My first in-flight mechanical failure

Given my relative low time of 700 hours, I wanted to share the story of
my first in-flight mechanical problem, which happened today while
returning from southwest Pennsylvania to central NY.

Cruising along at 11,000 feet with the XM radio playing in my headsets
(thanks to an earlier thread here, my first flight with the new XM radio
was this flight), my scan suddenly noticed the JPI engine monitor, now
flashing an increasing turbo-inlet temperature.

A quick background: I fly a turbo-normalized Bonanza and was taught by
Tornado Alley (the manufacturers of the turbo add-on) to cruise at wide-
open throttle and 75 degrees lean of turbo-inlet temperature peak. Once
this optimum lean mixture is found, the turbo-inlet temperature will
remain relatively constant throughout the remaining cruise at that
altitude. Thus, watching this temperature continue to climb to a peak
temperature, I immediately knew something was amiss.

Not knowing what was the issue, my first order of business was to take
in all the gauges and sounds to see if the engine was suffering an
imminent failure (low oil pressure, etc.) or not. The results of this
scan would determine whether I would be landing immediately or
continuing to my home airport, some 60nm away.

Other than the high TIT, there was no indication of a problem. I then
tried re-adjusting the mixture to see if somehow it had vibrated loose.
The only way to reduce the temperature was to enrichen the mixture in
through peak to some point safely rich of peak, an action that
definitely indicated a problem.

With the mixture set rich of peak and the temperature down to a safe
number, the fuel flow jumped to 24 gallons per hour (compared to 16 per
hour at lean of peak during normal cruise). I had more than enough
fuel, so I opted to leave the mixture ROP to hold down the temperature
while I thought over my options and prepared the aircraft to land at any
nearby airport.

At this point, I was out of ideas as to what the problem was, so I began
thinking how I was going to explain this problem to the mechanic Monday
morning. That is when an idea crossed my mind.

Tornado Alley states in their white paper that in order for lean of peak
operation to properly function, the magnetos and the spark plugs must
all be in excellent working order. A problem with fouled plugs or a bad
magneto would show up as a rough running engine or high temperatures
when at lean of peak.

With this, I reached down and slowly turned the key from "Both" to
"L"eft. Nothing noticeable happened in either the engine sound or the
temperatures. Back to "Both." Slowly I turned the key from "Both" past
"L" and into "R"ight. Instantaneously, the engine QUIT! Damn, I
thought, and I quickly turned the key back to "Both," returning the
engine to life. My heart-rate just when up a little.

OK, there's the problem, a dead mag. Just about the time I discovered
this, Center called me to hand me off to my class C airport's approach
control. I acknowledged the hand-off and thought for a second on how
best to safely deal with this problem.

Although it was a severe clear VFR day, I was on an IFR flight plan.
I decided that one dead mag was not an emergency, but I didn't want
to be vectored all over while approach control sequenced airliners for
their arrival, either. So, I keyed the mike and said, "Syracuse
Approach, Bonanza 2845W, level one-one thousand, with a request."

"Bonanza 45W, altimeter 30.18, go ahead with your request," answered
Approach.

"Syracuse Approach, Bonanza 45W has a mechanical problem, it is not an
emergency yet, but I do need vectors straight to the airport for an
immediate landing and I would like to remain at altitude until I get
closer."

"Bonanza 45W, expect all that, and when you have time, could you tell me
the nature of your mechanical problem?"

Since I did have a moment, I replied, "Magneto failure. The aircraft is
equipped with two mags, but if the remaining one fails, my engine will
quit. Also, I am now unsure of how the aircraft will operate at low
power settings with the dead mag while on approach."

ATC answered, "Thank you and if there is anything you need, please
ask." Knowing what she was implying, I kept the "Declare Emergency"
call on my mind and ready to use had the engine began to run rough.

I then called the airport in sight, despite still being out about 30
miles, and ATC cleared me for a visual approach. At this time I began a
gentle descent until I knew I was close. With the field made, I dropped
gear and flaps and reduced power to 17 inches MP. Not knowing what to
expect, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the engine continued
to deliver with no roughness.

Landing was uneventful and on roll-out, tower asked me where I was
parking on the field. I replied that I needed to park at the GA
maintenance facility, to which the controller laughed and stated that
she should have known that answer.

With the leaves beginning to change color here in central NY, I am now
hopeful that maintenance will be able to replace the mag sometime early
this week. I also now have one mechanical issue to add to my growing
experience. I am not eager for others...

--
Peter

With the leaves beginning to change color here in central NY, I am now
hopeful that maintenance will be able to replace the mag sometime early
this week. I also now have one mechanical issue to add to my growing
experience. I am not eager for others...

Thanks for the post, Peter.

I've often wondered how a failed magneto would manifest itself in flight.

Your post will help us all.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Peter R." wrote:

I also now have one mechanical issue to add to my growing
experience. I am not eager for others...

