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  #1  
Unread 12-09-08, 02:21 PM
Paul462 Paul462 is offline
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Unhappy Skymaster Arctic Circle Ditching.

Amigos,

A 337 apparently just ditched south of the Anctic circle when both engines stopped turning. Both occupants survived, according to the BBC article at the following address:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7773046.stm

Does anybody know what happened to cause both engines to stop?
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  #2  
Unread 12-09-08, 05:36 PM
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purely speculation, and dependent on altitude, but Brian Von Herzon has said that if the temp is below -34, fuel does not flow. There is apparently a placard on Malibu Mirages limiting operations due to temp. That is because the Mirages don't have fuel heaters. Neither do Skymasters.
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  #3  
Unread 12-09-08, 10:48 PM
JeffAxel JeffAxel is offline
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Larry,
I am not sure about that, only because I flew my P210 at FL230 at -40 ( C of F, your choice!) for 3 hours and had no problems. The P210 has no fuel heating either. I have read of dissolved water in fuel crystalizing out at very cold temps and clogging fuel systems though. That is why Cessna suggested Prist or Isopropyl Alcohol be added to the fuel if operations in very cold temps were anticipated. There were a few paragraphs about this in the P210 POH, as well as a graph showing how much Prist or Isopropyl Alcohol to add. The other Cessna P twins have oil heated fuel spiders I think.
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  #4  
Unread 12-10-08, 04:45 AM
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As i said, it's speculation.
it's been so long since I heard Brian talk about that, my memory is hazy.
Maybe a brain cloud
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  #5  
Unread 12-10-08, 04:18 PM
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This is really ironic because I sold a dozen or so SOAPA t-shirts from the 2008 fly in to Troels Hansen. The Skymaster was in Ohio having a major avionics upgrade. Troels had told me that he was going to be flying the aircraft back to Sweden. I assumed it was his Slymaster but appearently not. Nice guy, I am really glad to hear they are alive. They are really lucky. Too bad about the aircraft though.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl.../National/home

http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#199361

That just made my heart stop when I read his name.
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  #6  
Unread 12-11-08, 10:39 AM
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The photo is just incredible

Maybe they will be in the states next year, and will come and talk about it.
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  #7  
Unread 12-13-08, 12:21 PM
Diamond Service Diamond Service is offline
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Flight of SE-MBT

Fellow aviators.
I am in a Hotel in Ottawa waiting for my flight to Europe. Flight of SE-MBT started in New Philadelphia on the 6 of December. We had been waiting several days for a waiver from TSA allowing us to start our flight.Just in time we got the waiver and we started a 3 hrs 20 min flight to KPYM. This was the first flight with new avionics so a lot of time was spend on trying all the new functions of the recently installed equipment. The flight went well with only a few snags on all the new electronics.

I will continue my story later because my internet time is running out.

Rgds Troels.
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  #8  
Unread 12-19-08, 01:27 PM
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Frank Benvin Frank Benvin is offline
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What was the time lapse between engine failures???
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  #9  
Unread 12-19-08, 10:40 PM
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The rear engine would generate enough heat to keep the rear breather from freezing

After inspecting the rear engine area with Larry, I retract the statement above. We think that the rear breather could freeze.
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Last edited by hharney : 01-09-09 at 12:14 PM.
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  #10  
Unread 12-20-08, 04:49 AM
Diamond Service Diamond Service is offline
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The forward engine failed first. This engine was factory new in 2000 and had been running 470 hrs since then. 5 minutes later the rear failed. The rear engine was Mattituck overhauled in 1996 and had a little more than 800 hrs running time since the overhaul.The rear has breather outlet just behind the prop. I saw no oil on the windshield.

I know that Continental is now working with The Canadian NTSB on the subject.

