First engine out in flight today.

Theboys

Theboys

Line Up and Wait
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Theboys
Interesting day. Was flying along at about 6500 ft. All going well then little stumble, then quiet. No more spinny thing on front. Was only about 5 miles from airport so just put her down there on handiest runway. Pretty much non event.
 
Welcome to the club! We haven't had a member join willingly yet.

Well, except for Geico and he's just nuts. :)
 
Bummer for the trip. At least you are stuck close to home.
 
Theboys said:
I had fueled about 15 min before and apparently there was some sand in the fuel. Ruined several injectors. Was flying a 172 xp
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Glad you got it down safely...

I assume your plane has a fuel filter ??? Gascolator ??
 
I've probably flown this plane a hundred hours in last 4 months and done 300 t&g's and simulated engine outs and all the student stuff so it really wasn't a big deal. Was just like the simulated but more drag.
 
Theboys said:
I've probably flown this plane a hundred hours in last 4 months and done 300 t&g's and simulated engine outs and all the student stuff so it really wasn't a big deal. Was just like the simulated but more drag.
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This is why I practice with the engine off. Pulling it to idle is just not the same.


What were you flying? Where did you land? What FBO sold you the bad fuel?
 
Theboys said:
I had fueled about 15 min before and apparently there was some sand in the fuel. Ruined several injectors. Was flying a 172 xp
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Wow that had to be some super fine sand! Sound perhaps like the kind they use for fine abrasive polishing. Wonder how that contaminated the fuel. Glad it worked out well for you.
 
wow you're so casual about it as if you expected it lol.. glad everything was okay lucky you were at 6500 ft may have not been that easy or uneventful if you were at like 2k or 3k
 
Obviously, it brought you out of the air. Sounds like someone is going to be buying you an engine over haul? Sand in the fuel is never a good thing.


Good flying BTW. The engine quiting never kills, it is the panic that does.

If you are going to panic do it in the bar after the first beer.
 
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I always figured the time to panic was about a inch from the ground. I always figure there is a chance of something bad happening. Usually doesn't happen though fortunately.
 
I also try to fly between 6 and 12000 ft on most flights. In Florida here there are airports fairly close but seems like most Florida pilots like to fly pretty low.
 
How does sand get passed a fuel strainer? There is a finger screen in the fuel tanks. There is probably a header/collector tank under the floor too.
 
Not to mention a last chance screen somewhere in the fuel injection system itself.
 
I speaking from working on cars for a living, plane fuel sytems are roughly he same... Sand Particles will get past filters, it does take a bunch to clog an injector though
 
I was just looking at my trucks fuel filter 4 micron or .00015".

My CAT loader filters are even better .0000725"

Pretty hard for sand to get through either one IMO.

What filtration does a Cessna filter provide?
 
This was an engine with a Marvel Carb. A clicker type electric transfer pump started grinding itself to pieces while still functioning. The flour fine particles got past the fuel tank screen, the gascolator screen and the carb screen where they settled in the bowl blocking the mixture control sleeve. Just like pulling the mixture control, the fuel was shut off.

Paul
Salome, AZ
 
Theboys said:
Interesting day. Was flying along at about 6500 ft. All going well then little stumble, then quiet. No more spinny thing on front. Was only about 5 miles from airport so just put her down there on handiest runway. Pretty much non event.
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Well handled, Reminds me to keep practicing with the hope it is never needed.

Hmmmm Maybe when flying with another pilot we should agree (ahead of time) to surprise each other with engine out calls just like our instructors did during our PPL.:yikes:

Come to think of it...this is very similar to my deep training dives (SCUBA) we discretely would turn each others air off or sneak behind and pull the regulator out of the other guys mouth to develop the proper motor skills.
(crap now I am typing too much and the IQ is dropping again:mad2:)
 
MyassisDragon said:
Well handled, Reminds me to keep practicing with the hope it is never needed.

Hmmmm Maybe when flying with another pilot we should agree (ahead of time) to surprise each other with engine out calls just like our instructors did during our PPL.:yikes:

Come to think of it...this is very similar to my deep training dives (SCUBA) we discretely would turn each others air off or sneak behind and pull the regulator out of the other guys mouth to develop the proper motor skills.
(crap now I am typing too much and the IQ is dropping again:mad2:)
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FWIW - my experience doing flight reviews is that the majority of pilots aren't capable of executing an engine out landing to my level of satisfaction.

