Are you superstitious?(sp?)

[Musclerodz]

I know it is a couple days late on the ole 6-6-06 thing, but here is my story. I was delivering a single engine Cessna airplane to a customer about 40 miles away. I got 2/3 there, and the engine suddenly lost power. I knew I had plenty of fuel so I suspected vapor lock. I had to land on a stretch of 2 lane black top and park in front of an old lady's house.

Supecting fuel, we put 15 gallons of fresh 100LL in it which did not fix the problem. It was running very rough. So I went looking for a stuck valve which is not common, but does happen. What I found was the inner and outer intake springs broken on one cylinder and an outer spring on another. After 2 days of repairs in 100 degree weather with no shade, it is finally home. Very spooky to have to get back into an airplane that let you down 2 days before. I still don't believe in superstition, but I have more respect for it now.

Mike

[BC69]

Wow, that is a pretty crazy story. Glad you are okay. You seem to talk about an emergency in a plane like it was no big deal. I think my reaction rather than suspecting vapor lock would involve a lot of...OH S%*$#!

Tim

[Blown353]

Airplane mishaps are not fun. Glad you put it down safely!

Any idea why the valvesprings broke? How many hours on them? Did you send them off for analysis? I wonder if there was impurities in the raw spring steel which served as stress risers. Could really out of whack lash have beat them to death? Having a multiple simultaneous failure would make me very nervous, hope you changed all the valvesprings and found the real problem.

I've had a fun IFE experience too. A couple years back a friend and I had the great idea of going flying in a rental 152 when it was 110F out (mind you, no A/C other than the windows and fresh air popouts at the top of the windscreen...) Preflight went OK, taxied out and took off. About 800 feet up while still climbing we got to watch the oil temp gauge start making a dash for the red zone-- and it kept on going. The engine didn't seem to be down on power and because of the speed the gauge went to the redline we suspected an electrical malfunction but decided to play it safe. By the time we got it turned around and on final it wasn't running all that great and you could sure smell it was baked. Definately not a gauge problem.

Never heard back from the rental outfit what happened, just glad we got it to the ground on our terms-- not its terms. Didn't really want to land short and stick it in the cornfield, although it would have made for a better story. :willy:

[almcbri]

glad to hear your Ok man. I

I was in one of my exams and wrote the date down on my test. I hadn't even thought about it.

[Scotch]

I don't believe in superstition, fate, destiny, or luck.

We're given a shot at life, and it's all random after that.

Nothing happens "for a reason" and there's no magic surrounding us.

Do the best with what you've got, and everything will be okay. Letting outside superstitions impact your choices or opinions won't make anything better.

Did you read how in some parts of Asia, the number 6 is lucky...so many couples wanted to be married on 6/6/06? Different strokes I guess...

~SP~

[Musclerodz]

Airplane mishaps are not fun. Glad you put it down safely!

Any idea why the valvesprings broke? How many hours on them? Did you send them off for analysis? I wonder if there was impurities in the raw spring steel which served as stress risers. Could really out of whack lash have beat them to death? Having a multiple simultaneous failure would make me very nervous, hope you changed all the valvesprings and found the real problem.

I've had a fun IFE experience too. A couple years back a friend and I had the great idea of going flying in a rental 152 when it was 110F out (mind you, no A/C other than the windows and fresh air popouts at the top of the windscreen...) Preflight went OK, taxied out and took off. About 800 feet up while still climbing we got to watch the oil temp gauge start making a dash for the red zone-- and it kept on going. The engine didn't seem to be down on power and because of the speed the gauge went to the redline we suspected an electrical malfunction but decided to play it safe. By the time we got it turned around and on final it wasn't running all that great and you could sure smell it was baked. Definately not a gauge problem.

Never heard back from the rental outfit what happened, just glad we got it to the ground on our terms-- not its terms. Didn't really want to land short and stick it in the cornfield, although it would have made for a better story. :willy:Engine sat for several years without preservation and the cylinders with open valves to nature were rusty, the others were fine. I am in the process of changing them all to be safe.

Mike

[Musclerodz]

Wow, that is a pretty crazy story. Glad you are okay. You seem to talk about an emergency in a plane like it was no big deal. I think my reaction rather than suspecting vapor lock would involve a lot of...OH S%*$#!

Tim
I have had 2 other forced landings in my almost 20 years of flying. You are so focused on trying to make the safest landing possible, you don't go oh *&^% until you are on the ground, out of the plane, and reflect. I would compare it to trying to cross a major highway during rush hour. If you panic before you cross, your dead.

Mike