Book – ‘Sky Ranch Engine Manual – 2nd Ed. (9/17 Rev.)’ by John Schwaner

Description

(Note: This book has had a slight title change for the September 2017 revision of the 2nd edition, it was previously known as the Sky Ranch Engineering Manual.)

This book is a valuable resource to help aircraft owners, pilots, and maintainers really understand the practical, dayto-day issues they face in keeping their aircraft engines airworthy, and to help them understand the processes at work… and what happens when things don’t go as they should. It is written in a straightforward, descriptive style, and covers a lot of important material that might be difficult to pick up from elsewhere. This book is good about explaining potentially difficult-to-grasp ideas in a step-by-step manner to ensure understanding, it uses an engineering approach but is aimed at the owners and maintainers of engines. It goes beyond the usual “common knowledge” into the finer details that might save your engine… or maybe even save your life. If you have a Continental or Lycoming piston engine on your plane, this book will be a valuable addition to your “bag of tricks” you can use to keep your engine happy and healthy, and will help you know how to pick up on warning signs before they turn into a big, expensive repair bill (or worse).

Written by John Schwaner, Copyright 1991, Updated September 2017. ISBN 978-1941144596. Published by Aircraft Technical Book Company (formerly published by Sacramento Sky Ranch Inc). 312 Pages, Softcover.

Chapters include:

Introduction How Your Engine Works Spark Ignition Engines Continental Engine Specifications Lycoming Engine Specifications 1. Fatigue Analysis Stress and Strain Fatigue Stress Flow Stress Risers Surface Finish Residual Stress Compressive Residual Stress Autofrettage Shot Peening Nitriding Rolled Threads Tensile Residual Stress Plating Bending Grinding Cold Working Stress Relieving and Annealing Contact Fatigue Fretting Fatigue Cracks and Fractures Fatigue Cracks Thermal Fatigue Fracture Unexpected Sources of Fatigue Damage Field Analysis of Fatigue Failure Torsional Failures 2. Engine Inspection The One Minute Cylinder Inspection Connecting Rod Alignment Dirt and Abrasives Piston Scuffing Combustion Chamber Inspection Cylinder Barrel Inspection Chrome Barrels Engine Temperature Indicators Oil Starvation Prop Strikes Stuck Valves Lycoming 0235-L2C Oil Control Ring Compression Test at Cylinder Installation Do Nothing Engine Parts Lycoming Nose Seal Leakage Crankshaft Journal Finish – How Smooth? Read the Bearings Exhaust Valve Breakage Ring Leakage and Oil Color Analysis of Engine Contaminants Camshaft Follower Failure Modes Oil Analysis Oil Filter Analysis Dirt, Silica and Silicon Metal Particles – Identification Inspection of Contaminated Aircraft Oil Systems and Oil Coolers Crankcase Fretting in Continental 520 Series Engines Flow Porting and its Effect on Cylinder Head Cracks Lycoming Crankcase Through-Studs Checking and Adjusting Dry Tappet Clearance on Lycoming Engines Bearing Failure Analysis Misalignment 3. Engine Performance Engine Operation Preflight Engine Starting and Idle Take-off Climb Cruise Leaning Descent Taxiing and Shutdown How Engine Design Influences Carburetor Ice Pilot Instructions for Ring Seating Specific Oil Recommendations Specific Operating Instructions What to do if the rings don’t seat? Shop Methods for Ring Seating Detonation or Pre-ignition Ignition Properties and Spark Plug Performance Full-rich Fuel Flow – Cooling vs Performance Lead Distribution in the Fuel Spark Plug Thermocouple Temperatures Polishing and Porting the Ports How Hydraulic Lifters Affect Valve Timing Compression Ratio Horsepower Ratings Keeping the Paint On How to Alodine Painting Cylinder Cooling Fins All Weather Spark Plug Leads 4. Cylinder Repairs The Valve Seat Dirt and Seat Width Refacing Valves Valve Guide Alignment Continental Angle Head Rocker Arm Alignment Continental Rocker Shaft Wear Continental Intake Guide Seals Cylinder Honing Cylinder Choke and Piston Design Chrome Plate Piston Ring Failures Do the Rings Rotate? Piston Inspection Connecting Rod Line Boring Color Coding of Cylinders Lycoming Cylinders Continental Cylinders 5. Lubricants & Wear The Function of Engine Oils The Properties of Oil The Stability of the Polymer Molecule Cylinder Barrel Wear – Steel Barrel Cylinders Cylinder Barrel Wear – Chrome Cylinder Barrels Intercooling Effects on Cylinder Wear Greases Ball Bearing Greases General Purpose Grease Laws of Friction Friction laws applied to hydrodynamic lubricated surfaces Friction Laws as applied to boundary lubrication Oil Additive Supplements

