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