Good work. A mag died on me once, and I headed home. As I set up on downwind at my
untowered field, one of the local instructors announced a simulated engine out
landing. I asked him to wait a bit, since I might have the real thing on my hands!

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

A few years ago, my IFR instructor and I were shooting approaches at an
uncontrolled field in a rented archer. After a missed approach
procedure we both heard the engine noise drop. We both looked at each
and asked "did you touch the throttle?". Neither of us had so we knew
it was probably a failed mag. We continued around and landed. We
called back to the flight school to send somebody out to get us. Nice
to have two of those mags! I'm actually glad it happened. It was a good
learning experience with an undramatic and happy ending. There was no
question in either of our minds that although we could have flown back
to the fbo at PNE, we wouldn't. Why take a chance?

Dave
68 7ECA

Peter R. wrote:
Given my relative low time of 700 hours, I wanted to share the story of
my first in-flight mechanical problem, which happened today while
returning from southwest Pennsylvania to central NY.

Cruising along at 11,000 feet with the XM radio playing in my headsets
(thanks to an earlier thread here, my first flight with the new XM radio
was this flight), my scan suddenly noticed the JPI engine monitor, now
flashing an increasing turbo-inlet temperature.

A quick background: I fly a turbo-normalized Bonanza and was taught by
Tornado Alley (the manufacturers of the turbo add-on) to cruise at wide-
open throttle and 75 degrees lean of turbo-inlet temperature peak. Once
this optimum lean mixture is found, the turbo-inlet temperature will
remain relatively constant throughout the remaining cruise at that
altitude. Thus, watching this temperature continue to climb to a peak
temperature, I immediately knew something was amiss.

Not knowing what was the issue, my first order of business was to take
in all the gauges and sounds to see if the engine was suffering an
imminent failure (low oil pressure, etc.) or not. The results of this
scan would determine whether I would be landing immediately or
continuing to my home airport, some 60nm away.

Other than the high TIT, there was no indication of a problem. I then
tried re-adjusting the mixture to see if somehow it had vibrated loose.
The only way to reduce the temperature was to enrichen the mixture in
through peak to some point safely rich of peak, an action that
definitely indicated a problem.

With the mixture set rich of peak and the temperature down to a safe
number, the fuel flow jumped to 24 gallons per hour (compared to 16 per
hour at lean of peak during normal cruise). I had more than enough
fuel, so I opted to leave the mixture ROP to hold down the temperature
while I thought over my options and prepared the aircraft to land at any
nearby airport.

At this point, I was out of ideas as to what the problem was, so I began
thinking how I was going to explain this problem to the mechanic Monday
morning. That is when an idea crossed my mind.

Tornado Alley states in their white paper that in order for lean of peak
operation to properly function, the magnetos and the spark plugs must
all be in excellent working order. A problem with fouled plugs or a bad
magneto would show up as a rough running engine or high temperatures
when at lean of peak.

With this, I reached down and slowly turned the key from "Both" to
"L"eft. Nothing noticeable happened in either the engine sound or the
temperatures. Back to "Both." Slowly I turned the key from "Both" past
"L" and into "R"ight. Instantaneously, the engine QUIT! Damn, I
thought, and I quickly turned the key back to "Both," returning the
engine to life. My heart-rate just when up a little.

OK, there's the problem, a dead mag. Just about the time I discovered
this, Center called me to hand me off to my class C airport's approach
control. I acknowledged the hand-off and thought for a second on how
best to safely deal with this problem.

Although it was a severe clear VFR day, I was on an IFR flight plan.
I decided that one dead mag was not an emergency, but I didn't want
to be vectored all over while approach control sequenced airliners for
their arrival, either. So, I keyed the mike and said, "Syracuse
Approach, Bonanza 2845W, level one-one thousand, with a request."

"Bonanza 45W, altimeter 30.18, go ahead with your request," answered
Approach.

"Syracuse Approach, Bonanza 45W has a mechanical problem, it is not an
emergency yet, but I do need vectors straight to the airport for an
immediate landing and I would like to remain at altitude until I get
closer."

"Bonanza 45W, expect all that, and when you have time, could you tell me
the nature of your mechanical problem?"

Since I did have a moment, I replied, "Magneto failure. The aircraft is
equipped with two mags, but if the remaining one fails, my engine will
quit. Also, I am now unsure of how the aircraft will operate at low
power settings with the dead mag while on approach."

ATC answered, "Thank you and if there is anything you need, please
ask." Knowing what she was implying, I kept the "Declare Emergency"
call on my mind and ready to use had the engine began to run rough.

I then called the airport in sight, despite still being out about 30
miles, and ATC cleared me for a visual approach. At this time I began a
gentle descent until I knew I was close. With the field made, I dropped
gear and flaps and reduced power to 17 inches MP. Not knowing what to
expect, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the engine continued
to deliver with no roughness.

Landing was uneventful and on roll-out, tower asked me where I was
parking on the field. I replied that I needed to park at the GA
maintenance facility, to which the controller laughed and stated that
she should have known that answer.

