At Airventure, I walked out of a seminar yesterday entitled “Engines and TBO” held in the Continental Motors exhibit. The talk abstract was “Is your engine approaching TBO? Better understand what TBO means for your engine, and gain in-depth knowledge about engine care, preventive maintenance, and maximizing flight time while approaching TBO.”
They handed out free bottles of water, which I appreciated, but the Alabama good-ole-boy speaker annoyed me with a presentation that insisted that the manufacturer knows best and you should not go beyond TBO. One reason given: coatings will wear off at TBO. Another, tolerances will worsen.
He also reminded listeners of the 12-year time limit, and said you should honor it because of seals, gaskets, and hoses.
I can’t see any reason it isn’t ok to do overhauls on condition instead of time, and relying for condition on inspection of oil filter contaminants, used oil analysis, borescope images and maybe an examination of lifters and cam.
The Alabama dude also said that every engine makes metal, and not to worry unless it has a serial number.
He said that your brother or uncle or grandpa or grandma can do an overhaul, but only the factory can do it for zero time.
I learned nothing from him, and was annoyed by his attitude, so I stood up from my front row seat and left after 20 minutes.
There is also a competing presentation Friday by Mike Busch, which I’m sure will say to do it on condition and that going beyond TBO is fine because the engine is more reliable at ten hours beyond TBO than at ten hours hour after overhaul.
