Kevin Horton
Well Known Member
Terry and I got home a few minutes ago, after a much longer and more complicated day than expected. We left Oshkosh shortly after 9 this morning, and did a very short flight to Green Bay to get fuel, fill out an electronic EAPIS form to keep US Customs happy, and file IFR flight plans. Next stop was Sault Ste Marie, MI for lunch and to phone Canada Customs. Things were going well until just after we passed overhead North Bay, when the engine developed a new vibration. It wasn't a strong vibration, but it was strong enough so you knew it wasn't just your imagination, not like those mysterious vibrations that appear whenever you are over water. I started going through the various pages of the engine monitor, looking for anything abnormal. As I was doing that, I got a warning from the engine monitor that the "EGT Spread" was high. Sure enough, I saw that the #3 EGT was falling.
The engine was still producing good power, but something was clearly wrong, so I told Toronto Centre that we had an engine anomaly and wanted to divert to North Bay. They were very accommodating, and gave us clearance for an immediate left turn to north, followed quickly by clearance direct to North Bay and descent. I was already well within gliding range of North Bay, and I saw the airport, so I wasn't too worried. The engine kept running, but it was afterfiring (popping) once in a while. I did a 360 degree overhead arrival into North Bay, keeping well within gliding distance the whole way, and landed about 2500 ft down the 10,000 ft long runway.
There was no big pool of oil after shutdown, which was a good sign. I pulled the tool kit out of the front baggage compartment, and removed the cowling. The problem was immediately obvious - the #3 exhaust pipe had broken at the weld where the exhaust pipe attaches to the flange that bolts to the cylinder, so the pipe was completely free of the cylinder.
I couldn't arrange hangar space easily, late on Friday afternoon on a long weekend, and it was looking bad for a rental car, but we eventually got one. We pulled our gear from the aircraft, tied it down, and hit the road.
I'll see if I can contact Larry Vetterman today. Hopefully these exhaust systems are made from interchangeable parts, the design hasn't changed since my exhaust system, and he has the top piece for #3 cylinder in stock. If I can get one here by mid week I may be looking for a ride to North Bay sometime soon (I've got a coworker with a C172 who is looking for excuses to go flying, so I may have the ride part sorted out already). If Larry can't quickly supply an exhaust system part quickly, I'd be interested in acquiring the top part of #3 cylinder from any local builder who has an RV-8 with IO-360-A series engine. I'd buy you a new part as soon as I could get it from Larry.
If I can't get this sorted out quickly, I'll be looking for hangar space in North Bay, hopefully at a reasonable price. Does anyone have any leads on who I should call?
The engine was still producing good power, but something was clearly wrong, so I told Toronto Centre that we had an engine anomaly and wanted to divert to North Bay. They were very accommodating, and gave us clearance for an immediate left turn to north, followed quickly by clearance direct to North Bay and descent. I was already well within gliding range of North Bay, and I saw the airport, so I wasn't too worried. The engine kept running, but it was afterfiring (popping) once in a while. I did a 360 degree overhead arrival into North Bay, keeping well within gliding distance the whole way, and landed about 2500 ft down the 10,000 ft long runway.
There was no big pool of oil after shutdown, which was a good sign. I pulled the tool kit out of the front baggage compartment, and removed the cowling. The problem was immediately obvious - the #3 exhaust pipe had broken at the weld where the exhaust pipe attaches to the flange that bolts to the cylinder, so the pipe was completely free of the cylinder.
I couldn't arrange hangar space easily, late on Friday afternoon on a long weekend, and it was looking bad for a rental car, but we eventually got one. We pulled our gear from the aircraft, tied it down, and hit the road.
I'll see if I can contact Larry Vetterman today. Hopefully these exhaust systems are made from interchangeable parts, the design hasn't changed since my exhaust system, and he has the top piece for #3 cylinder in stock. If I can get one here by mid week I may be looking for a ride to North Bay sometime soon (I've got a coworker with a C172 who is looking for excuses to go flying, so I may have the ride part sorted out already). If Larry can't quickly supply an exhaust system part quickly, I'd be interested in acquiring the top part of #3 cylinder from any local builder who has an RV-8 with IO-360-A series engine. I'd buy you a new part as soon as I could get it from Larry.
If I can't get this sorted out quickly, I'll be looking for hangar space in North Bay, hopefully at a reasonable price. Does anyone have any leads on who I should call?
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