Dan OBrien

Looking back on this accident, having experienced vapor lock myself twice in 270 hours in my IO-550 Lancair ES over the last year and a half, and observing the number of these incidents reported on the COPA list in IO-550s and TSIO-550s, I hope the Ovation and Acclaim folks are using their boost pumps wisely. Happy and safe flying, Dan

Seems like the outcome of this discussion is to be aware of the vapor lock issue and prepared to hit low boost when it may be happening (or have low boost on in hot conditions to prevent it in the first place). The high/low boost set up allows the same thing the Lancair folks do.

This is one area in which the experimental side has an advantage over normally certified. The Lancair community is well aware of the issue, and we don't need a regulation for us talking amongst ourselves to figure out that vapor lock is in issue in the IO and TSIO 550s. We turn our low boost pumps on above 10,000 feet, or at least we have a heightened sense of awareness of the potential issue, which we would address immediately the engine gurgles. For a commercial and normally certified operator to issue this advice would require mountains of business consideration and FAA paperwork. My Bravo has one boost pump. Do the Ovation and Acclaims have both a high and low boost? We use low boost in the Lancairs to address the issue because high boost would flood the engine.