Blain
Well Known Member
Building a -8. Bought an RV -7A through insurance auction for the engine and firewall forward components. Contacted the builder-pilot for details of the incident. Very forthcoming and honest.
Certified IO-360-L2A, slick mags, Precision Airmotive injection. 500 TSN.
Pilot report: crossing Sierra Nevada mnt range west to east. Begins decent from approx. 11,500 into Carson City. Sometime during decent realizes the engine is out. Went thru mag check, has fuel pressure, ran out of options and made a successful forced landing except for pole-vaulting over the nose gear and parking it on the lid. Occupants extracted and walk away.
So FAA enters cause as "Icing", which seams unusual with injection and no visible moisture. Inspector doesn't even remove cowling.
Fast forward to this week.
All I need to do is find the "smoking gun". What was the cause?
Removed cowling.
First check the "P" leads for grounding. Switch functions correctly.
Connect fuel source at wing root bypassing tanks. Fuel pump switch on results in good flow and 30 lbs pressure. Small leak at line entering servo.
Secure ship for test start. Anchored to my farm tractor.
Cranks for just a few seconds then fires. Settles into good idle. Oil pressure good, fuel pressure good. Shut down to check everything out.
Fire up again, this time going up to 1500 for mag check. RPM stable.
So I did this for a total of about 15 minutes of run time allowing for cooling since cowl was off.
Now I can't find the smoking gun. Although I bought it well enough to replace mags and injection if I have to but I'd rather determine the cause then just throw parts at it.
Looking for experienced ideas that might lead me to the cause.
Oh, by the way, Have an RV7a "project" airframe looking for a new home
Certified IO-360-L2A, slick mags, Precision Airmotive injection. 500 TSN.
Pilot report: crossing Sierra Nevada mnt range west to east. Begins decent from approx. 11,500 into Carson City. Sometime during decent realizes the engine is out. Went thru mag check, has fuel pressure, ran out of options and made a successful forced landing except for pole-vaulting over the nose gear and parking it on the lid. Occupants extracted and walk away.
So FAA enters cause as "Icing", which seams unusual with injection and no visible moisture. Inspector doesn't even remove cowling.
Fast forward to this week.
All I need to do is find the "smoking gun". What was the cause?
Removed cowling.
First check the "P" leads for grounding. Switch functions correctly.
Connect fuel source at wing root bypassing tanks. Fuel pump switch on results in good flow and 30 lbs pressure. Small leak at line entering servo.
Secure ship for test start. Anchored to my farm tractor.
Cranks for just a few seconds then fires. Settles into good idle. Oil pressure good, fuel pressure good. Shut down to check everything out.
Fire up again, this time going up to 1500 for mag check. RPM stable.
So I did this for a total of about 15 minutes of run time allowing for cooling since cowl was off.
Now I can't find the smoking gun. Although I bought it well enough to replace mags and injection if I have to but I'd rather determine the cause then just throw parts at it.
Looking for experienced ideas that might lead me to the cause.
Oh, by the way, Have an RV7a "project" airframe looking for a new home