are living one of my worst nightmares is
not far from the truth, and I feel your pain.

Does anyone *really* know what causes a camshaft to fail like this? I read
about it happening with alarming regularity, and it's never attributed to
anything in particular. It's always treated like an act of God, or like a
weather phenomenon, rather than like the mechanical failure it is.

And mechanical failures should have simple explanations, no? WHY did one
of the cam lobes fail? Why didn't ALL of the cam lobes fail?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

Does anyone *really* know what causes a camshaft to fail like this? I read
about it happening with alarming regularity, and it's never attributed to
anything in particular.

In the absence of some catastrophe, such as a bent pushrod, this is generally
caused by not flying enough. The layer of hardened steel on a camshaft is fairly
thin. Let the plane sit long enough, and rust will form. When the engine starts
again, the rust is worn away, making the thin layer of hardened steel thinner.
The worst wear points, of course, are the tips of the lobes. Once the hardened
steel wears through, the softer steel underneath goes pretty rapidly.

"So why not build the shaft entirely of hardened steel?", I hear you cry. That's
because the harder steel is, the more brittle it becomes. The best strength
comes from this sort of lamination of hard and soft steels.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

There is also the fact that the oil pump is at one end of
the engine and the cam shaft lobe that fails is probably at
the other [a guess] and the oil takes some time to reach the
journal and establish a full oil bearing.

Add a little sludge, maybe some cold oil and an over-revved
engine, and you get cam lobe /journal failure or the lifter.

Pilot error due to poor operation.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:J11wf.517$sa4.41@trnddc07...
| Jay Honeck wrote:
|
| Does anyone *really* know what causes a camshaft to fail
like this? I read
| about it happening with alarming regularity, and it's
never attributed to
| anything in particular.
|
| In the absence of some catastrophe, such as a bent
pushrod, this is generally
| caused by not flying enough. The layer of hardened steel
on a camshaft is fairly
| thin. Let the plane sit long enough, and rust will form.
When the engine starts
| again, the rust is worn away, making the thin layer of
hardened steel thinner.
| The worst wear points, of course, are the tips of the
lobes. Once the hardened
| steel wears through, the softer steel underneath goes
pretty rapidly.
|
| "So why not build the shaft entirely of hardened steel?",
I hear you cry. That's
| because the harder steel is, the more brittle it becomes.
The best strength
| comes from this sort of lamination of hard and soft
steels.
|
| George Patterson
| Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by
rights belong to
| your slightly older self.