Author: eaainc@... Time: Fri Aug 31, 2001 6:12 am PDT Link
It is fun and interesting to plan and speculate about a conversion
engine, but it is quite another matter to strap yourself in and go fly
with it. My question always is, what is the point of doing this? Am I
a test pilot for some company that wants to make money selling
conversions or do I want to enjoy flying my project as soon as
possible.
This is true when dealing with unprooven one of a kind engines. Iam so
happy that we finally are beyond this stage and have the same prooven engine
package going into every homebuilt airplane we provide engines for.
(Glastars and RV's :) I just learned that
Last November, the CHP ordered 14 Cessna 206s for a cost of nearly
$400,000 each. Two of the aircraft experienced total engine failures
during flight. Last week one of the planes made a forced landing on a
rural airstrip near Red Bluff when the engine stopped. Previously,
another CHP Cessna 206 experienced the same failure and was able to
land at Mather Airport in Sacramento. A third plane was found to have
metal shavings in the oil line. All 12 of the Cessna 206s delivered
so far to the CHP are now grounded. For the WHOLE story,
http://www.aero-news.net
Now, these engines have been flying for 40 years and they still have not made
them to last. For some reason, the engines breake down all over the place
and peoppe still think that they are the safest and most prooven thing out
there? When I stop at the airports and talk to the mechanics installingthe
traditional engines, I hear nothing but bad news. New engines notlasting
more than a couple of hundred hours before the long list of problems start to
occur. TBO is nothing more than a term used to determine the maximum legal
time before a complete overhaul is due by an operator using the enginesin a
comercial operation. It has nothing to do with the cost of all the
maintenance to get there.
Jan Eggenfellner