I'm always coming up with new scenarios. My latest -- I'll put a pilot under a hood and then vector them around for a bit so they don't really know where they're at. Once we're at 3-4,000 AGL and directly over top an airport I'll tell them to remove their hood and when they are doing that I'll fail their engine. It usually takes people off guard. Less than half the pilots land successfully on the runway they're directly above without further instruction.
 
jesse said:
I'll put a pilot under a hood and then vector them around for a bit so they don't really know where they're at. Once we're at 3-4,000 AGL and directly over top an airport I'll tell them to remove their hood and when they are doing that I'll fail their engine.
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Thats exactly what my CFII did to me on both my PPL and IR. :mad2:
You guys must be in Kahoots
 
Criitter7 said:
I speaking from working on cars for a living, plane fuel sytems are roughly he same... Sand Particles will get past filters, it does take a bunch to clog an injector though
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That is the part that surprises me. I've had crap get through and clog an injector (on a 177 RG), but that must have been a ton of sand to clog enough that the whole engine quit!
 
Theboys said:
I made it 50 miles or about 25 min before it putted out. Ran great before fueling. Was on beginning legs of 1100 mile trip. Made it about 120.
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Did you strain/sample the tanks after fueling? If so, how long after fueling?
 
The factory fuel filter is quite poor. It doesn't surprise me that sand got through it at all.

Sounds like you handled it well. And my experience parallels jesse's. Most pilots can't successfully make the airport, and then they decide that they're good enough and don't need to practice more.

Sigh.
 
Theboys said:
I also try to fly between 6 and 12000 ft on most flights. In Florida here there are airports fairly close but seems like most Florida pilots like to fly pretty low.
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^ This. I took a sectional and figured about 90% of the time at 7000 or above i'm within gliding range of a lit, paved airport. Day VFR i'll fly lower but at night you'll rarely find me below 5k feet.
 
jesse said:
Once we're at 3-4,000 AGL and directly over top an airport I'll tell them to remove their hood and when they are doing that I'll fail their engine.
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When I eventually earn my CFI certificate (have been procrastinating) I am taking this one from you.
 
WOW - Congrats on the Safe landing
 
jesse said:
FWIW - my experience doing flight reviews is that the majority of pilots aren't capable of executing an engine out landing to my level of satisfaction.

I'm always coming up with new scenarios. My latest -- I'll put a pilot under a hood and then vector them around for a bit so they don't really know where they're at. Once we're at 3-4,000 AGL and directly over top an airport I'll tell them to remove their hood and when they are doing that I'll fail their engine. It usually takes people off guard. Less than half the pilots land successfully on the runway they're directly above without further instruction.
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I had a CFI on a stage check turn off the fuel on me in a 152 within gliding range of an airport when he had me looking outside.. Same CFI failed my landing light right before touching down. Not wise, but made for good practice i guess
 
Well, let's think about this.

The holes in the injectors are many times larger than the holes in the three screens the alleged sand had to pass through. It's highly unlikely that is the cause. Unless the screens had holes or were not seated, it's more like impossible.

And the sand would have had to bypass a 10 micron fuel filter in the fuel farm, and another in the truck, before getting pumped into your tank.

More likely you have corrosion in the aluminum parts of the fuel system. Especially in the fuel servo plugs. It looks like sand when it breaks free, but it's aluminum oxide.

Any maintenance done before flight, such as injector service or fuel filter cleaning that would be done during a 100 hour? I would look over the airplane fuel system very carefully. I have seen this exact problem many times in the last 20 years.
 
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jesse said:
FWIW - my experience doing flight reviews is that the majority of pilots aren't capable of executing an engine out landing to my level of satisfaction.

I'm always coming up with new scenarios. My latest -- I'll put a pilot under a hood and then vector them around for a bit so they don't really know where they're at. Once we're at 3-4,000 AGL and directly over top an airport I'll tell them to remove their hood and when they are doing that I'll fail their engine. It usually takes people off guard. Less than half the pilots land successfully on the runway they're directly above without further instruction.
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Ok, I just don't understand this. Is there any point to this OTHER than 'maybe the best spot to land is right below you' ? I mean, that would be a good lesson. Otherwise, to me this says "I'm going to disorient you, bring you to a spot where you have no idea where you are, put you directly over a runway that you won't be able to see, then tell you you're a bad pilot because you could have landed at the runway right below you that you couldn't see".

Again, point taken on 'check right below you', but to classify someone as 'not capable' doesn't seem 100% accurate.
 
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