Is something like this already happened with a Lycoming engine in this size?
OK, I have never seen such pictures before. Let`s imagine this happens over the alps, that`s scary.
Indeed. My rationale is
If you get a big bang you don’t waste time fiddling with the mixture, the fuel pump, etc. Having had this I can tell you that one wastes a lot of time on that, and that is starting from when you notice it. I was lucky as I was watching the EDM at the time.
Peter did a brilliant job and I really wish I am as sharp as he was if it happens to me (I may have got close, actually). He did have the “advantage” of an unambiguous big bang. I reckon that most pilots, on autopilot, would not notice a problem until they hear the stall warner.
@eddsPeter
We briefly met last year in Elba, and I remind of a gentleman.
You’ve just proved you fly your aircraft accordingly.
After all the recent sadness, please let me thank you for bringing the best news of the year: a “nice” story to remember, with gladness rather than sorrow.
You enlighted us.
eddsPeter wrote:
Now I’m back to answer some of your questions and reply on the advices.
Peter, thanks for answering our questions and sharing with us your feelings. Enjoy the newborn life 
and keep on flying.
OK, I have never seen such pictures before. Let`s imagine this happens over the alps, that`s scary.
Unfortunately it happens all the time. Fortunately in most cases some emergency landing with partial or no power is done as most piston singles fly in rather good weather. But once you start to fly for longer periods where an emergency landing would be close to impossible like at night over the Alps, Greenland, the Ocean etc you start to look at twins, turbines and maybe CAPS.
Sebastian_G wrote:
Unfortunately it happens all the time.
This blog explains the typical causes of engine failures.
If you use modern diagnosis: engine monitor, oil analysis, borescope..I would not say all the time…more like once every 20000hrs…but only half of those with a total loss of power.
Antonio wrote:
more like once every 20000hrs
Please take into account my bias as I have no trust at all into the Lycosaurus but even if 20.000 hours is true that is a terrible performance.
Just imagine Lufthansa does about 100.000 flights every month. Lets assume the average duration is 3 hours and they operate 2 engines per flight. That is very roughly 20.000 engine hours per day. So imagine they would run the technology we have there would be on average one catastrophic failure every day in this fleet!
The MTBF of the IO-540/550 class engines is thought to be about 50k hrs.
It means the vast majority of GA pilots will not see an engine failure in their entire flying career.
In the days of piston engined airliners, and their huge supercharged Pratt & Whitney radial engines (28 cylinders?) it was common to replace 1 or more cylinders after say a week’s flying. Deakin wrote a lot of interesting stuff about that.
Jet engines are much better, of course.
