Oil on the windshield. What would you do?

Here's a question that anyone with a single
engine, constant speed prop might have to
deal with sometime.

You're cruising along happily when suddenly
oil drops start appearing on the windshield. There
is no "bang" or anything else to indicate catastrophic
failure. The nearest airport is out of gliding range.
What do you do?

I'd assume symptoms were caused by some prop seal
failure. I'd go to fine pitch (to minimize further oil
loss) & then reduce RPM to where I could still maintain
altitude (to further minimize oil loss, and to minimize
structural damage if the prop were about to disintegrate)
while heading for the nearest airport.

Can anyone think of a better response?

On Jan 27, 8:28 am, "Tony Cox" wrote:
I'd assume symptoms were caused by some prop seal
failure. I'd go to fine pitch (to minimize further oil
loss) & then reduce RPM to where I could still maintain
altitude (to further minimize oil loss, and to minimize
structural damage if the prop were about to disintegrate)
while heading for the nearest airport.

I'd probably avoid touching anything and head towards the airport.
Could a prop seal really leak enough oil to make drops appear on the
windscreen? Usually prop seal leaks show up as moisture under the
prop.

-Robert, CFII

On Jan 27, 9:01 am, "Robert M. Gary" wrote:
On Jan 27, 8:28 am, "Tony Cox" wrote:

Could a prop seal really leak enough oil to make drops appear on the
windscreen? Usually prop seal leaks show up as moisture under the
prop.

As it happens, this is what happened to a friend of mine
yesterday (although on approach, not in cruise) and we were
debating what might be the proper response had an airport
not been within easy reach. The oil was more like filthy black
streaks, rather than "drops". Still, it was obvious what it was.

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 08:28:13 -0800, in
. com, Tony Cox wrote:
Can anyone think of a better response?

Get out your bottle of windex and paper towels, pull back the canopy, and
clean the windshield?

That is just a stupid response and you know it... You should declare an
emergency and pull the ballistic parachute... :-)




Grumman-581 wrote:
On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 08:28:13 -0800, in
. com, Tony Cox wrote:

Can anyone think of a better response?


Get out your bottle of windex and paper towels, pull back the canopy, and
clean the windshield?

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 12:47:44 -0500, in
, Jon Kraus wrote:
That is just a stupid response and you know it... You should declare an
emergency and pull the ballistic parachute... :-)

Awh 'ell, I've got a canopy, so obviously all I need to do is just pull
the ejection seat firing handle... grin

Pretend nohing is wrong and stay the course. Don't cut and run!
--
Go, and never darken my towels again.
Groucho Marx

In article . com,
"Tony Cox" wrote:

You're cruising along happily when suddenly
oil drops start appearing on the windshield. There
is no "bang" or anything else to indicate catastrophic
failure. The nearest airport is out of gliding range.
What do you do?

head for the nearest suitable airport (taking into consideration
terrain that I'd overfly)

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

On Jan 28, 8:09 am, Bob Noel
wrote:
In article . com,
"Tony Cox" wrote:

You're cruising along happily when suddenly
oil drops start appearing on the windshield. There
is no "bang" or anything else to indicate catastrophic
failure. The nearest airport is out of gliding range.
What do you do?head for the nearest suitable airport (taking into consideration
terrain that I'd overfly)

Yup. I'd be examining the ground near me for a forced landing area
while asking the nearest airfield to put the kettle on for my surprise
visit.
A friend who had this occur in a Percival Proctor was unaware of the
oil loss. However the tower told him that he had smoke.
Fastest 180 and downwind landing they ever saw :-)

In article om,
"george" wrote:

On Jan 28, 8:09 am, Bob Noel
wrote:
In article . com,
"Tony Cox" wrote:

You're cruising along happily when suddenly
oil drops start appearing on the windshield. There
is no "bang" or anything else to indicate catastrophic
failure. The nearest airport is out of gliding range.
What do you do?head for the nearest suitable airport (taking into
consideration
terrain that I'd overfly)

I've always figured I would start to climb (and, of course, head for the
nearest airport while doing that). If I've got a fixed amount of time that
the engine is going to continue to run, I'll use that time to store up as
much energy as I can in the form of altitude.