Harris Ranch or Harrah's Steak house in Reno?
- Thread starter BobLewis
- Start date
Bob,
I am still in for both. I am looking at the extended forecast, and the 18th is looking iffy, but the weather can change, by next week we should have a better view. If the weather is good, Pam and I will be there. I am not sure if Pam will be going to Harris Ranch, but I am in for that too.
Those people is SoCal so seem to talk about flying more than they do it don't they!
Mike
I am still in for both. I am looking at the extended forecast, and the 18th is looking iffy, but the weather can change, by next week we should have a better view. If the weather is good, Pam and I will be there. I am not sure if Pam will be going to Harris Ranch, but I am in for that too.
Those people is SoCal so seem to talk about flying more than they do it don't they!
Mike
Guys due to weather and a "convention of skiers" that has raised the prices (from 79 bucks a room to 359.00), coupled with the only rental car service at Tahoe being fully booked, we are postponing Harrah's Tahoe. We will do it at a later date. Translated into Musketeer language, when it is VFR and cheaper !!! Sorry-Bob
PS I threw that in about skiers. I don't know who booked the rooms
PS I threw that in about skiers. I don't know who booked the rooms
spannaviation
Orbiting Earth
Sorry guys,
yesterday about 5 minutes from the airport, I lost oil pressure, the engine kept running and I was able to fly it in, after declaring an emergency. I have decided to rebuild the engine, will be out of flying for at least 2 months.
Rick Spann
yesterday about 5 minutes from the airport, I lost oil pressure, the engine kept running and I was able to fly it in, after declaring an emergency. I have decided to rebuild the engine, will be out of flying for at least 2 months.
Rick Spann
spannaviation
Orbiting Earth
Bob,
Without breaking down the engine, and just doing a compression check, it appears that we have 78 at the top of the cylinder rise, and 30 with air hissing into the crankcase, which we can hear through the oil filler tube. No noise at the exhaust. this is #4.
I was flying home from Mexico, on a trip with Aeromedicos. A friend was teaching me the procedures for crossing the border. Left Mexico with just over 7 quarts of oil, and about 80 pounds of pressure on the gauge. Had to make 2 stops, one to check out with the Mexican government, and one to check in with homeland security, which we did in Calexico. Left Calexico with full tanks, and the same reading on the oil pressure gauge. We encountered pretty high head winds on the way home, about 26 knots average, and the plane was making 110 knots ground speed on all the GPSes. We came over the clouds at about 8500 feet, and when I got over the Pacific, the clouds were gone, and I tried lower elevation for better speed. At Catalina island I noticed that the oil pressure had dropped a little but that is not unusual in my plane. After 5 hours of flying, some oil is burned and there is a slight drop, but the needle is far into the green. Into Santa Barbara, I was told that due to the winds, only runway 25 was in use and there were planes holding, and on the ground waiting. I was told to get comfortable, and to start 360's for spacing, that I was number 5.
I started to go to the right, and once comfortable with were I was, offshore about 10 miles to the airport, just outside the harbor of Santa Barbara, I began descending 360's to the left, which are easier for me. Within the first 90 degrees, I looked down and the oil pressure gauge was pegged on the redline. I called approach, declared an emergency, and put the plane in a slow descent and straight line for the airport. I did remain off shore, I figured if I lost the engine, It would be easier to put in down in shallow water, than into someone's house. Approach, informed the tower, and I was immediately cleared to the runway, and made a very quick descent and landed. When I turned off the runway I was going to shut down, pulled the power back to idle, and the oil gauge came back to the top of the yellow. I decided to taxi, in and when I got to my parking space my A&P was waiting. After answering all fire and security questions, we pulled the dip stick. It was wet, but registered barely anything.
No oil on the belly, engine compartment dry. Went out the next morning, and the dipstick measured 3 quarts. I read low, so we figured it might be 3.5.
Rick
Without breaking down the engine, and just doing a compression check, it appears that we have 78 at the top of the cylinder rise, and 30 with air hissing into the crankcase, which we can hear through the oil filler tube. No noise at the exhaust. this is #4.
I was flying home from Mexico, on a trip with Aeromedicos. A friend was teaching me the procedures for crossing the border. Left Mexico with just over 7 quarts of oil, and about 80 pounds of pressure on the gauge. Had to make 2 stops, one to check out with the Mexican government, and one to check in with homeland security, which we did in Calexico. Left Calexico with full tanks, and the same reading on the oil pressure gauge. We encountered pretty high head winds on the way home, about 26 knots average, and the plane was making 110 knots ground speed on all the GPSes. We came over the clouds at about 8500 feet, and when I got over the Pacific, the clouds were gone, and I tried lower elevation for better speed. At Catalina island I noticed that the oil pressure had dropped a little but that is not unusual in my plane. After 5 hours of flying, some oil is burned and there is a slight drop, but the needle is far into the green. Into Santa Barbara, I was told that due to the winds, only runway 25 was in use and there were planes holding, and on the ground waiting. I was told to get comfortable, and to start 360's for spacing, that I was number 5.
