Columbia Aviation

wa4jr · Post by **wa4jr** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 2:16 am

All good points. I'll never worry too much about flying in the Rockies, as experience last year showed me that I can't really get above 8500 with the family on board...the bird just won't climb anymore and even at 8500 we kind of mush along never finding a comfortable "step". The longest overwater flight I am considering is a crossing to the Bahamas, but we will have floatation equipment onboard. I think you are correct Joe, to go with the new cylinders at overhaul. Going with refurbished cylinders at overhaul, when new ones are available is what the British call "false economy". Less expensive up front, but more expensive down the road as the refurbished units are not likely to last nearly as long as new cylinders...perhaps with catastrophic results.

Back on the engine shop topic, has anyone delt with Nick Carter Engines in Tennessee? The people that manufacture the pushrod tube conversion kit for our O-300s? They sure seem like a nice outfit.

N1478D · Post by **N1478D** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 3:10 am

wa4jr wrote: Going with refurbished cylinders at overhaul, when new ones are available is what the British call "false economy".

Hey John, have always liked that saying - another good saying from Arkansas is "Chasing nickels with dollars"!

rudymantel · Post by **rudymantel** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 2:13 am

I never heard of an engine quitting because it had too many hours. They lose compression, burn oil, maybe a valve sticks but it's seldom a catastrophic failure.
It's the new ones that quit. I once had a very low time ( maybe 25 hours)factory remanufactured O-470 come unglued. It swallowed a valve, the piston disintegrated, the nose seal blew out, covering the windshield with oil and I was trailing smoke like a skywriter (I was told). But it still had a little power and I was able to set it down in an ag strip -. The oil screen was so full of metal it collapsed.

A few minutes earlier I was over really rough terrain- karst formations called the "Cockpit Country", definitely not a good place to land.

It was really lucky- the owner of the 182 was my customer and he and his family were going to fly that airplane to Miami (from Jamaica) that day.
For some reason they decided to go by airline. So I borrowed the plane as all of mine were busy.
Rudy

Post by **GAHorn** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 2:58 am

You make me remember Rudy, the old adage about flying over dangerous terrain or water, ... "Until it has a 100 hours on it, it's not airworthy." The flight school I taught at back in the early '70's (owned by an old aviator) would not let new engines or airplanes out on cross-country's until they had passed their first 100-hour inspection.

Dave Clark · Post by **Dave Clark** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 2:20 pm

I agree with George and Rudy. The last thing I'd want on a potential airplane to purchase is a "fresh" overhauled engine. I'd really like it to have over 100 hours. I've never had a significant in flight engine problem but have often been very careful where I'm flying that first 100 hours on a new overhaul.

N1478D · Post by **N1478D** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 2:54 pm

I would rather have new cylinders, than old cylinders with lots of hours on them.