Mailing List flyrotary@lancaironline.net Message #30184
From: Ken Welter <rotary.coot@verizon.net>
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Another rotary failure
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 18:05:46 -0800
To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
[FlyRotary] Re: Another rotary failure
   A friend of mine has lost three engines on his Aero Commander, dropped a valve one the first one, the super charger came apart and went through the engine on takeoff on the second and a month later he lost a counter weigh off the crank which cut the engine case in half setting the engine nacelle on fire, { he said that the engine nacelle looked like the one on the PBY on the movie Always }
  To this all he said was that is why I have two engines hanging on the wing.
  Also as a ferry pilot he has a long list of certified aircraft engines that he has lost, one of which was on a brand new Scout while crossing the Rocky mountains, luckily he was able to hit a farmers field with no damage.
  One thing my dad drilled in my head was that always have in your mind where are you going to land when the engine quits because its not a question of if it will happen its a question of when and that was when we were flying certified aircraft.
  Ken Welter



Rusty,
Couple of years ago we lost 3 Cozy's within few months due to Lycoming engine problems. Not landing with engine problem, but total lost of all 3 aircraft. Nobody said a word. Like it was the most ordinary thing?
Bulent "Buly" Aliev
Ser# 066 / N484BD
http://tinyurl.com/dcy36


On Feb 13, 2006, at 2:03 PM, Russell Duffy wrote:


 
On the subject of failures in general, am I the only one who thinks there have just been way too many of these in the last couple years?  In virtually every case, the engine has been the victim, rather than the cause of the problem, but to the casual observer, it looks bad for the rotary.  I'd hate to calculate the number of flight hours per serious problem for currently flying rotaries.  I'd also hate for the insurance companies to do it.  Let's hope this trend doesn't continue.  
 
Cheers,
Rusty (one rotor, no prop)

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