Breaking in new cylinders..

[Tram]

Hey guys-

Just got 4 new jugs put on the RV.. Wound up with the "annual" from Hell..

Long story short - the guy we picked the plane up from, bought the engine off an airboat... Yeh.. An airboat.. Anyway, all 4 cylinders made good compression, but 2 had cracks in the exhaust ports, 1 had a crack in the cylinder wall itself and one was "ok."

Annyywayy...

Test flight with the new ECI Titan Cylinders is tomorrow.. I've been thumbing through the "ECI Break In Manual.." and I just thought I'd see if anyone had any tips..

Essentially - it's start the plane, go flying type thing.. Everyone keeps telling me to keep the taxi as minimal as we can..

I am flying out of an airport that is surrounded on three sides by "hills" so we are going to tow the plane down to the end of the runway, start it up and rock and roll..

Basically, as little power as I can use to get it up to 40kts, the full power... Climb out as shallow as I can up to around 3,000agl.. Once there, 75% throttle or top of the green arc on the tac for 30 minutes.. Then alternate 65% to 75% in 10 minute intervals for another 30 minutes..

Bring it back and get a sign off.. Then fly it around like this for the next 100 hours...

This is the first time I've played test pilot and I was just wondering if anyone had any advice..

Anyone broken-in anything?

Thanks guys

Jeff

[Citationkid]

Originally Posted by Tram

Hey guys-

Just got 4 new jugs put on the RV.. Wound up with the "annual" from Hell..

Long story short - the guy we picked the plane up from, bought the engine off an airboat... Yeh.. An airboat.. Anyway, all 4 cylinders made good compression, but 2 had cracks in the exhaust ports, 1 had a crack in the cylinder wall itself and one was "ok."

Annyywayy...

Test flight we the new ECI Titan Cylinders is tomorrow.. I've been thumbing through the "ECI Break In Manual.." and I just thought I'd see if anyone had any tips..

Essentially - it's start the plane, go flying type thing.. Everyone keeps telling me to keep the taxi as minimal as we can..

I am flying out of an airport that is surrounded on three sides by "hills" so we are going to tow the plane down to the end of the runway, start it up and rock and roll..

Basically, as little power as I can use to get it up to 40kts, the full power... Climb out as shallow as I can up to around 3,000agl.. Once there, 75% throttle or top of the green arc on the tac for 30 minutes.. Then alternate 65% to 75% in 10 minute intervals for another 30 minutes..

Bring it back and get a sign off.. Then fly it around like this for the next 100 hours...

This is the first time I've played test pilot and I was just wondering if anyone had any advice..

Anyone broken-in anything?

Thanks guys

Jeff

I just broke 12 new cylinders in on the 414 two weeks ago (after getting a bad batch from ECI at overhaul which resulted in 8 cracked cylinders). What you said is basically what we did. Did ECI give you a little flyer with about 10 bullet points on it? The temps will be higher than normal. Good luck!

Alex.

[Tram]

Yeh, ECI gave us that lil' pamphlet..

These are supposed to be brand new cylinders, so hopefully the plane will stay running and I won't get to off-airport it..

[bdhill1979]

I still have a few more hours of break in on the cylinders on "my" 210. The A&P told me to run it rich and keep the manifold pressure at lower settings. He told me to climb shallow and to keep the cowl flaps open one notch in cruise, and to watch the temperature like a hawk.

SO far so good.

[mojo6911]

Sounds like the same procedure I have used.

[Tram]

What have you guys been doing to keep the ground run time to a minimum?

We are planning on towing it to the runway for the first flight, but seems a bit excessive to have to tow it to the runway for the first 100 hours..

[E_Dawg]

Ive done it. Pretty normal, just follow the directions

And keep a place to land in mind more than usual.

[mojo6911]

Originally Posted by Tram

What have you guys been doing to keep the ground run time to a minimum?

We are planning on towing it to the runway for the first flight, but seems a bit excessive to have to tow it to the runway for the first 100 hours..

Runup during taxi, intersection takeoff.

[Tram]

Yeh, that's kinda what we were thinkin'..

Our hangar is very close to runway 11.. I could taxi out and use full length of 11 and/or most of 18...

[kellwolf]

Dude, you're gonna have to fly that thing to MEM and take me up in it. I've been dying to fly an RV for years. The wife's said I can build one....I just don't have the $$$ for the project yet.

[surreal1221]

What RV model is this?

Enjoy it, be safe!

[Mr.Maximus]

Two years ago I had a top overhaul on my Comanche - 6 brand new Millenium cylinders. Milleniums suggested break in was to get her in the air and run her at a constant 75% power with minimum time initially for ground movement, and keep an close eye on the CHT's - in fact compile a record to see where each one stabilizes at (temp).

Be extra vigilant not to shock cool them, and it is especially important to make sure you have some "outs", especially the first 10 hours or so. If one is going to come apart on you, odds are it will be early, not late.

Also, each cylinder has its own serial number. Cut out the number and staple that into your engine logbook. With all the "bad batches" of cylinders - you'll want to have your specific information in case there is a recall of a series of cylinders.

[Tram]

Kellwolf- Yeh, maybe one day we can go out for a trip in it..

Wife told me I could build a bird, I'd really like to build a Pitts M-12, however, I think if I can build one, I'll just buy one already built..

Surreal - It's a -6..