Meltdown ! (magneto failure)

The nylon gear looked intact on the photo. Very hard to see the damage on the photos.

After seeing the improved pictures I was about to say, breaker point failure probably due to a capacitor that failed!

Arent these things supposed to be overhauled at 500hrs or is that just for Bendix? When they do overhaul them do they change the capacitor? I assume they do change out the points at OH.

What was the sequence of events? Assume the other magneto would have kept the engine running perfectly during the flight.

Was it apparent during the flight, or was it highlighted at the next start-up / magneto checks?

WarleyAir wrote:

Assume the other magneto would have kept the engine running perfectly during the flight.

You can get a feeling of “running perfectly” by turning off a magneto in cruise setting. For me a failed magneto is a serious emergency requiring immediately landing.

achimha wrote:

can get a feeling of “running perfectly” by turning off a magneto in cruise setting.

And once you do, remember to let the avgas that poured into the exhaust evaporate by reducing throttle to idle for a few moments before you go back to BOTH. Not doing so can cause the unburnt avgas to explode. (learned from some other recent thread here)

achimha wrote:

You can get a feeling of “running perfectly” by turning off a magneto in cruise setting

You mean do a magneto ‘check’ while in the cruise ?! If you have a ‘dead’ magneto, and during this ‘in flight check’ when you ‘turn-off’ the good one the engine will stop, till you get that good mag back on-line again.

Is that inviting disaster?

No, I was referring to the fact that when you turn off one magneto in cruise, your engine will not continue to run smoothly, or at least many engines wouldn’t. The second magneto is not just a backup in case of failure, it is required to burn the mixture in those huge cylinders. With just one spark, the flame front moves too slowly. Running on one magneto can be rather unpleasant and it can quickly fry your engine, especially when you are turbocharged due to the hot exhaust. You basically have the mixture burning in your exhaust stack.