07-04-2026, 10:26 PM
I’m not an engine guy. But seems to me that as the bearings wear a slightly misaligned case will tend to fix itself. The longer it runs without failure, the better off you are. Of course it’s going to depend a lot on how misaligned it is to start with.
Over the years the crankshaft has been one area of the machine that has been pretty solid. Not many of them have failed. Valve train and burnt pistons are far more common. Four of my forced landings have been valve train issues. As we add more and more horse power and increase the loads on our 3 bearing crank. Joe’s new crank will help some with that.
It’s always good advice to fly over areas that can safely be autoed to. There are lots of other reasons that require getting on the ground quickly. We had an engine fire at John’s in May.
Over the years the crankshaft has been one area of the machine that has been pretty solid. Not many of them have failed. Valve train and burnt pistons are far more common. Four of my forced landings have been valve train issues. As we add more and more horse power and increase the loads on our 3 bearing crank. Joe’s new crank will help some with that.
It’s always good advice to fly over areas that can safely be autoed to. There are lots of other reasons that require getting on the ground quickly. We had an engine fire at John’s in May.