Ernesto Sanchez wrote:


From: Damon Meyer
To: cozy_builders@mailman.qth.net
Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2005 7:56 PM
Subject: COZY: Engine Failure!

Hi all,

My wife Lisa and I and I were flying to Virginia yesterday morning when our #1 cylinder exhaust valve broke at 6000' between Long Island MacArthur and Republic field. Lots of instant vibration and
noise accompanied by an RPM drop from 2500 to 2100 RPM. I throttled back to 1800 and got a quick clearance into Republic for a precautionary landing, checking mags and watching temps on the way in.
We were on the ramp and shut down within 6-7 minutes, and had the plugs out and a mechanic (Paul Shakalis) looking at it within an hour. BAD NEWS. The spark plug from #1 looked unhurt, but a huge
chunk of valve had been hammering around in there long enough to make the piston look like someone had taken a claw hammer to it. Metal in the oil screen, therefore metal throughout the engine. It
was only a matter of time - and probably very little - before the engine would have died completely. We were very lucky in all regards.

We dragged the plane over to AirEast, where owner Mike Tarascio was kind enough to take on the disassembly and inspection task on the O-290. Lisa and I rented a car and drove back to Maine, and are
shipping him the O-290 overhaul manuals that came with the plane when we bought it last year.

I am sure I'm not the first person on this list to suffer an engine failure - if anyone here has a line on an O-290-D or an O-320 that might fit in our Cozy III, please let me know. And/or any
advice for how to get an engine from probable junk status to reliable and safe without spending $15,000 (that I don't have) would be appreciated. If anyone wants to see a nice Cozy on static display
it's behind the AirEast hangar at Republic until I find out the extent of the damage and plot a course of action.

Sad day, but could have been much worse.

Thanks,
Damon Meyer

I guess this proves beyond any doubt that exhaust valves are undesirable in aircraft.
Don Sherman

You got it. Absolutely the highest stressed piston engine part.

Paul Lamar
 
The Rotary Engine NewsLetter.  Powered by Linux.
ACRE NL web site. http://www.rotaryeng.net            
Copyright 1998-2005 All world wide rights reserved.