GeeBee

As Mike Busch about fueling at KSQL.

The Soviets knew. They delivered the world's largest vertical lathe to Westinghouse in Sunnyvale, CA in the 1960's. Why was it needed? To machine the prop shafts for nuclear subs. You cannot machine them on a horizontal lathe as they sag too much. The Soviet view was "if we don't sell it", the Americans will build it anyway.

Another lesson on why you never leave the fueling process https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/misfueling-cited-in-alaska-commander-crash/

50 hours or 90 days, whichever occurs first.

My aerodynamics prof who worked with Johnson used to have Kelly Johnson once a year. It was always a great session. My biggest laugh was when DefSec McNamara told Johnson that the F-4 Phantom was going to "blow the doors" off the F-104. It held the records for about 48 hours, then as Johnson said, "We pulled a stock F-104 off the line and reset the record to where it belonged".

Got, it. Pistons, rings, valves are no longer part of the engine and can be sent to any accessory shop. Which begs the question, why is the ECi cylinder AD listed under the engines rather than by themselves?

I never understand why pilots are so reluctant to declare low fuel states and emergencies. About 3 years ago, I had to declare minimum fuel after a thunderstorm exploded over my destination while on approach. After the missed I could not get ATC to clear me to my alternate, I literally was on a 100 mile downwind from the destination I just blew out. Things happen quickly when you are burning fuel so don't delay. I finally declared "MINIMUM FUEL". These days things happen PDQ when you do that. I was not only declared direct to my alternate, center cleared me for "any approach" at my alternate before I talked to Approach. When I talked to approach, they just asked what approach I was executing and did I want the visual to the parallel instead. I said, "Nope, we're locking her up on the ILS for an auto land. If we go around, it will be an emergency declaration." We landed with 40 minutes of fuel.

I recently saw an O-320 in a 172, running like a top at 2600 since zero time. The owner was so proud of it, swore it would make 3000 hours, then the head separated from the cylinder. The engine is no longer running, and the airplane is...no more.

It is correct they had a unit conversion problem, but that is a cop out., This is why you compare the "pre-service reading" to the "post service reading" x the fuel density per unit of volume. That way, ANY error is shown and indeed magnified regardless of units. The mistake servicing personnel make (and was made in this case) is to simply fuel to the mark on the drip or magna stick. Once you have done that you have "lost the tank" because a continuous "volume pumped" vs quantity shown (regardless if it was a stick or gauge) has been lost. Your only out at that point is to empty the tank and re-service with a known volume. Hopefully you have room in another tank to pump the lost tank over, then an operative gauge to measure it and pump it back. If not you are going to be tankering some fuel. This should be our way on our airplanes too. We should be always comparing the pre-service quantity to the post service and the volume pumped. Not simply pumping to a mark. That way any over consumption is noted and cause ascertained.

I've always said if I return to CA (unlikely) I would live on the Central Coast. Great area you live in.

Oh and on the "self service"? There is only one guy who services my Mooney....me. I may let you stand there and hold the nozzle, but no one fuels my airplane unless I am there.

Oh, believe me I have had fuel problems in jets. One time the gauges would not show quantity because the gauges indicated "contamination". The mechanics said it was an error, drained the sumps, pulled the drip sticks and said the fuel amount was correct. I said, "Humor me and do a Millipore check on the fuel truck. Millipore failed and upon further inspection they found a sweater left in the truck tank by a repairman. Those fibers would have clogged the fuel filters, no telling what would have happened. Another time, I found a fuel cap left off a 737 basic after it came out of maintenance. They did have overwing fueling provision on early Boeings. For whatever reason, most airlines do not include a "cap check" in the walk around. Fuel quantity verification comes in. the form of a "fuel slip". The slip shows the beginning quantity, the quantity after servicing, the gallons pumped and the fuel density times the gallons pumped which should be very close to the difference between the before and after service quantities. I could not get the gallons x fuel density to match up. Then it hit me. There was no way in the middle of January in Chicago that fuel density was 6.7 lbs/gal. Upon further investigation we found that procedures require a density check, twice a day, it had not been done in 3 weeks. Let me not even begin to talk about gauge inoperative fueling, which is messed up 90% of the time unless you go down and supervise it personally. The most common error is not taking a pre-service stick reading. If you don't do it right, and you don't match your serviced quantity with your sticks, you end up with this.

You are correct, Lycoming cannot design a valve train TSTA. The H2AD problems were not corrosion problems. I know. I dead sticked 3 of them. The push rods exploded out the tubes, one even went through the cowling. The issue with other Lycoming engines is corrosion.. While a roller cam is not a panacea to corrosion, it is less susceptible. Mercury Marine knows this fact too which is why their premium engines, based on GM blocks are rollers both for corrosion and performance reasons. That all said, IMHO Lycoming is very bad about sticking the customer with parts they knew for a long time were bad. I use the IO-540 rocker arm bushings as an example. They knew for over a year they were bad, but kept shipping them to engine shops. Then they say, "Oh let's make a. SB and an AD. They walk down the hall to their FAA rep and get it done and you get stuck with the bill with absolutely no allowance for labor IF you did not have the engine work done by them.

