Baby Birds earn their WINGS!

With the Purple Heart Plane on 10 hour watch back at HFD, that leaves us time to spread out and seek out additional adventures. Denise is heading to the terminus in Santa Fe by way of hitching a ride as a co-pilot with a fellow 99 racer Mary-Ann going direct in her Cessna 172.

We have been following the Purple Heart's baby bird first time racers Team #56 as they proceed through the race and encouraging them on. After the first couple of fly-bys the early race jitters are now gone when we caught up with them in Decorah, IA. The young team seemed very capable as they purposely chose to surf some favorable tailwinds into Iowa and pushed the Cirrus ground speed over 200 miles per hour easily out-pacing other more capable aircraft.

The Lady Buckeyes have clearly learned their craft quickly and are beginning to appreciate the subtle tweaks which get the maximum performance  out of the aircraft. The team seemed happy and enthusiastic though they did have to stay down in Bemidji overnight due to some weird weather brewing across Iowa. All in all however, clearly the ladies have clearly earned their racing wings and have made both their Ohio State and Purple Heart fans VERY proud!

-ed

Girl Scouts and Pre-Race meet n' greet

The Purple Hearts were dealt another blow by low clouds on Friday when we were scheduled to fly the plane to the race. With the engine still on a watch cycle, the team just did not feel confident to fly full IFR in the clouds all the way to Frederick. So the plane did not report as expected and the team drove to the AOPA hangar to check-in even though the team has withdrawn from the race.

On Saturday, the Lady Buckeyes team 56 arrived and met the race officials for check-in and their credential check. As Teresa and Denise's 'baby birds' first-timer team-mates, the ladies tried to smooth the nerves as it is stressful to provide all of the plane and racer information if you have not done it before. To make matters even more stressful, when the Buckeyes made it to the tarmac, they urgently were requested to exit the field since the President's Marine One helicopter may need to land as a back-up airport to visiting Camp David nearby. Of course it might seem it was a joke except when in fact the airspace around Frederick has many military operation areas , the white
house, and  Camp David's retreat which can create a sort of a vise on operations if political figures
are moving around.

All of the teams got together to man stations in the beautiful AOPA hangar to teach Girl Scouts principles of aviation and fun facts about flying and airplanes. About 200 kids came through to join the racers and had the teams sign their programs and talk about various aspects of being a female
pilot now and in the future.

In the evening, all of the teams were treated to a minor league ball game at the local stadium. Aside from a slight brief shower to cool off the slightly humid air. Teresa and Denise took the Lady Buckeyes out to do a little shopping and made sure they got tucked into their accommodations for the night. Tomorrow the actual race briefings begin so the work is starting just as anticipation for Tuesday's race day is building. EXCITING!!

-ed

The FAT lady is singing

The ladies cooked through an amazing 10 hours over the last few days trying to simulate race conditions while pushing the plane and motor into race mode. Teresa completed her IFR currency in anticipation of some good news and Denise practiced hilly and gusty landings for unknowns.

Upon landing back at Hartford after a 3 hour round trip to New Hampshire, the ladies taxied the purple plane to the maintenance hangar and battened it down for the Monday morning reveal. Though the plane performed flawlessly, the entire crew felt a bit melancholy that the plane's race fate was concealed in a few paper pleats and now completely out of the team's hands.

Monday morning came and sadly the oil filter showed once again consistent specks of aluminum and a few larger flakes. Not enough mind you to ground the plane, however clearly the condition is not self-correcting. The engine IS burnishing off metal from somewhere and it will need constant 10 hour monitoring under normal flying conditions.

Clearly racing a plane over unfamiliar terrain, rapidly changing weather, and thousands of miles demanding the highest performance is not NORMAL. Therefore after several more hours of phone calls, thoughts and consults, the prudent thing to do was Withdraw from the 41st Air Race Classic.

The plane will make an appearance in Frederick, Maryland, and has been extended the honor to take its place on the line with the full field of competitors during the impound, however when race day arrives, the Purple Hearts will yield their start time to the competitive teams. The 'Hearts' will be allowed to launch and offer a final fly-by goodbye as the last crew to take to the air and head for home rather than West with the others.

10 hr. cut filter

Stay of EXECUTION - maybe?

The team is not out yet. After the last oil filter cut, we were encouraged that the metal migration has started to subside. The mechanic has been very patient and he is trying to balance the urgency of the race with the need to make sure our pilots have a machine that they can comfortably rely upon.

