Insane impulse coupling issues AGAIN, seeking theories

[Ryan ORL]

Small update... Western Skyways has my engine and has started disassembly.  Hopefully more news there soon.

I met in person here in Orlando w/ the rep from Champion so he could inspect the impulse coupling debris in person and photograph it.  He was obviously pretty circumspect in his commentary but did say that while they have seen impulse failures of this type, he has never seen them with this low time and insinuated that they don't trust QAA/Hartzell's claim that these were new couplings.  They want me to send them the parts for analysis in their lab.  Getting another look at the coupling myself, it is clear as day that the rivet holes are very worn out, they're oversized and elongated enough to be obvious to the naked eye.

I think even if I were to accept that these were "used" couplings, the chances of the identical failure in <100 hours is simply too improbably to consider.  Probably even an unmaintained and uninspected coupling should be expected to carry on well beyond 500 hours before this sort of failure would occur.

I also separately received a call from Certified Engines, my original engine shop, saying that they finally settled up with QAA/Hartzell on the previous mag explosion (QAA paid them) and they told me they were informed by QAA that they would be paying for this one as well.  I don't have that in writing from them yet though.

I haven't sent the mag parts to anyone yet because I want QAA/Hartzell to give me their view on what they want to occur now.  The most direct warranty claim is through them, however I certainly understand their point of view that this is not 'their' failure (if these were indeed new couplings), which is obviously why they wanted me to involve Champion.  From my point of view, the cleanest solution is that QAA/Hartzell agrees to cover the teardown expenses, takes possession of this mag (and the previous which they now paid for), and pursues one consolidated claim against Champion.  Then they can decide under what circumstances they release these parts to Champion, and I am no longer in the middle.

Still no firm agreement from the parties though... and I do periodically see email traffic back and forth, so I know they are communicating behind the scenes now.

[Paul Thomas]

If QAA is going to pay for the teardown, I'd want that in writing before I turn over any evidence to anyone.

[Ryan ORL]

24 minutes ago, Paul Thomas said:

If QAA is going to pay for the teardown, I'd want that in writing before I turn over any evidence to anyone.

Of course, not giving the mag remnants to anyone until we settle on whats going on.  It's also not out of the question the FAA will want to see them.