Safety

[gyrosa]

While most of us are trying to do our thing as safely as possible, there might be certain aspects of safety that we are either not aware of or seem to ignore because we percieve it safe enough to do. I want to start this thread that we may learn from other's observations, mistakes and ideas.
Following an accident that took place where an engine started and ran over someone, injuring him badly, I went and checked on what the law stated:-
Starting of engines
91.07.28 (1) Except when the brakes are serviceable and are fully applied,
chocks shall be placed in front of the wheels of an aeroplane before starting the
engine or engines, and a competent person shall be seated at the controls when
the engine or engines are running.
(2) Where the pilot of an aeroplane is the only competent person present
and it has been necessary for chocks to be used, he or she shall ensure that the
controls of the aeroplane are left unattended for as short a time as possible when
removing the chocks.
We as gyro pilots, are almost all guilty of starting the engine, and then going to put on a flight suit etc while the engine is warming up. If we are to responsible pilots and wish to get the recognition from the SACAA that we want, let us start by acting a little more profesionaly and gain that respect and recognition.
It takes a lifetime to build and work on a safety aspect and record, it takes an instant to break it.

[Gyronaut]

We as gyro pilots, are almost all guilty of starting the engine, and then going to put on a flight suit etc while the engine is warming up.

"Your honour, I object!" Then again, you did say "almost all" so I'll withdraw my objection

Very good topic Gyrosa and one of my personal bugbears. After hearing about this accident a couple of my fly-buddies and former students have contacted me acknowledging that my being a pain about it was well founded after all. I'd rather be in a runaway within reach of the mags than under it!

Something I love about the MT is that it has a set of Mag kill switches in the back for the instructor also. Students can get up to strange things and the mags are out of the instructors reach in most other gyro's.

Welcome back Eric, its been too long since we heard of you, oh wise one!

Rgds

Len

[FLYNOTE]

Hey Len !! Youre back from Zanzi and the bar ! Still in one piece ?? Valentines are not for the faint hearted.
Yep yep ... giving the prop a few turns in the morning to get the oil to circulate a little before starting.
There I was in Barberton early one June morning during a 'gyro safari' to Bazarutu Isles ; horisontal stabiliser digging firmly into my calves from behind and my brand new constant pitch prop on my M16, strutting it's thing at 2000 rpm a few inches from my nose .
I did not check, prior to turning the prop, that my mags were off and key on the seat as taught during training by the ex Rondebosch Boys High pupil " ... altius et latius" Eric Torr !
Was a funny sight at the time , trying to keep your balance between tailplane and spinning prop whilst waving your arms and shouting above the roar of the 914 to try and get someones attention. It fortunately only took a few seconds for Vic Venter to grasp the situation and my predicament and to switch the mags off and for me to change underware.

[Kosie]

It is with a great deal of humility that I dare tread where the gyro gurus like you guys are active. However, as a student all I can say is that those checklists that we (well, probably only some) so hate to follow to the letter, are there to prevent such events from spoiling a potentially great flight. If you always check mains off, mags off, switches off before fiddling with the engine ... need I say more.

I can just imagine watching from a distance the site of a gyro eager to get going with the pilot stuck between the engine and tail, desperately holding it back - goggas in the teeth and all. Could be quite funny afterwards, but could also have been tragic. I can promise you that the next time I rotate the blades it will be with this picture in mind and only after having double-checked the pre-flight check-list.

What I also like very much of the MT is the fact that the brake can be locked in place, compared to the standard M16 which requires that left hand to be occupied. This I found especially troublesome during my first few flights.

Keep these good topics coming. Where in the world can one get this amount of expertise so cheaply?

[Gyronaut]

Well done for owning up that it can (and does) happen Johan!

Now that we're confessing... Yep, it has happened to me also. Strangely, also in Barberton. During my Gyro training. To compound matters, the throttle was full open (as a greenhorn I thought it was fully closed.) Chocks were in, I was sitting in the machine. Two of the most experienced guys I knew were there also, one in front and one on the side next to me opposite side from the mag switches & throttle. As the engine fired it roared into max power and climbed the chocks. Poor instructor in the front tried his best to hold the nose and was being pushed backwards...(I'll never forget the look of shock/horror in his eyes) the guy on the right did the right thing and showed a clean pair of heals - gapped it outta there. In the second or two it took me to slam the throttle shut and kill the engine it had moved 10 meters forward. Thankfully the instructor standing in front of the machine kept his footing or it would have gone over him with potentially disastrous results. If I hadn't been in the machine.. who knows what may have happened. My heli training had taught me never to start without sitting in the machine because frictions can and will creep, my gyro training has taught me to always double check that the throttle is closed and the mags are as required.

