StampeSV4 wrote:
Words of great wisdom Silvaire.The Lycoming 30 day directive is likely a warranty avoidance measure and ideal world scenario which has caused great angst in our communities.Over 50 years of flying I have had many aircraft weathered in on waterlogged English airfields for months on end on occasions.Most lived happily to TBO or near with the usual maintenance and Aeroshell products!
My club had a landing accident with nosewheel collapse in the autumn of 2019. For various reasons (mainly that it took quite a while for the insurance company to get a repair offer they were happy with) the actual repairs only begun about a year later. So the engine had been sitting untouched for that time. It is currently on shockload inspection and of course that will tell if there has been any corrosion damage. The engine (a Lyc. IO-360-L2A) had run about 8 hours after the last oil change when the accident happened.
I must admit to being a bit worried, but our CAMO says it’s no problem. We’ll see… I’ll be back with info.
Silvaire wrote:
If an engine has some small level of internal corrosion there is a very, very small chance (although measurable) that it will be less reliable as a result
The problem is the British maritime climate is really good at making stuff rust. Where I live, there isn’t an outdoor surface that’s not continuously damp from about October until March. In indoor unheated environments, untreated iron will rust within weeks.
Engines do tend to have oil liberally sprayed over their insides – you just have to hope enough of it clings on.
So what about this then, one hour since engine overhaul in June 2019 :
skydriller wrote:
So what about this then, one hour since engine overhaul in June 2019 :
Would have to assume the engine is scrap until proven otherwise with borescope, compression testing etc?
Not sure why everyone glosses over the idea of inhibiting the engine but reads the bit about the flying bit…..
Not flying due to winter weather, runway conditions, Covid-19 ‘stay at home’/GA restrictions guidance from the Government? Try complying with Lycoming SL L180B:
Not sure why everyone glosses over the idea of inhibiting the engine
Pilot currency?
Getting the avionics warmed up and dried out?
“Stay at home” is guidance only. One doesn’t spread the virus by driving to the airfield and going for a flight.
Would have to assume the engine is scrap until proven otherwise with borescope, compression testing etc?
I certainly would borescope, and then (having checked the seller has not just changed the oil precisely to frustrate this) do a 1hr flight and take an oil sample, and cut open the oil filter. Plus the usual prebuy check. Cam corrosion is more difficult to check.
Engine dehumidifier and your camshaft will not be trashed.
On the other hand – I cannot imagine – uncontrolled airport – probibiting GA flights… why?
You may drive your car – you may fly your plane.
Raven wrote:
On the other hand – I cannot imagine – uncontrolled airport – probibiting GA flights… why?
me neither.. when my local airfield was briefly closed during the first wave, it meant that there was only G4S guard present and you could fly all you want .. Of course during the winter it would be problematic, because they only remove the snow when the aiport is open..
FWIW I fly a mid-time Lycoming O-320 that was assembled in 1970 or 71 (I’d have to check the logbook), has never had a logged disassembly except for AD compliance and has had long periods of inactivity. Sometimes it was inhibited, sometimes not, or so it seems per the logs. Storage periods were in Michigan, California and Florida, mostly inside but one long period outside.
- Borescope Inspection shows some corrosion pitting on 3 of 4 cylinders but oil consumption is 10-12 hrs per quart. Valve springs have some light corrosion, no pitting, but there is a logbook entry that shows one broke 15 or 20 years ago.
- Oil analysis has been done a couple of times in the last 15 years, but not consistently enough to provide much useful data.
- The oil filter is cut open at every 25 hr oil change and shows zero metal. There is no screen that would prevent larger flakes from getting to the filter.
- it doesn’t leak much oil, a little bit of misting below the cylinder bases.
- It runs well, the plane performs well, and it has done for the 11 years I’ve owned it. It sometimes sits for weeks between being being run (if I were on a trip etc) but not for months, and storage is dry and warm.
Given that I fly the thing about 50 hrs per year, it might last me ‘forever’. That is countered by curiosity 
I’m sure that 50 years without overhaul is not exactly a positive for operating hours between overhauls, but at this rate the game can go on for a very long time…
I might pull the cylinders at some point, have a look at the cam etc. That can obviously be like opening Pandora’s box, and I’d do it with that understanding. If for whatever reason all looks OK in the bottom end, I’d install a new set of cylinders and fly on with the expectation of never having to touch it again in my period of ownership. If things looked bad, I’d do a bottom end IRAN too, with the help of a friend in his shop. I’m not sure if it would be logged as an overhaul, depends on some regulatory details, but I don’t care much.
Pilot currency? Same as every winter… One can always fly with an instructor if you’re that worried about not being up to it.
Car driver currency, boat driving currency – not driven mine for two months…. No one has got that worried about pilot currency (concerning themselves) previously during the winter months, protracted repairs, mods etc but when they get told they can’t (shouldn’t) fly, look how grumpy they all get.
Engine health flights? A term invented way back in time – well March 2020!
Just saying 
