- Joined
- Feb 25, 2013
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 2
Had my first real inflight emergency that led to mayday calls. It was to be a simple VFR flight of less than 75 miles.
Departed the airport and other then a slight rough start and sluggish climb everything seemed fine. About 10mins into the flight at just 2k the engine began to run rough like it was going to quit. I noticed fuel flow was running at 8/9 when should have been 13 and temp on cylinder #1 running hot but not yellow and TIT was high.
I got nervous quick because of low altitude and didn't seem to have sufficient power to climb but largely stable outside of the heavy vibration and roughness of engine. I assumed fuel issue and started with low setting on backup electric fuel pump to bring temps down and get power.
Low setting seemed to work for a short bit and reduced power also to try and bring temps down so not to damage engine. Ultimately low pump setting wasn't sufficient and went with high fuel pump.
Still running very rough and I was looking for landing options. Cruising at such a low altitude I was running out of time. ATC gave vector to an airport about 6 miles away to the west.
With the high fuel pump going and holding altitude I pushed on and managed to land safely at the airport and was pretty rattled.
Sent G3 engine logs off to savvy aviation and they confirmed something definitely went wrong with cylinder #1. Maybe cracked cylinder or stuck valve. Had a local A&P look at it over the weekend and he said the fuel injector to cylinder #1 was lose and missing a gasket. I also noticed a good spill of what looked like fuel under the cowling after landing. Mechanic says the engine seems to be running fine now.
In terms of next steps I assume compression checks and bore scoping cylinders for any other damage. Not sure what else to build my confidence back in the aircraft. I fly a reasonable amount of IFR and a situation like this could have ended much worse.
My first lesson of many to come out of this flight is even short VFR flights the more altitude the better. At 2k' you have little time to think other then establish best forward performance and have a place to land in mind.
Departed the airport and other then a slight rough start and sluggish climb everything seemed fine. About 10mins into the flight at just 2k the engine began to run rough like it was going to quit. I noticed fuel flow was running at 8/9 when should have been 13 and temp on cylinder #1 running hot but not yellow and TIT was high.
I got nervous quick because of low altitude and didn't seem to have sufficient power to climb but largely stable outside of the heavy vibration and roughness of engine. I assumed fuel issue and started with low setting on backup electric fuel pump to bring temps down and get power.
Low setting seemed to work for a short bit and reduced power also to try and bring temps down so not to damage engine. Ultimately low pump setting wasn't sufficient and went with high fuel pump.
Still running very rough and I was looking for landing options. Cruising at such a low altitude I was running out of time. ATC gave vector to an airport about 6 miles away to the west.
With the high fuel pump going and holding altitude I pushed on and managed to land safely at the airport and was pretty rattled.
Sent G3 engine logs off to savvy aviation and they confirmed something definitely went wrong with cylinder #1. Maybe cracked cylinder or stuck valve. Had a local A&P look at it over the weekend and he said the fuel injector to cylinder #1 was lose and missing a gasket. I also noticed a good spill of what looked like fuel under the cowling after landing. Mechanic says the engine seems to be running fine now.
In terms of next steps I assume compression checks and bore scoping cylinders for any other damage. Not sure what else to build my confidence back in the aircraft. I fly a reasonable amount of IFR and a situation like this could have ended much worse.
My first lesson of many to come out of this flight is even short VFR flights the more altitude the better. At 2k' you have little time to think other then establish best forward performance and have a place to land in mind.
