MONTY THE ANSWER MAN ARCHIVE Air
Starts
LYCOMING VS CONTINENTAL
AIRSTARTS... From Swifter Madison Jones...
On the Cont. IO-360 fuel starvation issue, I can certainly attest to how
difficult it is to get them going again compared to the Lycoming IO-360.
After having run the aux tanks empty rountinely to the point of engine
stoppage (on the Lycoming), and then having the fire light right off,
no problemo, I was not concerned when, flying a friends Continental
IO-360, the engine quit due to having the aux tank run dry over the mountains
one nice day when I was at 9,500 msl. By the time it started running
again, I had descended to BELOW the level of the adjacent ground level,
and was in the Spokane River cut through the mountains, approximately
4000 msl. Not only must you use the fuel boost, you must be
careful about it lest you flood the system (or whatever I did for over
5000). For those who have not totally lost an engine before, be
aware that even at reasonable glide speeds of about 85 mph, in flat
pitch a Swift drops like a piano tossed out the 10th story window. The
whole adventure didnt take more than a couple of minutes, but I
did appreciate the difference between Lycoming and Continental injection
systems. Needless to say, I like the Lycoming much better. ----Madison
Jones
SMAT 3 CHECKS IN... News from Swift Magic Aerobatic Team member Michael
Kennedy (smat3@aol.com) and his opinion on the Continental IO-360 airstart
problem related by Swifter Madison Jones (ab5tv@ix.netcom.com) in last
months Swiftweb:
Note on Continental airstart.
The altitude was the problem. At 9500 ft you can only use low boost when
the engine stops. High boost will flood it out until you get to lower
altitude. We run our tanks dry all the time to insure they are empty before
performing for a show. I have never had more than a few seconds of silence
and not lost any altitude. This is why the Continental IO-360 STC has
a two position fuel boost switch included. High boost is only to prime
for start. It can be used to catch a empty tank, but even at lower altitudes
it could be too much. I have a two light warning system for my boost switch
- Yellow, low boost on, RED high boost on. You need to know which boost
position is selected, especially if you loose the engine pump at low altitude.
High boost could keep you from getting your engine restarted. --
Michael Kennedy
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