I started to go to the right, and once comfortable with were I was, offshore about 10 miles to the airport, just outside the harbor of Santa Barbara, I began descending 360's to the left, which are easier for me. Within the first 90 degrees, I looked down and the oil pressure gauge was pegged on the redline. I called approach, declared an emergency, and put the plane in a slow descent and straight line for the airport. I did remain off shore, I figured if I lost the engine, It would be easier to put in down in shallow water, than into someone's house. Approach, informed the tower, and I was immediately cleared to the runway, and made a very quick descent and landed. When I turned off the runway I was going to shut down, pulled the power back to idle, and the oil gauge came back to the top of the yellow. I decided to taxi, in and when I got to my parking space my A&P was waiting. After answering all fire and security questions, we pulled the dip stick. It was wet, but registered barely anything.
No oil on the belly, engine compartment dry. Went out the next morning, and the dipstick measured 3 quarts. I read low, so we figured it might be 3.5.
Rick
mvanover
Headed to Andromeda
Rick,
I feel for you brother! I know exactly what you feel like. Sounds like you pumped about 4 quarts out though the breather and Nbr 4 cylinder. Being in a spiraling decent and maybe not perfectly coordinated, you could have uncovered the oil sump pick up port with only 3 1/2 quarts in the sump. If you lost oil pressure for only a few seconds or so, at reduced MAP, you might not have damage to the bearings. If you do a top overhaul you will have the opportunity to check the rod bearings and see what you have. If OK, it would only cost you the bolts and nuts replaced to know (the stretch on the rod bolts are a bugger to measure inside the case). You would be able to check the cam lobes and tappet faces for damage too. If the internals still look good, you could go a long way on a top overhaul. An oil analysis of a sample of the remaining oil may be useful. If you are close to overhaul time anyway, moot point.
All the best to ya! Glad you didn't have a real "event".
I feel for you brother! I know exactly what you feel like. Sounds like you pumped about 4 quarts out though the breather and Nbr 4 cylinder. Being in a spiraling decent and maybe not perfectly coordinated, you could have uncovered the oil sump pick up port with only 3 1/2 quarts in the sump. If you lost oil pressure for only a few seconds or so, at reduced MAP, you might not have damage to the bearings. If you do a top overhaul you will have the opportunity to check the rod bearings and see what you have. If OK, it would only cost you the bolts and nuts replaced to know (the stretch on the rod bolts are a bugger to measure inside the case). You would be able to check the cam lobes and tappet faces for damage too. If the internals still look good, you could go a long way on a top overhaul. An oil analysis of a sample of the remaining oil may be useful. If you are close to overhaul time anyway, moot point.
All the best to ya! Glad you didn't have a real "event".
spannaviation
Orbiting Earth
Marty,
Thank you. I am also glad it wasn't a real event. I have chased oil leaks and the like on this engine over the years, and it only has about 1250 hours on it. It is, however, 20 years old. After much thought I have decided to rebuild it. With the wife and kids, I would feel a lot better knowing that there was no hidden damage. At my A&P shop over the last year, there have been 2 cases in which the owners rebuilt the top end, just to have a catastrophic failure with in 100 hours. With the amount of care I have put into this aircraft over the last 8 years, and how religious I was about engine maintenance, I am distressed about the amount of hours I have gotten. It will be interesting to get it opened and see what the hell happened.
Looks like a factory rebuild to new specs will be about $23,700.00, plus misc. parts and labor. Should come out about $28,500.00. I am starting to think that this is right on the line of scrapping instead of rebuilding her. I would guess the value to be about $45,000.00, but I have no idea of what I could find or buy into for what I would have left.
Rick
Thank you. I am also glad it wasn't a real event. I have chased oil leaks and the like on this engine over the years, and it only has about 1250 hours on it. It is, however, 20 years old. After much thought I have decided to rebuild it. With the wife and kids, I would feel a lot better knowing that there was no hidden damage. At my A&P shop over the last year, there have been 2 cases in which the owners rebuilt the top end, just to have a catastrophic failure with in 100 hours. With the amount of care I have put into this aircraft over the last 8 years, and how religious I was about engine maintenance, I am distressed about the amount of hours I have gotten. It will be interesting to get it opened and see what the hell happened.
Looks like a factory rebuild to new specs will be about $23,700.00, plus misc. parts and labor. Should come out about $28,500.00. I am starting to think that this is right on the line of scrapping instead of rebuilding her. I would guess the value to be about $45,000.00, but I have no idea of what I could find or buy into for what I would have left.
Rick
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mvanover
Headed to Andromeda
Rick,
Why not do it yourself? As an A&P I know you can do it. Looks like my overhaul costs will top 19 AMUs plus more hours than I care to mention. But a lot of that was just sitting there thinking about what I would do next and how I should best do it. It was my first Lycoming engine overhaul and only the third I've done myself. The others were small Connies, O-200 and R-670. Both done too long ago for me to remember much about them. What I did was farm out the hard stuff. I replaced some hard parts, cam, lifters and hardware and had some expert shops do the case, crank and rods. The most expensive single thing I did was buy 4 new cylinders. Essentially I went from an engine overhaul mechanic to a parts replacement specialist. I made some mistakes and had to back up a couple of times, but all and all it wasn't that bad. I missed a few special techniques the first go around that I learned the hard way, but I have a real good feeling about my engine now. What dragged out the overhaul for me was having to wait for the next pay day to get my AMU allotment.
