Engine ( A-65) Propstrike and rebuild on cheap???

"Michael Horowitz" wrote in message
...
Well stated, particularily the groundlooping part - Mike

" jls" wrote:

For you who have not enjoyed the priceless inexpressible thrill of
winging
through the air @4 gallons an hour and 100 mph in an A-65-powered
Taylorcraft with that wonderful zippy airfoil and responsive controls and
the eternal risk of groundlooping when you put down, well, I pity you.



The Devil is in the details. There's something more relevant to your
subject line. IMHO, when you have a propstrike with a wooden prop the
damage is usually less to the crank and you have a better chance of no
damage at all. An aluminum prop will put more stress on the crank and case
when there's a strike. Before sending the crank off for that necessary
yellow tag, which includes having it magnafluxed and checked for other
damage like runout and deep scoring, I do a little looking with a magnifying
glass, mikes, and a dial indicator. Some of those engine shops are more
demanding than others. One will condemn the crank while another will pass
it.

I know of a crank that came back because the shop said it had too many deep
corrosion pits in the flange. When it went to another shop, it got a
yellow tag.

One shop "cooked" a nitrided crank and straightened it so that it came back
within runout limits and had a yellow tag attached. It's good to know which
shop to go to.

We once had an old A&P who got the local auto engine shops to grind the
crank and check it for cracks. No yellow tag, of course. Some people go
that route but it's dangerous. More than a few cranks have been ruined by
shops who didn't understand the necessity of radius in the fillets.

And, yes, with a propstrike, you ought to have the crankcase checked out
too. If the engine has enough hours on it, go ahead and rebuild it.

At an airport nearby there was a 210 with a beautiful rebuilt O-470 engine
from a nearby repair station. It was painted Continental gold and was just
installed. As soon as everything was wired and buttoned up, one of the
guys took the aircraft aloft and when he dropped the gear for landing, the
nosegear was stuck. They tried everything to get it down, but no luck.
The engine had less than an hour on it and had to go right back to the
engine shop for a propstrike teardown. Besides that, the owner (or
somebody) had to buy expensive nosegear doors.