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Posted By:
Hal Brown
Date Posted:
Jul 4, 2008
Description:
I tried the easiest potential cause of the engine faltering, the screen in my Andair Mini gascolator. It had become clogged once before, about five years ago, and that's when I realized that it's not only an excellent water separator, but a very effective fuel-crud filter. (That story is documented on STS.)
The screen did indeed have enough crud on it to prevent passage of enough gasoline to run the engine at full power. The crud was a black stuff, very fine, like silt. No crud was visible in the fuel sample from the bottom of the fuel tank, nor in the fuel that had been in the gascolator cup.
While I was cleaning the gascolator screen, Eric was giving the airplane a good inspection. Just as I announced that I was pretty sure I'd probably found problem and that it was fixed, he ambled up and made an announcement of his own.
'You're not going anywhere,' he said.
Now, frankly, I was becoming tired of people saying NO on this trip. But Eric is generally an upbeat guy, and careful, so instead of punching him out, I paid attention.
'The prop is broken,' he said.
I went back there and looked. Yep. One blade had a big break in it, on the back side, about 4 inches in from the tip.
Date Taken:
Jul 4, 2008
Place Taken:
Lake Wallenpaupak
Owner:
Don Maxwell
File Name:
PropBreak_0702081321a.jpg - Photo HTML
Full size - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZTOR0000h">
Medium - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZTOR0000m">
Thumbnail - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZTOR0000s">
Category:
23, Max Pix
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Click on photo to view the original size. |
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Read what others had to say:
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Bruno Grondin - Jul 05,2008
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So what hit it...?
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Don Maxwell - Jul 05,2008
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Don't know. Eric thought there was blood on it, but I wasn't sure.
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Dennis Scearce - Jul 07,2008
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This look scary. Maybe the Good Lord was watching out after you, Don. A rough running engine is much better than a missing prop blade. It would have been a bad situation if this tip had departed.
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Steve Gromak - Jul 15,2008
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Don, have you determined what may have been the cause of your cracked blade yet?
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