As for Zanzi and the Bar... the combination of sun and cocktails and valentines... enough said. My wife has a permanent smile on her face

When is that M22 coming to its new home?? I think I am as excited as the new owner!

Len

[Morph]

Never ever ever run an engine without a competent person sitting in the cockpit, controlling the brakes, throttle and mags.

If you are finding your engine is taking too long at warming up, look at installing a thermostat. I did and my warm up used to take 15-20 minutes now only takes 5

[Gyronaut]

I agree Morph. Best R320.00 I have spent was for my oil thermostat. Gets to 50 degrees in no time.
On a 914 you can then go over 2500rpm for mag checks etc.

[gyrosa]

Guys I really don't want to burst a bubble here, BUT, ALWAYS TREAT THE MAGS AS HOT, EVEN THOUGH THE KEY IS IN YOUR POCKET. To say that mags are off and master and everything else is off, is still dangerous, as I can prove to you that the 914 will and can start without the mags on or master on.
Reason why I say this is:-
There are 3 wires from the mag ignition boxes to the switch. One wire from box 1, another wire from box 2 and the third wire is earthed. With the mags switched OFF, the two boxes are in theory EARTHED.
I say in theory, cause in practice, the wires can break due to vibration and,,,, The darn thing is live with your keys in the pocket .
Should you require to turn the prop by hand for any reason, other than prop starting any engine, make sure that ALL the spark leads are OFF and not connected. It can save you plenty of EINA afterwards.
If you need to prop start (you should've replaced the battery or charged it anyway!!!) make sure that there is a competent person in the seat, who repeats your instructions ie "MAGS ON" or "MAGS OFF" and also know what you are doing!!!!!
For the same reason, you would always treat a firearm as loaded, why do you mess around with something just as lethal. Don't make sense.

[Magnifan]

Does anyone know whether the oil thermostat will fail to closed, ie to route the oil via the radiator. I had a look at a cross section drawing and it seemed to me that it could fail open and overheat the engine in flight quite quickly. I am quite keen to fit one, but I know a couple of car engines that overheated as a result of a thermostat failure.

[Gyronaut]

um, duh? The mechanical engineer/genuine rocket scientist is asking us doff okes this??
Sheez... Jonathan, if you don't know the answer to that WHO DOES??

[gyrosa]

Hi Jonathan, quite frankly I have never looked at the thing like that yet, simply because I still use the old system of blanking up the water radiator in winter. I will try and get hold of one and have a look and let you know.
Eric

[mak]

Magnifan

I asked Johan von Ludwig of Wagtail Aviation the same question before they installed one to our Xenon. He said that in all the years of installing them in their commercial gyros / all gyros he worked on, he hasn't seen one failure yet. He also mentioned that should it fail it will stay in the close position.

[Magnifan]

Thanks mak, I am sure that Johan would be able to make a good engineering judgement.

Whenever one implements a change to a system, one should consider the risks. When I worked on weapon systems we used to have a formal process called a "Failure Mode, Effect and Criticality Analysis" (FMECA) whenever an engineering change was made. In this case two failure modes would be 1.) to fail open and 2.) to fail closed. In the one case the effect would be to overcool the oil with little effect on engine performance, the other mode would be to isolate the oil cooler and overheat the engine. This would have been labelled a critical failure mode as it would lead to mission failure and possible loss of the aircraft. Every effort would be made to design it out of the system or reduce the risk of it's occurrance to a very low probability.

I haven't studied the design of the thermostat and so can't comment on the likelyhood of it failing. I would suggest that only a thermostat that has been approved by the engine manufacturer be used.

[Morph]

The thermostat I use is not an all or nothing device, i.e. it doesn't have a totally open and a totally closed function

When it is cold, the thermostat allows a 90% bypass and 10% through the oil cooler. This would be the failed state. At fully open 95% is via the cooler and 5% is bypassed internally.

I too have never heard of any one of these ever failing. My normal operating temps are 90-95 deg C. You have up to a max of 140deg C . You will have enough time to heed your gauges and make a precautionary landing somewhere IMHO considering that the engine normally takes up to 15 minutes to heat oil up from ambient to 30deg C. In fact I have seen a 912UL installation on an old Thunderbird that didn't even have an oil cooler . The engine was recently stripped and checked and it is immaculate. I think it had 200-300 hours on it.

http://www.alamomotorsports.com/pmc/Cat_page14.html

[Morph]

The installation doc