bcool
Pre-takeoff checklist
Well, my trip to Oshkosh was a bust , although in hindsight it could have been worse
My wife & I flew to Madison, WI (KMSN) on Friday night, to overnight prior to heading to Oshkosh this morning.
Got an IFR reservation since KOSH was forecasting an early fog, got up at 4:30 to get to the airport and meet a buddy of mine who lives in Madison and was going to go with us, combining his first trip to Airventure with his first flight in a GA plane.
Took off from Madison, and was cleared to 5,000'. As we were climbing, I noticed a burning oil smell. Since we occasionally smell that when we start a flight due to oil spillage when refilling (it's a rental Turbo Arrow), I wasn't too concerned. However, it didn't quickly clear up like usual, so I started to ponder what might be going on. Then, I looked at the engine monitor which is on the lower right panel and I noticed what appeared to be a cloud of gray smoke A quick glance at the oil pressure gauge showed a normal reading.
I got on the horn to Departure and said, uh, we've got smoke in the cockpit and need to return to the field. The controller said "you're cleared to any runway you need" and (I believe) told the other traffic to hold. He also said they were going to send out the emergency equipment.
I made a 180 and saw the field about a mile or so behind us. I pulled back to idle and started a descent. I was too high to make a straight-in back to the runway I just took off on, so I did a left base to another crossing runway. After dropping the gear and flaps I made it down and made a decent landing. On the way down I noticed the smoke had cleared up and the smell wasn't as noticeable, so I wasn't terribly worried at that point (famous last words).
Once we touched down I asked if I should taxi back to Wisconsin Aviation, and the controller said to go ahead if I thought I could. As we were heading back I noticed the fire trucks heading our way. We shut down and got out, and after everybody looked things over it was decided we weren't on fire We did notice that the front tire was coated with oil and a few drips were coming out from the nose gear well.
We had to wait about 1/2 hour for the Wisconsin Aviation mechanic to get in to work, and when he did he pulled the cowl, took a look, and said it looked like the gasket used to connect the vacuum pump to the engine had failed and oil was escaping from there. He checked his inventory and said he'd have to wait until Monday or Tuesday to get the gasket.
Bummer - so much for flying to Oshkosh! We toyed with the idea of driving there, but by the time we did and found a parking spot, the day would be half over so we just resigned ourselves to the fact that things could have been a whole lot worse
When I called the owner of the flying club we rented the plane from, he offered to fly there and bring us home in his Mooney. So, we waited a couple of hours for him to get there from St Louis and we flew back home with him. We paid for his fuel both ways to help offset his costs.
Now, he's going to have to return next week with another pilot and ferry it back. For once, I'm happy to be a renter
My wife & I flew to Madison, WI (KMSN) on Friday night, to overnight prior to heading to Oshkosh this morning.
Got an IFR reservation since KOSH was forecasting an early fog, got up at 4:30 to get to the airport and meet a buddy of mine who lives in Madison and was going to go with us, combining his first trip to Airventure with his first flight in a GA plane.
Took off from Madison, and was cleared to 5,000'. As we were climbing, I noticed a burning oil smell. Since we occasionally smell that when we start a flight due to oil spillage when refilling (it's a rental Turbo Arrow), I wasn't too concerned. However, it didn't quickly clear up like usual, so I started to ponder what might be going on. Then, I looked at the engine monitor which is on the lower right panel and I noticed what appeared to be a cloud of gray smoke A quick glance at the oil pressure gauge showed a normal reading.
I got on the horn to Departure and said, uh, we've got smoke in the cockpit and need to return to the field. The controller said "you're cleared to any runway you need" and (I believe) told the other traffic to hold. He also said they were going to send out the emergency equipment.
I made a 180 and saw the field about a mile or so behind us. I pulled back to idle and started a descent. I was too high to make a straight-in back to the runway I just took off on, so I did a left base to another crossing runway. After dropping the gear and flaps I made it down and made a decent landing. On the way down I noticed the smoke had cleared up and the smell wasn't as noticeable, so I wasn't terribly worried at that point (famous last words).
Once we touched down I asked if I should taxi back to Wisconsin Aviation, and the controller said to go ahead if I thought I could. As we were heading back I noticed the fire trucks heading our way. We shut down and got out, and after everybody looked things over it was decided we weren't on fire We did notice that the front tire was coated with oil and a few drips were coming out from the nose gear well.
We had to wait about 1/2 hour for the Wisconsin Aviation mechanic to get in to work, and when he did he pulled the cowl, took a look, and said it looked like the gasket used to connect the vacuum pump to the engine had failed and oil was escaping from there. He checked his inventory and said he'd have to wait until Monday or Tuesday to get the gasket.
Bummer - so much for flying to Oshkosh! We toyed with the idea of driving there, but by the time we did and found a parking spot, the day would be half over so we just resigned ourselves to the fact that things could have been a whole lot worse
When I called the owner of the flying club we rented the plane from, he offered to fly there and bring us home in his Mooney. So, we waited a couple of hours for him to get there from St Louis and we flew back home with him. We paid for his fuel both ways to help offset his costs.
Now, he's going to have to return next week with another pilot and ferry it back. For once, I'm happy to be a renter