Welcome to General Aviation. Wait until you find out some internal engine part is a POS that has to be replaced, and you have to pay the full bill. (and they wonder why sales and starts are so low.)

My field O/H O-320 B2B turned up 173hp on the dyne (rated 160). I also paid 27K for the engine alone. As I said, I am a fan but....quick, good, cheap. Choose two.

It does make you wonder how PIA managed to pull it off.

Mine too. I don't use them except in freezing temps.

I've spent many minutes with my hand on the fuel selectors of twin Cessnas and Navajos getting every last drop of fuel out of the aux tanks for max range. The last thing you want to do is have to go back to a tank with a few gallons in it. So the answer is, yes, the fuel pressure will start to wiggle when. the tanks starts to empty. I've never had the engine quit, but I've seen the needle start to wiggle.

My error. Still I think he would benefit from a roller cam even at 15 hours.

Point taken, and with Hall effect which is magnetic field disruption, you still have hysteresis both in the field and the circuit. I certainly would agree they are an improvement over resistance sensors.

First, is terms. Is a field O/H better than a factory zero time? Depends on the tolerances used.. O/H to new tolerances with new factory cylinders? Yes the field O/H is better. I guarantee you that 16K quote is not to new tolerances. Second is how this engine is used. The poster said he flies only 5 hours a month. That means corrosion is a distinct possibility. So a roller cam would be a high priority as it is less susceptible but not entirely free over a traditional cam. He can only get a roller cam with a Factory zero time. Third. At 5 hours per month he is likely to dispose of the airplane before the engine term is up, so resale enters into the equation Fourth. He wants minimal down time. Minimal down time and field overhaul are not synonymous terms. Fifth. Warranty? Remember just a year ago Lycoming had a batch of bad rocker bushings on the IO-540? Now Lycoming gave new bushings to all the people who bought those. But only people who purchased Lycoming zero times were covered for parts and LABOR and labor was 99% of the cost. People who had field O/H were at the mercy of their shops. Sixth. Resale: We have already established this airplane will be sold in the future. Imagine this airplane with an identical cousin being compared by a first time buyer (there are a lot of those on these very pages). He has a "zero time factory engine" and the other has a field to new tolerances by a highly reputable shop. Which airplane will the WIFE pull out the checkbook and write? To the knowledgable purchaser you and I know makes no difference. To the wife with a first time buyer? Simply put the airplane with a factory zero time will move faster. Simply. put, based upon the conditions laid down by the OP, the factory engine is the only way to go.

Capacitance senders are in general more accurate, but any electrical circuit is subject to hysteresis. Running one tank dry will tell you how far the gauge is off when empty. But what about at say 25 gallons? You need to know you have a "fuel disagreement" before the tank leak has bled dry.

Depends on how far removed. However I know it is difficult for you to imagine, because you have integrity, honesty and bring professionalism to your shop and you take pride in being a professional. I have seen some pretty wild stuff, like a factory owned service center that pencil whipped a wing bolt exchange 4 years prior. The buyer had the service center do the pre-buy who told him everything was tip-top. A while later at an annual across the country the shop called to say the wing bolts were still factory because the factory inspector's sticker was still on one of the nuts! By that time the previous service manager at the factory shop was gone as was the chief inspector. Just last year a fellow on our field bought a Mooney M20C with "fresh annual". We found more rat's nest than a New York subway tunnel. Turns out the guy who signed off the previous 4 annuals has been in a rest home for the last 5 years. His son opened a shop under a new name and signed off the annual with his newly minted IA certificate to cover for Dad. The names should have been an alarm. If you engage Savvy pre buy they will do the same thing. Seek a shop that has no prior relationship to the airplane or its owners.

Because you don't know what their relationship is with the current owner or owners.

The calculated NEVER wins. It is one merely a confirmation of a known set of facts, IF you have mapped your gauges and lights. The problem is........you never know if you have a leak and if so which side of the flow transducer. If you have a leak before the flow transducer, you'll think your calculated is just fine, but in fact you've lost a bunch of fuel and the low quantity gauges or lights are in fact telling you tragedy is around the corner. Ask Air Transat 236 when they deadsticked an A330 into the Azores how that works. There is always gauge hysteresis on the tank levels and you should have a map of it for each tank. I have mapped mine (it is in the form of an Excel spread sheet) and I know for instance what the gauge should read based upon the calculated flow. If the gauge is significantly less than that of the mapped quantity compared to the flow, you know you have a leak before the transducer. You should know, to the gallon when your low fuel lights come on and you should be able to predict that almost to the minute with the flow meter. Again, if the lights come on early, something is amiss.