CaptTH
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 22, 2017
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During my search for a plane to purchase, I was originally looking for a 1979 or later Tomahawk. A friend said he knows a guy who will be selling his Beechcraft Skipper 77. He told me it has the same engine was in my old Tomahawk O-235-L2C with 2400TBO.
Now there is good news and bad news regarding that plane, mainly regarding the engine.
Good news: engine was freshly overhauled in 2009 and after that it was flown for ~150 hrs until 2012.
Bad news: since 2012 plane was sitting in a private hangar until February 2020.
Owner 3 weeks ago got the plane in annual and the mechanic pulled 2 cylinders and did a borescope test to check if there was any rust or other issues with the engine. Oddly no damage was observed and everything looked good. Completed an extensive and through annual and then owner flew the plane for an hr or so three days in a row to check the gauges and engine temps, oil pressure, oil consumption, any leakage, etc.
So, long story short, everything looked good and owner offered this plane to me for a very reasonable price.
What I worry is, could an engine with this kind of history may develop problems soon after being started to run again regularly.
I understand during the 3 day trial flights for 30-45 minutes each it may not show any problems.
But since I have no experience with engines, what is normally expected in this kind of scenario?
If 8 year hibernation caused a problem on a 235-L2C would it be showing some signs immediately within first few hrs of running the engine again or will it be a hidden problem and will develop more and more once engine reaches 20-30-40 hrs of flight time within the next few months and then before 200 hrs it may need another OH again?
Now there is good news and bad news regarding that plane, mainly regarding the engine.
Good news: engine was freshly overhauled in 2009 and after that it was flown for ~150 hrs until 2012.
Bad news: since 2012 plane was sitting in a private hangar until February 2020.
Owner 3 weeks ago got the plane in annual and the mechanic pulled 2 cylinders and did a borescope test to check if there was any rust or other issues with the engine. Oddly no damage was observed and everything looked good. Completed an extensive and through annual and then owner flew the plane for an hr or so three days in a row to check the gauges and engine temps, oil pressure, oil consumption, any leakage, etc.
So, long story short, everything looked good and owner offered this plane to me for a very reasonable price.
What I worry is, could an engine with this kind of history may develop problems soon after being started to run again regularly.
I understand during the 3 day trial flights for 30-45 minutes each it may not show any problems.
But since I have no experience with engines, what is normally expected in this kind of scenario?
If 8 year hibernation caused a problem on a 235-L2C would it be showing some signs immediately within first few hrs of running the engine again or will it be a hidden problem and will develop more and more once engine reaches 20-30-40 hrs of flight time within the next few months and then before 200 hrs it may need another OH again?