With the leaves beginning to change color here in central NY, I am now
hopeful that maintenance will be able to replace the mag sometime early
this week. I also now have one mechanical issue to add to my growing
experience. I am not eager for others...

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 19:06:47 -0400, Peter R. wrote:

Given my relative low time of 700 hours, I wanted to share the story of
my first in-flight mechanical problem, which happened today while
returning from southwest Pennsylvania to central NY.

Hi Peter,

Great post, though one thought of mine.... (coming from a person who had an
in-flight exhaust valve failure last year).

Understanding the need for trouble shooting, I personally would have done
everything you did except test the mags. (unless the emergency checklist
said to do this).

My rational for this would be why change a configuration for what appeared
to be a good running engine especially when you were able to cool the
engine temperature with mixture?

I am curious, had it been hard IFR, would you have check the mags???

I by no means do not want the above to look like I am criticizing, as I
know Monday night quarterbacking is always easier then being in the hot
seat.

The results count the most, and that you brought yourself back to terra
firma without incident shows you made all the right decisions.

Allen

Jay Honeck wrote:

I've often wondered how a failed magneto would manifest itself in flight.

If you don't have an engine analyzer (as Peter did), it shows up as a sudden 50 rpm
or so drop -- just like it does when you're doing your runup.

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

If you don't have an engine analyzer (as Peter did), it shows up as a
sudden 50 rpm
or so drop -- just like it does when you're doing your runup.

So, since I *do* have a JPI engine analyzer, it won't do that?

;-)

(Sorry, I couldn't help myself...)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Great post Peter, thanks much for sharing. Very glad to hear that you
got back on the ground ok.

--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL, IA Student

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

On 2004-09-27, dave wrote:
A few years ago, my IFR instructor and I were shooting approaches at an
uncontrolled field in a rented archer. After a missed approach
procedure we both heard the engine noise drop. We both looked at each
and asked "did you touch the throttle?". Neither of us had so we knew
it was probably a failed mag. We continued around and landed. We
called back to the flight school to send somebody out to get us. Nice
to have two of those mags! I'm actually glad it happened. It was a good
learning experience with an undramatic and happy ending. There was no
question in either of our minds that although we could have flown back
to the fbo at PNE, we wouldn't. Why take a chance?

Taking off with a bad magneto is a really stupid thing to do, and has
actually killed people. See:

http://www.aopa.org/asf/epilot_acc/atl02fa137.html

in which a CFI and his student elect to takeoff despite knowing that
the plane has a malfunctioning magneto. CFIs should know better than
that.


So you made the right choice by not flying an airplane with known
mechanical problems.



--
Kevin Brown

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 19:06:47 -0400, Peter R.
wrote:

ATC answered, "Thank you and if there is anything you need, please
ask." Knowing what she was implying, I kept the "Declare Emergency"
call on my mind and ready to use had the engine began to run rough.

Peter,

You handled the problem well and I enjoyed reading about your thought
process. They were clear and logical, and the TAT teachings obviously
helped.

However, I think all too often we GA pilots are reluctant to declare an
emergency. And I know I would have in the situation you were in.

Although you were not in a DISTRESS situation, as defined by the AIM, you
were clearly in an URGENCY situation. And BOTH are reasons for declaring
an emergency.

I've never had to fill out any paper work, or even answer any FAA
questions, on the various times I've declared an emergency. On two
occasions, when the fire trucks were rolled, I was asked to provide my name
and the nature of the emergency -- but this was for the local emergency
team logs. But I would expect even FAA paperwork, if required, to be
fairly innocuous. I've declared in both distress and urgency situations.

There's really no downside to using the 'E' word. And it's use in your
situation would have been congruent with AIM recommendations.

I recall a USAF pilot declaring an emergency after an engine failure in a
4-engine airplane, but proceeding on to home base which was hundreds of
miles away. And then there's the apocryphal USAF story about a fighter low
on fuel in Vietnam who had to delay his landing because a B52 had declared
an engine out emergency and had to execute the "dreaded seven-engine
approach" :-).

=========================
AIM 6-1-2. Emergency Condition- Request Assistance Immediately

a. An emergency can be either a distress or *urgency* condition as
defined in the Pilot/Controller Glossary. Pilots do not hesitate to declare
an emergency when they are faced with distress conditions such as fire,
mechanical failure, or structural damage. However, some are reluctant to
report an *urgency* condition when they encounter situations which may not
be immediately perilous, but are potentially catastrophic. An aircraft is
in at least an *urgency* condition the moment the pilot becomes doubtful
about position, fuel endurance, weather, or any other condition that could
adversely affect flight safety. This is the time to ask for help, not after
the situation has developed into a distress condition.

-----------------------
PC/G: URGENCY- A condition of being concerned about safety and of requiring
timely but not immediate assistance; a potential distress condition.
========================


Ron (EPM) (N5843Q, Mooney M20E) (CP, ASEL, ASES, IA)