If down time is a big concern, I'd really talk with a few of the better shops. They seem to be hungry and I got one quote for almost the same as my total investment so far. If I were in California, Lyc-Con would be at the top of my list. But, there are other quality places in the Western region that are good too. Maybe some members can chime in with their experiences with the overhaul shops.
Why not do it yourself? As an A&P I know you can do it. Looks like my overhaul costs will top 19 AMUs plus more hours than I care to mention. But a lot of that was just sitting there thinking about what I would do next and how I should best do it. It was my first Lycoming engine overhaul and only the third I've done myself. The others were small Connies, O-200 and R-670. Both done too long ago for me to remember much about them. What I did was farm out the hard stuff. I replaced some hard parts, cam, lifters and hardware and had some expert shops do the case, crank and rods. The most expensive single thing I did was buy 4 new cylinders. Essentially I went from an engine overhaul mechanic to a parts replacement specialist. I made some mistakes and had to back up a couple of times, but all and all it wasn't that bad. I missed a few special techniques the first go around that I learned the hard way, but I have a real good feeling about my engine now. What dragged out the overhaul for me was having to wait for the next pay day to get my AMU allotment.
If down time is a big concern, I'd really talk with a few of the better shops. They seem to be hungry and I got one quote for almost the same as my total investment so far. If I were in California, Lyc-Con would be at the top of my list. But, there are other quality places in the Western region that are good too. Maybe some members can chime in with their experiences with the overhaul shops.
spannaviation
Orbiting Earth
Marty,
Based on what I read from your experience, and what I learned about the rebuilders, Western skyways, will rebuild or exchange, to new factory specifications, with new steel cylinders, balanced, run tested, and pressured tested hot for leaks, at 23,400.00 plus 600.00 for shipping. that difference from what you spent and my lack of knowledge, and lack of time, is probably not a bad tradeoff. I am also considering a lycoming rebuilt, if they can come down in price to something a little more competitive. A lycoming rebuild would be a 2000 hour engine, with rollers, and the latest technology, plus a much better warranty. Lycomings policy on rebuilds, is that you are buying the latest technology in a rebuilt engine, not just a rebuilt engine. they have also changed their policy about core exchanges, it is pretty much all or nothing.
the local A&P will let me do most of the removal and install. I am pretty good on the piping and wiring, but the prop, etc, i will leave to the pro's. I am hoping for under 28,000.00
Rick
Based on what I read from your experience, and what I learned about the rebuilders, Western skyways, will rebuild or exchange, to new factory specifications, with new steel cylinders, balanced, run tested, and pressured tested hot for leaks, at 23,400.00 plus 600.00 for shipping. that difference from what you spent and my lack of knowledge, and lack of time, is probably not a bad tradeoff. I am also considering a lycoming rebuilt, if they can come down in price to something a little more competitive. A lycoming rebuild would be a 2000 hour engine, with rollers, and the latest technology, plus a much better warranty. Lycomings policy on rebuilds, is that you are buying the latest technology in a rebuilt engine, not just a rebuilt engine. they have also changed their policy about core exchanges, it is pretty much all or nothing.
the local A&P will let me do most of the removal and install. I am pretty good on the piping and wiring, but the prop, etc, i will leave to the pro's. I am hoping for under 28,000.00
Rick
mvanover
Headed to Andromeda
Rick,
Sounds like you have some good options. A roller engine in a Sierra would be cool. I thought you were an A&P, so there is where my comments were directed. While there is no rocket science to overhauling an engine, it does take a bit of knowledge and a few skills. My problem was trying to make the perfect engine, it took more time and money, but I think I may have came close. Keep us posted on your progress.
Sounds like you have some good options. A roller engine in a Sierra would be cool. I thought you were an A&P, so there is where my comments were directed. While there is no rocket science to overhauling an engine, it does take a bit of knowledge and a few skills. My problem was trying to make the perfect engine, it took more time and money, but I think I may have came close. Keep us posted on your progress.
Hi Everyone, Harris Ranch is still on for the 25th. It is always fun, hope to see many of you there. I also posted for some of our friends on other boards, and so far, weather looks like it will be okay. Sorry for interrupting the 7500 of this thread in progress!
Bob or I will post for sure, based on weather on Thursday.
Mike
Bob or I will post for sure, based on weather on Thursday.
Mike
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Thanks for the posts and the photos. I am happy I wipe down the belly each flight ha ha. The trip back took an hour. I only had a 130kt ground speed with the headwind. The air was smooth and the time went by quickly. My friend John said to say thanks to all. He is scheduled to take his check ride this week. I think he will get weathered out from the reports I'm hearing. We'll see. I will be printing certificates of participation for those that claim the tax exemption. Give me a PM and I'll mail one out -Bob
