donaziza
Well Known Member
I'm on the injured list right now, ie, can't fly my own airplane. So an RV 8 buddy offered to take my 8 out to keep the engine and oil limbered up. A few weeks ago, the owner of my hangar called and said "Hey Don, why are there "pools" of oil underneath your fuselage on the hangar floor"? WHAT!! So out to the hangar to check---sure enough, literally pools of oil on the the hangar floor and all over the bottom of the aircraft. Well, the oil filter adapter had just been off from my mechanic, so, of course I thought big oil leak. The mechanic checked all over the engine compartment including the filter adapter and said "No oil leak"
Had my buddy done any acro, particularly negative G's the mechanic asked? ( No inverted oil system installed) Yep, nothing negative, but loops, spins and hammerheads. The mechanic said he thinks big slugs of oil were coming out of the breather tube. (Oil had been 5.9 qts before flight, was now 4.2 qts after flight)
Told buddy and he flew it again a few days later. Did only 2 rolls. Heck, I always do a couple of rolls every time I'm out. A few days after that I went to check for oil again. Still some smaller pools on the floor, but this time, only by the tailwwheel. Nothing on the bottom of the fuselage. Cleaned up the floor and area by tailwheel. Then the plane didn't fly for a week. Went out tonight looking for oil, and sure enough, a small puddle by the tailwheel, and some dripping of a radio antenna mast on the bottom center of the fuselage. ( The 2ed oil on the floor was apparently still oozing out from the first flight, and not a result of the 2ed flight)
SO-o-o-o, we got the wall out from in back of the aft baggage compartment, to look down inside the fuselage, and sure enough, still a bunch of oil on the bottom of the fuselage on the "inside" So my question is, how the heck does engine oil get on the inside of my fuselage One would think that if oil came out of the breather, the slipstream would carry it away. Is it possible that 1.7 qts of oil could be driver into teensie little holes in the fuselage ( about where the wing is) and then along the bottom inside all the way back to the tailwheel?? Who's the aeronautical engineer, is it Kevin Horton? Would he know what the air is doing here (on the bottom of the fuselage right behind the engine compartment) Or has my 8 developed some really unique kind of oil leak.
Sorry this is so long, but no other way to explain it. ( Not a builder)
Had my buddy done any acro, particularly negative G's the mechanic asked? ( No inverted oil system installed) Yep, nothing negative, but loops, spins and hammerheads. The mechanic said he thinks big slugs of oil were coming out of the breather tube. (Oil had been 5.9 qts before flight, was now 4.2 qts after flight)
Told buddy and he flew it again a few days later. Did only 2 rolls. Heck, I always do a couple of rolls every time I'm out. A few days after that I went to check for oil again. Still some smaller pools on the floor, but this time, only by the tailwwheel. Nothing on the bottom of the fuselage. Cleaned up the floor and area by tailwheel. Then the plane didn't fly for a week. Went out tonight looking for oil, and sure enough, a small puddle by the tailwheel, and some dripping of a radio antenna mast on the bottom center of the fuselage. ( The 2ed oil on the floor was apparently still oozing out from the first flight, and not a result of the 2ed flight)
SO-o-o-o, we got the wall out from in back of the aft baggage compartment, to look down inside the fuselage, and sure enough, still a bunch of oil on the bottom of the fuselage on the "inside" So my question is, how the heck does engine oil get on the inside of my fuselage One would think that if oil came out of the breather, the slipstream would carry it away. Is it possible that 1.7 qts of oil could be driver into teensie little holes in the fuselage ( about where the wing is) and then along the bottom inside all the way back to the tailwheel?? Who's the aeronautical engineer, is it Kevin Horton? Would he know what the air is doing here (on the bottom of the fuselage right behind the engine compartment) Or has my 8 developed some really unique kind of oil leak.
Sorry this is so long, but no other way to explain it. ( Not a builder)