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