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#11
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snip There are no real stats on engine failures because engine manufacturers and the FAA don't want those stats to exist. The FAA could create those stats simply by requiring pilots to report engine failures for other than fuel exhaustion/contamination reasons, but will not. Michael Even if the FAA did require reporting those failures, without also requiring pilots/annuals to report to the FAA all the total accumulated hours, the failure numbers would be useless. (However, I am not an A&P and do not know if these numbers are reported - I doubt it) |
#13
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No hard data, just a fact. Flying since '72, including 18 years of airline
flying, and I've never had a catastrophic failure of any kind, ever. Just lucky, I guess. I have just over 5000 hours and have had 4 complete failures, one partial power failure, and 2 precautionary shutdowns. I've also had a dual prop governor failure in a Twin Otter which lead to shutting down one of the engines. It makes me really happy that I did my initial training in gliders!! -John *You are nothing until you have flown a Douglas, Lockheed, Grumman or North American* |
#14
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#15
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studentpilot wrote:
Know a bloke well with over 15'000 hours, he has had no engine failures. He has had however 4 self inficted engine failures, these were fuel system failures. Mostly failure to put enough in, failure to check for water contamination properly, failure to know the aircraft fuel system. This blokes expirence is all single engine, going from little Lyc's to Radial's and turbine. Why do you exclude fuel exhaustion, fuel contamination etc? Don't they happen if you're IFR? If you're IFR or at night it doesn't really matter WHY it stops. |
#16
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"R. Hubbell" wrote Cap I think it's a reasonable question to ask bnut to me it's more important to know how many engine failures resulted in fatalities since if the engine failed and they walked away from it then who the hell cares what failed as long as you live to fly again. Am I making any sense? The stat I'm tinking of would be engine failures where a fatality resulted and that number will be many more hours than just a engine failure and that's the number that I'll live close to if I have to live close to some fear factor. Even if I'm carried away on a stretcher it beats paying the down mortgage. The engine will just be the last thing I'd think of. Do you know what that does to your numbers when you include fatals? R. Hubbell That is ridiculous! What happens after the engine failure is a combination of timing, luck, location, with a mix of judgment and skill. That is what prevents fatalities. Saying what you said, is like saying a fart is only a fart, if it results in a ****. Get a grip! -- Jim in NC |
#17
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Well, I've had a couple of precautionary shutdowns in a commuter t-prop,
both ultimately traced to faulty sensor or indicator; and a couple of failed generators or hydraulic systems, etc, but these last occurred in Boeing transports with multiple redundancy. I've never encountered a failure that was a show-stopper. Knock wood. JG "Ditch" wrote in message I have just over 5000 hours and have had 4 complete failures, one partial power failure, and 2 precautionary shutdowns. I've also had a dual prop governor failure in a Twin Otter which lead to shutting down one of the engines. |
#18
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Night VFR engine failu
1. turn on landing lights, 2. if you don't like what you see, turn them back off! Hope this helps, Peter |
#19
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Andrew Rowley wrote in message . ..
studentpilot wrote: Know a bloke well with over 15'000 hours, he has had no engine failures. He has had however 4 self inficted engine failures, these were fuel system failures. Mostly failure to put enough in, failure to check for water contamination properly, failure to know the aircraft fuel system. This blokes expirence is all single engine, going from little Lyc's to Radial's and turbine. Why do you exclude fuel exhaustion, fuel contamination etc? Don't they happen if you're IFR? If you're IFR or at night it doesn't really matter WHY it stops. Because I can control these problems. If I do a proper preflight, the probability of fuel contamination is very, very low. If I do the proper fuel calculations and check the fuel levels and carry proper reserves, I'm not going to run out of gas. This is about risk management. I can manage the risks of fuel contamination or exhaustion very easily, if I exercise diligence and care. If those are no longer concerns, the primary engine-related concern becomes mechanical failure, and that's what I'm looking at. Cap |
#20
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"R. Hubbell" wrote in message news:%oDwb.3381$ZE1.73@fed1read04...
On 24 Nov 2003 11:31:57 -0800 (Captain Wubba) wrote: Howdy. I was discussing with a friend of mine my concerns about flying single-engine planes at night or in hard IFR, due to the possibility of engine failure. My buddy is a CFI/CFII/ATP as well as an A&P, about 3500 hours, and been around airplanes for a long time, so I tend to give credence to his experiences. He asked me how often I thought a piston engine had an in-flight engine failure. I guestimated once every 10,000 hours or so. He said that was *dramatically* over-estimating the failure rate. He said that in his experience it is at least 40,000 to 50,000 hours per in-flight engine failure. The place where he works sometimes as a mechanic has plenty of planes come in for overhauls and annuals, and he estimates that for every plane that has had an engine failure before TBO, at least 20-30 make it to TBO without any failure (which would extrapolate to a similar figure). The flight school he teaches at has 7 Cessnas used for primary training and rental that have flown at least 40,000 hours total in the six years he has been there, and they have not experienced a single engine failure. I emailed Lycoming, and (unsurprisingly) they told me they did not keep records about engine failure rates. So I'd like to find out if anyone has done any objective analysis of certificated, piston-engine failure rates in light airplanes. I have seen all kinds of 'guesses', but little in the way of objective facts. After analyzing NTSB accident data and comparing to annual GA flight-hours, I'm starting to think my friend is on the right track, but that is a relatively small sample, and has some methodologial flaws. It's funny. I know 20,000 hour CFIs who have never had an engine failure, and I also know 300 hour PP-ASELs who have had engine failures. Just for giggles, I asked 8 pilot friends/relatives if they had ever had an engine failure. The only 'yes' was a relative who lost an engine after takeoff on his first solo cross-country in 1958. And I know one other pilot who had an engine failure, who I wasn't able to talk to. So what is it? If the engine-failure rate is one failure for every 50,000 flight hours, I'll feel much less reticent about night/IFR single-engine flying than if it is one in 10,000 hours. Anybody have any facts or hard data, or have any idea where I might be able to track some down? Thanks, Cap I think it's a reasonable question to ask bnut to me it's more important to know how many engine failures resulted in fatalities since if the engine failed and they walked away from it then who the hell cares what failed as long as you live to fly again. Am I making any sense? The stat I'm tinking of would be engine failures where a fatality resulted and that number will be many more hours than just a engine failure and that's the number that I'll live close to if I have to live close to some fear factor. Even if I'm carried away on a stretcher it beats paying the down mortgage. The engine will just be the last thing I'd think of. Do you know what that does to your numbers when you include fatals? R. Hubbell Actually I'd really like to know that too. When I delve more deeply into the NTSB stuff, I'll break out fatalities. And it does relate....I am most concerned with IFR and night flying, with this specific question. An engine loss at altitude in day VFR should almost never be fatal; it probably shouldn't even bend the plane very often. But at night or in hard IFR I'd expect the fatality rate to be rather high. What it is exactly will be interesting to find out. Certainly it is easier to find out fatalities than it is total engine failures. If I can glean these numbers from the NTSB database, I'll let you know. Since this is mostly aboiut risk management, it will be interesting to really know the risks *after* the engine failure as well. Cheers, Cap |
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