6. Hose Assemblies Age Limit on Hoses Condition Limits of Hoses Buna-N Rubber and Toluene New Hose Fitting Flare Angle Firesleeve those Hoses The Hose Mandrel Classification of Hose Defects Identification of Defects: Preventing Hose Kinking in Low Pressure Engine Breather Hose 7. Fasteners & Failures What is a Bolt? Stress Distribution Within the Bolt Stress Distribution Within the Nut Stress Distribution Within the Stud Equalizing Stress Distribution Paint and Broken Cylinder Studs Torque Accuracy Lycoming Stretch-Style Connecting Rod Bolts Torque Failure Analysis Fatigue Failure of Bolts and Studs 8. Calibration Calibration What Needs to be Calibrated? What Does not need Calibration? Calibration Interval Calibration Reports Notification of Out of Tolerance Labeling of Equipment Traceability 9. Troubleshooting Alternator belt comes off (Continental) Blown or leaky nose seal Cannot reach critical altitude Can’t get fuel flow at full throttle – lean Cockpit fuel flow differential on Twin-engine planes Decrease in EGT for all cylinders Decrease in EGT for one cylinder Engine won’t idle unless boost pump off Engine surges Engine Kicks back on start Engine shudder Excessive rpm drop on left magneto Excessive magneto drop when checking magnetos Failure to change pitch or rpm Failure to feather Fuel dripping out of carburetor Fluctuating Rpm Hard Starting High oil pressure High oil temperature High manifold pressure at idle High EGT on one cylinder High indicated fuel flow High oil consumption High Cylinder temperature Low fuel flow Loss of power going to altitude Low oil pressure Low Power Oil in Combustion Chamber Oil out engine breather Oil turns black Poor idle cut-off Poor acceleration Poor mixture adjustment response Propeller surging Rough engine Rough Idle Sluggish start Split manifold pressure (twin engine) Maximum static rpm too low Starter ring gear damaged (Lycoming) Throttle or mixture control hot Unstable manifold pressure gauge White smoke exhaust EGT TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE 75°F-100°F EGT rise for one cylinder 75°F-100°F EGT rise for all cylinders Increase in EGT after maintenance Decrease in EGT after maintenance Sudden loss of peak EGT Slow rise in EGT of one cylinder Decrease in peak, increase in CHT Sudden, maximum rise in CHT, decrease in EGT Fluctuating EGT RSA Fuel Injector Functional Description RSA Fuel Injector Troubleshooting The Marvel Schebler Carburetor Idle Circuit The Function of Air-bleed Holes Lycoming Turbocharger Controllers Density controller and differential pressure controller system Density controller system A few thoughts on troubleshooting 10. Performance Limits Fits and Limits Does it wear larger or smaller? New limits? Displacement Horsepower BMEP Propeller Load Curve Power Curve Construction 11. Forces, Vibrations and Balance Rotating Balance – rotational motion Reciprocating Balance – translational motion Reciprocating Force Analysis Torsional Balance Balancing the Oil Film Torsional Effects Connecting Rod Balance Vibration Isolation Gyroscopic couples Summary 12. Lycoming Engine Specification 13. Lycoming Connecting Rods 14. Glossary Index