In-Flight Engine Failure

I have only had the plane for 3 months. No strike while I have had it.
The logs, of course, do not say whether a prop strike happended, but
the last major overhaul was 12 years ago, which was only about 318 tach
hours ago.

-Sami

kage wrote:
Did this engine ever have a prop strike?

Karl


"O. Sami Saydjari" wrote in message
...

Update: The crank shaft broke! That means I was operating on just a
couple of cylinders. The overhaul folks said that have only seen this
happen one other time; apparently it is quite rare.

I am going to visit my engine tomorrow to see the damage for myself, see
if we can conclude what caused it, and learn as much as I can from
seeing my engine splayed out on a workbench.

Seems like a great learning opportunity. Any suggestions on good
questions to ask, or something special I should try to learn from seeing
my engine in this state?

-Sami
N2057M, Piper Turbo Arrow III (in surgery)

I will double check the logs when I see them on Monday, but I do not
recall seeing such an entry when I read through it for the purchase.

My understanding is that any prop strike *requires* a major overhaul for
this very reason. Is that not the case?

-Sami

Aaron Coolidge wrote:
kage wrote:
: Did this engine ever have a prop strike?

: Karl

That was going to be my question! Even a prop strike on something "soft"
such as snow can lead to a later crank failure. Did you see any mention of
a prop overhaul/replacement in the logs?

"O. Sami Saydjari" wrote:

My understanding is that any prop strike *requires* a major overhaul for
this very reason. Is that not the case?

Don't think so. It requires that the engine be disassembled and checked for damage
but not overhauled. Many owners would take the opportunity to major the engine,
though.

George Patterson
If you don't tell lies, you never have to remember what you said.

In article ,
"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:

"O. Sami Saydjari" wrote:

My understanding is that any prop strike *requires* a major overhaul for
this very reason. Is that not the case?

Don't think so. It requires that the engine be disassembled and checked for
damage
but not overhauled. Many owners would take the opportunity to major the
engine,
though.

Once you've got the thing taken apart, why would you do anything else?

Roy Smith wrote:

Once you've got the thing taken apart, why would you do anything else?

If I had it overhauled a few hundred hours ago, I would not do it again. Teardown,
damage check, and reassembly is much cheaper than an overhaul.

George Patterson
If you don't tell lies, you never have to remember what you said.

Is there a way to test a crank after a prop strike to absolutely assure
that it has no micro-fractures or hidden fatigue points? That seems
like a pretty big gamble to me. -Sami

G.R. Patterson III wrote:

Roy Smith wrote:

Once you've got the thing taken apart, why would you do anything else?


If I had it overhauled a few hundred hours ago, I would not do it again. Teardown,
damage check, and reassembly is much cheaper than an overhaul.

George Patterson
If you don't tell lies, you never have to remember what you said.

"O. Sami Saydjari" wrote in
:

I have only had the plane for 3 months. No strike while I have had
it.
The logs, of course, do not say whether a prop strike happended, but
the last major overhaul was 12 years ago, which was only about 318
tach hours ago.

-Sami

kage wrote:
Did this engine ever have a prop strike?

Karl


"O. Sami Saydjari" wrote in message
...

Update: The crank shaft broke! That means I was operating on just a
couple of cylinders. The overhaul folks said that have only seen
this happen one other time; apparently it is quite rare.

I am going to visit my engine tomorrow to see the damage for myself,
see if we can conclude what caused it, and learn as much as I can
from seeing my engine splayed out on a workbench.

Seems like a great learning opportunity. Any suggestions on good
questions to ask, or something special I should try to learn from
seeing my engine in this state?

-Sami
N2057M, Piper Turbo Arrow III (in surgery)







I have not followed this entire thread, but from your comment above
about engine usage, I'm not suprised that you had a failure of one kind
or another. 35 hours per year or run time is not very good for a
engine. I'm just glad your here to complain about it! Having the fan
stop turning is a bad thing.

"O. Sami Saydjari" wrote in message
...
I will double check the logs when I see them on Monday, but I do not
recall seeing such an entry when I read through it for the purchase.

My understanding is that any prop strike *requires* a major overhaul for
this very reason. Is that not the case?

-Sami

There is no such requirement. Even if there were such a requirement there
is no guarantee the engine teardown would be done. Just because there is no
prop strike in the log book does not mean it did not happen.

Both Contenal and Lycoming have had crank shaft breakage problems a
few years ago on some engines when they outsourced production.
You might want to look into the AD's and service letters on this. Some
engines were grounded for a long time since there was a shortage of
crankshafts.
John

On Tue, 27 Apr 2004 16:47:06 -0500, "O. Sami Saydjari"
wrote:

Update: The crank shaft broke! That means I was operating on just a
couple of cylinders. The overhaul folks said that have only seen this
happen one other time; apparently it is quite rare.

I am going to visit my engine tomorrow to see the damage for myself, see
if we can conclude what caused it, and learn as much as I can from
seeing my engine splayed out on a workbench.

Seems like a great learning opportunity. Any suggestions on good
questions to ask, or something special I should try to learn from seeing
my engine in this state?

-Sami
N2057M, Piper Turbo Arrow III (in surgery)

"O. Sami Saydjari" wrote:

Is there a way to test a crank after a prop strike to absolutely assure
that it has no micro-fractures or hidden fatigue points?

Yes. IIRC, it's called magnafluxing.

George Patterson
If you don't tell lies, you never have to remember what you said.