We have sought  a consult from Lycoming**  regarding their  opinion and the  advice from famed engine guru Mike Busch** to lend us his expertise. In general, the plane was allowed back out of the hangar and onto the field with its fourth and definitive oil filter. Our mechanic ordered a 10 hour  motor run limited to our normal local airports. The ladies have been clocking the hours training for 'engine outs', IFR emergency approaches, and standard touch and go's. We expect to turn the plane in by the weekend so they can pull the filter and examine it closely. If the oil passes the inspection then the ladies will be cleared for their next oil change in Santa Fe - AFTER the race, if not, then the plane will be sadly scratched from the race for maintenance.

Thinking good thoughts and hoping for just some purple PLANE good luck!

- ed

** a note on consults:  With particular respect to safety, the team is responsible for their OWN decisions with their OWN mechanics and their OWN equipment. Experts provide guidance, but ultimately all 'go or no go' decisions will be based on evidence, testing, and OUR good judgment.

Up in the air ... well not quite

Yes the ladies were back up in the air running a fresh oil change through a new filter to see what kind of metal is still flying around in the engine. The team logged about 3 hours of  flying with lots of landings and typical high power cross country practice. Today the team cut the third oil filter and were pleased with the 'cleaner' oil, however the aviation shop saw a few specs of metal in the pleats of the filter so for now the plane is limited to local flights only.

While the entire team is concerned first and foremost with safety, we are not particularly comfortable with the mechanic's diagnosis at this point. Lycoming has very specific requirements with regard to a motor producing metal to be declared 'unsafe' or effectively 'grounding' an aircraft. Yes there is SOME subjectivity involved with counting flecks of metal over the size of say a pencil lead but generally an engine that is having problems in the immediate future puts out up to a quarter teaspoon of metal specs (and usually ferrous metal) before being a concern. In the Purple Heart's case, we just don't believe the motor has met this standard at this time or is at all unsafe to fly.

Granted the motor does have SOMETHING that got sucked in or shaved off that was aluminum at some point so that is not typically a 'Good' thing so nobody is debating smart monitoring of the systems and a good short term plan for an engine overhaul sooner than later.  We are consulting with several experts on Lycoming engines, the race committee, and of course our own mechanics. We'll let you know more soon, but at this point even if the plane is flying, the odds are decreasing that it will make the start of the race.

So the team has pursued securing a possible local flying club Archer II to replace the plane or a position on a Piper Arrow retractable as a back-up to the Purple Hearts plane. If we can't get a ruling on the team plane within the next 48 hours, then we will have to scratch the plane and work feverishly to make a new plane race ready and handicapped before the deadline of June 13th. It is still possible, but with every day that passes, the window to participate is closing. Stay tuned!

-ed

60 hour Oil filter cut - aluminum specs

Much cleaner at 3 hours new filter cut

Oil Check - UH OH making metal???

As a normal course of flying regular 50 hour oil changes are a smart part of  routine maintenance and therefore typically uneventful. Well horror of horrors two weeks out from an air race, the purple beast's filter produced some NON FERROUS metal flakes. Later these mostly specs were determined to be aluminum so unlikely the block itself is damaged.

With safety as the first order of the mission, the team put the plane in for a more extensive check-up where the cylinders were bore-scoped and the sump screen is checked for significant metal. So far, especially with the small amount of metal present, the mechanic does not seemed alarmed. The best guess so far is maybe an aluminum valve stuck a bit outside of limits due to carbon deposits but popped back into its normal configuration.

The ladies are proactive however so after today's filter change, the engine will be run 30 minutes then the new filter will be pulled, cut open and examined AGAIN for metal. Assuming it is still minimal as before, the team will run the plane in race configuration (Full RPM's but no red lines) for a couple of hours and then return it to the mechanic. Once again the oil filter will be sacrificed to check for metal. If at that point the oil is clean, the plane will undergo a 10 hour flight schedule next week to simulate a real world day of racing. At that time the plane will surrender its filter to inspection and if the reveal proves uneventful, the 5th and final filter will be installed for race day and the next 50 hour cycle.

WHEW - that's a lot of expensive filters and mechanics working, but it is necessary to make sure the plane is as safe as possible under aggressive transcontinental flying. Just in case, the ladies have discussed and agreed upon a possible Plan B or Plan C should the plane become inoperative. All of the options to still field a team for the race should the 'purple beast'  face grounding, are challenging as we have to secure leasing or purchase agreements for new equipment, get a waiver approved by the race committee, build familiarity with a new avionics suite, re-badge the plane with our race number, and undergo a handicap flight in Frederick, Maryland before the race. So clearly the preference is to cross our fingers and think good thoughts. Good Luck Ladies !

-ed