One of the greatest threats to flight safety is complacency and, conversely, one of the best ways to promote flight safety is by incorporating regular maintenance into your flight safety plan. Proper and timely aircraft maintenance is a cornerstone of flight safety. Your aircraft and the lives onboard depend upon it.
Practicing aircraft preventive maintenance, inclusive of aircraft cylinder checks, repair and/or overhaul, as opposed to reactively repairing an aircraft is paramount to flight safety. Preventive aircraft maintenance can safeguard you from inefficient engine performance and engine unreliability, which can lead to excessive damage and downtime. Ultimately, it helps to uncover potential aircraft engine issues before they cause these inconveniences, costly repairs and parts, as well as ensure that your aircraft operates optimally – facilitating safety. An effective aircraft preventive maintenance program can catch potential issues, such as broken parts and deteriorating valves or seals early – before they become a problem or even cause a flight to fail.
So, what are some things you should do to fine-tune your aircraft preventive maintenance, repair and overhaul routine? First things first. Since each aircraft engine is regulated by its own specific manufacturer specifications, proper adherence to your particular aircraft engine manufacturer’s recommendations cannot be stressed enough. There are time limits set for different mechanical tests and services which should be performed and life expectancies set for engine parts, such as aircraft cylinders. An aircraft cylinder overhaul, for instance, is required certainly when your manufacturer suggests it, but also when you notice other signs that may indicate trouble brewing, such as cracks, leaks, fouled plugs, compression depletion and indications signaling disrepair.
Experienced pilots are trained to safely land their aircraft should engine failure occur. However, that state of affairs is far from ideal and we need to take every precaution in our power to ensure that we never wind up in that situation. That said, many pilots fly piston engines containing hundreds of parts which undergo numerous heat cycles and experience normal wear, as well as possibly even excessive wear. All of these parts, without the proper preventive maintenance, upkeep and repair, can ultimately lead us toward partial or complete engine failure. However, one of the most important places we should focus when it comes to regular maintenance and aircraft safety is aircraft cylinders – the hottest part of the engine. An aircraft cylinder operating at higher than normal temperatures or with leaky exhaust ports can greatly increase the probability of cracks and other damage, very likely leading to some serious engine issues.
There are basically three potential problems that can affect aircraft cylinders. One is cracks. Aircraft cylinder cracks, at best, will result in low compression and, at worst, could result in catastrophic engine failure. No matter the extent, an aircraft cylinder crack is serious enough to warrant grounding until that aircraft cylinder can be repaired.
Cylinder valves, operating in extreme conditions which can result in the wear of the actual valve, valve seat, spring or lifters, may also be problematic. Faulty cylinder valves can reduce your compression and, ultimately, the power of your aircraft. Plus, when a valve actually breaks apart, the broken pieces of metal that result can bang around your cylinder and into the piston, wreaking some serious havoc.
Head and barrel separation is the third potential aircraft cylinder issue. These types of problems can arise because you have an aluminum head which screws onto a steel barrel – very different metals with very different heat tolerances, which can obviously become problematic when it comes to wear…and when that required precise fit becomes less than precise, you’re looking at a greatly increased potential of a forced landing.
In the interest of the longevity of our aircraft engines and safety, we need to keep our cylinders cool, our oil clean and regularly conduct aircraft cylinder inspections and cylinder overhauls as necessary. In fact, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness directives specifically call for increased inspection frequency of aircraft cylinders.
A respectable aircraft preventive maintenance plan includes regular testing and analysis, checks for wear on engine and other aircraft parts, component cleaning and lubricating, as well as the replacement of aircraft engine parts as necessary. These aircraft preventive maintenance tasks should be performed by a qualified, experienced and skilled aircraft maintenance mechanic, such as the technicians at Moore Performance Products.
Moore Performance Products, proud to have served the aviation industry for over 30 years, specializes in aircraft cylinder overhauls and repairs. Moore Performance Products is also family owned and operated and what that means to its customers is an unsurpassed commitment to high quality products, service and customer satisfaction. Providing a variety of overhaul services nationwide and overseas for the aircraft and aerospace industries, Moore Performance Products is Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-certified repair station and FAA-certified in welding.
To ensure that preventive maintenance is adeptly performed, it should be properly scheduled, based on usage – inspections which occur at regular, frequent intervals, such as every 100 hours of flight time. Preventive aircraft maintenance should also include clear, outlined directives, as well as adherence to FAA Airworthiness Directives and accurate record-keeping, including any and all aircraft preventive maintenance measures taken and the dates they were completed recorded within your aircraft log. These steps allow for FAA safety approval and compliance, as well as the assurance that your aircraft preventive maintenance is occurring in a continual, fluid manner, helping to ensure your safety and the safety of all those onboard your aircraft. When properly performed, an efficient aircraft preventive maintenance plan can positively affect your aircraft’s performance, balance and a host of other flight characteristics…even your aircraft’s overall airworthiness.
When it comes to your safety and keeping your aircraft operating at peak performance, you need an aircraft maintenance team on your side that you can trust to get the job done right and finding the right professional aircraft cylinder overhaul technician is key. Moore Performance Products is conveniently located at 123 W. Park Avenue, Building 1 in Edgewater Florida and can be reached by phone by calling 386-409-7501 or 888-409-7555 anytime between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
