Saturday 10 December 2011

Engine upgrade - from P Jones

If any of you are interested in any engine upgrade options for your late model Cessna 182 S or T mode! aircraft at anytime, or ever have the need or requirement to do any in service cylinder removals or repairs, then please consider the following information as portrayed below.

This first web link :- http://alamoaerospace.com/182S,htm  is for a upgraded 260HP engine & this engine has a more standard cylinder set up that can be easily oversized down the track if need be & also has the standard style & stronger pistons etc...Plus this engine will bolt pretty well straight into your airframes as it is pretty well physically the same as the original engine.

Then here is another one for a 310 HP TCM engine, of which is currently not fully certified/STC’d as yet, but it will be at some stage soon & is more intended for someone wanting some serious HP or for the likes of parachute operations etc:- http://www.txskyways.com/310HP Skylane.htm

As sadly the standard engines currently fitted into these late 182 S & T mode! aircraft have the same style of cylinders as what the likes of Bruce Rhoades Maule aircraft has, that we sadly had to renew all of the cylinders on recently, as you can’t oversize them if the bores get worn or rusty as they also have a odd ball & lightweight piston in them that no one has bothered to make as yet in any oversize. Plus due to the fact that the piston skirts are some .070” thinner as a consequence of these weight saving measures than the standard styles of pistons, we have also found that these lightweight pistons are also prone to crack up their skirts if the bores & skirts get worn in service thus developing excessive piston slap. This internal wear is generally externally portrayed by excessive oil consumption, say at a level of a quart per four hours or so of usage.

So if any such engine ever gets down to those levels at all & hopefully they never will, then do not persist with operating the engine & be prepared for the expense of potentially renewing al! the cylinders like what Bruce recently had to do.  Or then ideally put the money into such a replacement engine as portrayed above.  Of which the current respective costs to renew these types of cylinders can end up being around $16000.00 AUD + GST or so including their removal & installation.

The added benefit of the additional HP of these replacement engines will also help drag all the additional weight around that these new model aircraft suffer from with the additional gear in them

If any of you have any queries regarding these matters raised here, then please do not hesitate to contact me at anytime?

Regards

David Paynter . CEO

Brisbane Aero Engineers

Ph 07 3875 1555 Fax 07 3277 4116 0

Thursday 8 December 2011

Return to the Flinders Ranges By Rob T

Recently I asked my brother in law, Peter T and an old work friend Peter H (who I ended up calling PH Factor to save confusion) to join me on a 4 day fly-away to the Flinders ranges. The plan was to fly to Goolwa and meet up with our C182 Association friends Andrew & Jane, John & Elaine. Together we were to fly to Arkaroola for a couple of days before heading off in various directions.

Murphy's law in concert with la Nina messed that plan up from the start. On the day we departed from Canberra, Goolwa was anything but VMC thanks to a significant cold front. So the Pete's and I stopped overnight in Swan Hill. The next day conditions were no better at Goolwa so we decided to fly direct to Arkaroola. Unfortunately conditions at the Murray mouth didn't improve over the weekend so the reunion never happened. In the meantime we borrowed Dorothy, the Arkaroola Toyota 4WD, and had a great time bush-bashing around the place. We managed to fit in a quick flight to lake Eyre before heading back.

The SA coast weather improved sufficiently to make it an interesting return trip. We flew to Wilpena Pound and continued on the the Murray Mouth after a fuel stop at Renmark. Our esteemed presidente Andy met us at Renmark with some lunch and  assistance with fuel. We followed the Coorong to Kingston where I was encouraged by the low cloud to drop in and stay the night. The following day the Great Ocean Road with a pit stop in Warrnambool. John and Elaine met us and in true C182 Association hospitality provided morning tea in their Hangar. From there we tracked to Ballarat then home. Here are some pics;