Troels.
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  #11  
Unread 12-20-08, 07:36 PM
CO_Skymaster CO_Skymaster is offline
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I bought my 1966 Skymaster 2 year ago, and with all used machine there were some repair to be done. I notice that when the aircraft sat after flying, small pools of oil would appear under the front wheel well and also when dropping my gear doors, oil was in there also. I asked my A&P about it and his response was that the seals on Continental engines tended to leak and there wasn't much I could do about it except to keep adding oil. My engines have about 2200 hours each, so at the time I took him at his word. Besides, I had other repair to work on.

Last Christmas, I flew from Colorado to California to test the aircraft after my repair had been made. The trip out to California was uneventful as was the scenic flight for my friends around the San Francisco bay area. On the way back to Colorado, I landed in Nevada for refueling. Didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. It was already cold (about 25 degree F on the ground) when I took off again. Over the Utah/Colorado boarder I passed through a cold air mass I was expecting and my OAT drop from 20 deg F to below -15 deg F in about 20 minutes. It was so cold, my heater could keep me warm and I had to put on my winter coat, which was in reach (I couldn't reach the gloves which were way in the back). By the time I landed in Colorado Springs I found my rear spinner cone and broke off and there was oil all over my horizontal stabilizer.

Besides the spinner cone being a pain (I mention it somewhere in the messages), it turns out those seal used on my valve covers started leaking and my oil just passed out past the propeller and out the back. I lost 4 quarts of oil during that flight. If I continued the flight, I would have lost it all. After fixing the seals, I have had any pools of oil leaking anywhere.

I wonder if flying into very cold weather with degraded valve cover gaskets allows oil to leak out of the engine and it just flow along with the airflow out the bottom of the aircraft on the front engine and out past the propeller for the rear engine. There would be no visual confirmation. You won't see an oil pressure drop until your almost out of oil and you never see a temperature rise in the oil (because there is less of it to absorb heat) or Cylinder head temperature rise due to the extremely cold weather. When all the oil is gone, your engine seizes.

Just my opinion at this point. I've included a picture my friend took of my front nose wheel and you can see the oil around the chocks. It doesn't do this anymore.

Karl
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  #12  
Unread 12-16-08, 08:08 AM
Diamond Service Diamond Service is offline
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Last Flight of SE-MBT

I am now at home and that sure feels good.

On Saturday the 6 we flew from KPYM via KBGR to CYQB. Both these legs were uneventful and without problems. We parked the aircraft overnight in Quebec City with the fuselage/window cover on and the electrical engine heaters hooked up. The next morning it was snowing and I cleared the aircraft from snow when Oliver submitted the flightplans for our two leg flight to CYFB. The aircraft started instantly and all systems were operating. We flew for 2 hrs and 30 min at 11000 feet before landing in CYWK. Refueled 172 liters and checked the aircraft for next leg. We climbed to 11000 on this last flight of SE-MBT. The weather improved and we soon enjoyed the most beautyful sunset. About 3 hrs and 40 min into the flight we went from heaven to hell. We first noticed a decrease in oil temp. on the forward.Soon followed by low oil pressure. I moved the prop lever to test the response of the propeller system. While doing that the engine failed with a loud metallic scream and smoke entered the cockpit through the heating system. Mayday call transmitted on 121.5 and a KLM aircraft responded. Decend to single engine cruising altitude initiated. The rear engine oil temp and pressure decreased just like the forward and the engine failed with a loud bang. Back on 121.5 to tell the KLM that we were now gliding all engines out. Position report transmitted as well.
I will be back soon with the rest of the story.

Troels.
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  #13  
Unread 12-16-08, 08:38 AM
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WOW

We are all glad you are safe, but that had to be the scariest moment in life.
Whay year was/is SE-MBT??
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  #14  
Unread 12-16-08, 09:13 AM
Diamond Service Diamond Service is offline
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Hi Larry.
It was a 1966 model. I will be back with the rest of the story soon. I also feel that I have a good idea about what went wrong and I feel this forum is full of very experienced people to discuss my theory with.

Troels.
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  #15  
Unread 12-16-08, 10:53 AM
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Any work done on both engines recently? Both engines overhauled at the same time, by the same shop?

Ernie
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