by Mike Busch | Feb 1, 2022 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
Does your engine REALLY need to be euthanized? “I’m in trouble. Can you help?” The owner of the vintage Mooney was obviously stressed. He identified himself as a highly experienced military pilot but a first-time aircraft owner who’d recently flown his airplane...
by Mike Busch | Jan 1, 2022 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
Low compression doesn’t always require cylinder removal Sam’s 1979 Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II was in the shop, and Sam was not happy. The shop had just done a compression test on the plane’s two Continental TSIO-360-EB3B engines and had given Sam some unwelcome news…...
by Mike Busch | Dec 1, 2021 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
Chasing down an elusive charging system gremlin Intermittent problems are the worst! They always seem to happen at the worst possible time, like when you’re in the middle of nowhere away from home base. They never seem to happen when you want them to happen, like when...
by Mike Busch | Nov 1, 2021 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
How often does your propeller REALLY need to get overhauled? “Your prop is due for overhaul,” says your IA who you hired to do your annual inspection. “It’s been six years.” If your airplane has a constant-speed prop, overhauling it is going to set you back about...
by Mike Busch | Oct 1, 2021 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
What to do about uncomfortably high CHT For decades now, I’ve been preaching that the two keys to piston aircraft engine longevity are avoiding extended periods of disuse and managing CHT. If you allow your engine to sit unflown for weeks at a time, you risk internal...
