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Is there a way to maintain the engine so that it can last a long time?
Main Post: Is there a way to maintain the engine so that it can last a long time?
Top Comment: Thanks for posting on r/MechanicAdvice ! This is just a reminder to review the rules . If you are here asking about a second opinion (ie "Is the shop trying to fleece me?"), please read through CJM8515's post on the subject. and remember to please post the year/make/model of the vehicle you are working on. If this post is about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or r/Diyautobody/ If you have tire questions check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/k9ll55/can_your_tire_be_repaired/ . If you dont have a question and you're just showing off it belongs in r/Justrolledintotheshop Insurance/total loss questions go in r/insurance This is an automated reply I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
Has anyone used these for a somewhat preventative engine treatment? It wouldn’t hurt right?
Main Post: Has anyone used these for a somewhat preventative engine treatment? It wouldn’t hurt right?
Top Comment: Thanks for posting on r/MechanicAdvice ! This is just a reminder to review the rules . If you are here asking about a second opinion (ie "Is the shop trying to fleece me?"), please read through CJM8515's post on the subject. and remember to please post the year/make/model of the vehicle you are working on. If this post is about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or r/Diyautobody/ If you have tire questions check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/k9ll55/can_your_tire_be_repaired/ . If you dont have a question and you're just showing off it belongs in r/Justrolledintotheshop Insurance/total loss questions go in r/insurance This is an automated reply I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
Fuel pipe? Coolant pipe?ECU? Engine? I don't care, I just want the class 2 reactor :D
Main Post: Fuel pipe? Coolant pipe?ECU? Engine? I don't care, I just want the class 2 reactor :D
Top Comment:
I've definitely done this. While it is technically a good idea to just take this whole spaghetti mess down to the barge, pull the reactor sheilding panels and only toss the reactor in the barge so you can toss the pipes in the processor, it's not actually worth it. The reactor is $3M, the pipes are like $20K, so unless you're going for a perfectionist salvage on a Gecko it makes more sense to just yeet that whole mess in the barge and grab something more expensive like the thrusters or ECU.
This is a good strategy to safely pull the reactor though, assuming the hull is stripped away enough to make it feasible.
Pilots who've had an engine failure, care to share your stories?
Main Post: Pilots who've had an engine failure, care to share your stories?
Top Comment:
There I was, tooling along in my Super Cub at 1000 feet AGL, just under the NYC Bravo ledge, minding my own business and towing a banner over Staten Island.
The date was January 15, 2010. The reason I know this has to do with the purpose of my mission. It was the 1 year anniversary of the Miracle on the Hudson, the day Captain Sullenberger made a hero of us all. And my job was to find the boat on which Sully and some others from that flight would be commemorating the ditching, and show them my banner.
Well the morning had been a bit of a rush, and I hadn't had time to properly make myself a sandwich, so I had thrown the ingredients into a bag and rushed out the door. After picking the banner, I began on my slow way to the Verrazano Narrows bridge, and there wasn't much else to do. This provided an excellent opportunity to have a bite of lunch, so I was flying with my knees and spreading some mayo when I heard a loud BANG, the cockpit started to get smoky, and I lost a bunch of power.
One thing you should know about a Super Cub towing a large banner with low power: it doesn't glide.
So picture me there, stick between my knees, half-built sandwich in one hand, mayonnaise covered knife in the other. I was frozen for what felt like an eternity with a problem I never thought I'd have, "What do I do with my sandwich?". At some point the angel of logic descended into my clouded head and told me that it didn't much matter what I did with it, and so I threw it unceremoniously over my shoulder turned my will to the emergency.
The prop was still turning, but I didn't know how long that would continue. I was directly overhead a large freeway, and losing altitude fast. The good part was that I had been here before, and had at that time noted a good site for emergency landing, so that decision was made. The target landing site was a landfill that seemed to have little in the way of obstructions, and what for a Super Cub is plenty of space.
Since I knew where I was going, I made my turn toward the landfill immediately. The wind was unfortunate, it was a crosswind pushing me away from the site, and even more importantly, pushing the banner back toward the freeway. At some point I'd cut the banner free, but I had to balance it so that I could prevent draping a 100 foot banner all over heavy NYC traffic causing untold chaos, and still have enough altitude to pull off the landing on my target. I had maybe 500 feet to work with and I was going down fast, but I was determined. When I felt I could wait no longer I pulled the lever and felt the satisfying lurch in my seat. I was still moving earthward, but this could at least be called a glide.
I noted a pickup truck in the middle of my landing site with vaguely deferred concern, and swapped radio frequencies to 121.5 for the call. "November bla bla bla, PAN PAN PAN, engine failure, landing on a landfill on Staten Island". Immediately I get some old curmudgeon keying the mike on instinct, "You're on guard." I came right back, "This is what guard is for!". Newark follows right after, wanting some details, but at this point I'm on short final, so I tell him I'm landing, kill the master, and concentrate.
Didn't know where the pickup had gone, but he wasn't in my way anymore, so I went for that landing with relish. The mixture smacked to ICO with enthusiasm the second the mains touched down, not a bad landing either. I hopped out of that airplane faster than I had thought possible, just as the pickup pulled up with an astonished Municipal worker who wanted to shake my hand, and kept repeating "That was amazing!".
Needless to say it was a long day. A news chopper showed up incredibly fast, having been dispatched by Newark to come find me. The first cop on the scene took some convincing at first that I wasn't up to some kind of shenanigans. Despairing, I finally walked him to the other side of the airplane, pointed to the missing cylinder head and the jagged swath of engine oil painting the entire side of the aircraft. I said "It shouldn't be like this", and I think that settled it for him.
Must have been a slow day on Staten Island, because before very long, the landfill was covered with NYPD and FDNY vehicles of various types, and I kept getting pulled from one Chief to another to explain the situation in the same exact words. Finally Farmingdale FSDO came to my rescue me in a Huey. They got me sequestered, took my report, and kept the cops, fire guys, and reporters away. Too bad they couldn't keep the hunger away.
I ate the sandwich.
Since then I've enjoyed thinking about how this might have gone down differently if the cylinder head had held out for just a little bit longer. There would be Sully and company on the boat in the Hudson, watching me actually re-enact his feat of the previous year, albeit at a smaller scale, and thinking "Is this a joke?".