Could have been fuel starvation. If so, I can't think of any engine
that would have been more reliable than the Lycoming...

Scott


Ron Webb wrote:
"Gig 601XL Builder" wrote in message
...

Ron Webb wrote:

I just found some more info on the RV6A that went down in Stanwood, Wa
(30 mi north of seattle).

The aircraft registration
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinqu...mndfin d.y=12

Says the engine was an O-320 series. She told her husband just before the
crash she was losing power.
Another victim of a Lycosaur.

Do you really want to argue that Lyc's safety record is worse than the
vast majority of other piston engines used in aircraft?

I personally think you using this accident, with absolutely nothing to
support it was an engine failure, to back-up whatever you have against
Lyco engines is kind of tacky.

Building my 601XL w/Corvair conversion.




No support that it was an engine failure? How about the pilot's own words, a
few seconds before she died? She SAID she was losing power! OK it could well
have been something stupid like carb ice. I'd list that as an engine
failure. Doesn't happen in water cooled engines that heat the intake
manifold with coolant.

As for the safety record of Lyc vs others, I have to grant that I'd have to
pick my examples pretty carefully to find an uncertificated homebuilt with a
better record. Such examples exist. http://www.rotaryaviation.com/ for one.

But I think you'd have to admit that if a major manufacturer (Toyota or GM
maybe) decided to do it, a properly engineered aircraft engine could be
developed that would be so utterly reliable that this kind of thing would
not happen.

My point is that the factors that have combined to make sure this
hypothetical engine does not exist (legal and regulatory) have cost many
lives over the past 40 years in the name of safety.



--
Scott
http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
Gotta Fly or Gonna Die
Building RV-4 (Super Slow Build Version)