When we were down in Alabama, the guys and Doug drained the oil out of BOB, took out the oil filters and cut them open. Left engine didn’t show any metal. Right engine did show some in the filter. So now the next step was we took oil samples home and will run a test to determine if there’s copper in the oil. If there is copper, it’s bearings, and the engine is done. If it’s not copper, we can probably continue on as planned, and keeping an eye on it. So another day where we sit and wait and wonder. One engine is okay seemingly at least. One to go. It’s still going to be a total mess when we have to report all this and discuss it with HQ. This is a bad hit on our Wing, and our training, even though I can’t make someone do what I taught them to do when I’m not there.
When I got down there, Doug had been a little dismissive to Glenn about what had happened, and he hadn’t said much. Well, to me he said he was ready to debrief and he know he ‘messed it all up’. But I was still so…not happy…that I couldn’t hardly look at him, let alone talk to him, without saying things. So finally by the end of the day, I sat down with him. I told him a lot of things, including that simply needed to follow normal, standard operations. That if he followed the checklist, it not only mentions oil shutoffs in it *twice*, it also states "check oil pressure at 40 psi prior to 30 seconds" after each engine start. And then I said that even if it didn't say that, which it does, every student pilot knows that you start the engine then verify the oil pressure comes up before you move on to anything else. And that he is a *professional pilot*. He KNOWS whether it's a piston, a radial, which he also flies in his own plane, a turbine, or whatever, whenever you start an engine, you verify oil pressure is up before you start the next one, before you move on. That's basic flying 101. He just nodded. I basically yelled at him without actually yelling, and he didn't get defensive on me or anything. But my gosh. Not only do we have the sloppy flying, the rushing, but the cover-up, the story changing, the excuses. He dropped all that by the time I got there, but he tried it out on Glenn at least, or so Glenn says. Steve isn't so sure. He and Glenn both think maybe they didn't realize how bad it was to run on no oil for awhile. I'm trying to process how an experienced pilot is unaware of how bad it is to run an engine on no oil. Seriously??
Before I finished typing the above, we got the results back, and the right engine is toasted. So it's down in Alabama. They think we should ferry it home at a low power setting. Originally they were going to have him do it, and I said no, for multiple reasons. 1) He just toasted a very expensive engine and needs to be grounded until review. 2) If that engine quits on the way home, would he handle it okay? He handled everything just fine in practice, but he also handled starting the engines without starving them of oil in practice too. I signed him off. I'm not going to have him toast an engine, then we have him ferry it home, and he kills himself in it on the way home by mis-managing an emergency, too. I can't live with that scenario. Steve doesn't want me to be the one to do it, but I'm probably one of the better people we have to do it. By the way, the engine is "toast" means that the metal in the oil was copper, meaning there is wear on the bearings. That doesn't mean they'll fail Right Now. It means they'll fail down the line. Sometime. Somewhere. Which is why one ferry flight home then it is grounded until the engine is replaced. Steve got word back that there are engines available right now....for $120,000.00. They were $50k last time we got one. So. Yeah. No clue what we're going to do about that. BOB may be done for the foreseeable future. Which means it'll probably be replaced on Tour, which means the income for it is gone too, which means...who knows. We'll see. But it ain't great. Thanks Doug. You maroon, as Bugs would say. *sigh*
We haven't told everyone yet. Going to start with Glenn when he lands from a trip. Then Doug himself. Then we have to figure out how to tell our CAF Wing, and then HQ. And then the shit hits the fan the rest of the way.
Coming home from Alabama last night we had a lot of weather. Rain, mostly, with some storms. In Gumby you can't go over them, so I had to pick my way through a bit. The guys with me were very trusting of me, and fortunately we had a fairly smooth path for as much green, yellow and occasionally orange that we flew through. No red, and nothing tall, though. Landed late evening at home, put it away in the rain, and went home.
Meanwhile, Morgan was in the 340 in MN trying to get back home too. But by the time she left there, the weather wasn't even that exciting. A little light rain. But putting it away, the tug ran out of gas, so she had to top off the tug and then finish putting the plane away, and she got home late. So like I said, I kind of won that exchange. Tomorrow we both have trips. Her in the Cirrus, me in the 340. So it's a good week for both of us from a work perspective.
Today I was up at 6:30, and went down to take the Cirrus, pick up Tell and Nick, and fly them to Lexington. It was supposed to be VFR. I was thinking about not even filing. It was 300' overcast down there. Well all right then. One ILS later, we were down there. I took a crew car to this bougie brunch place and had a lemon ricotta blueberry waffle that was good, a side of fruit, and a cold brew oat milk coffee with strawberry cold foam. Aren't I fancy? :D It did taste good though. It was really nice down there, so I walked for a little bit, but my knees are still messed up a bit so I didn't go far. Worked on work stuff in the lounge until my guys came back.
Got home around 5 pm, and Kaylee's car was done. They swear the battery was bad and they replaced it and it should be fine now. No idea why the battery was bad, so I sure hope this doesn't happen again. Do you know her doors don't even have manual handles? It's a button. I don't like that. What if the buttons don't work?! How the Hell do you get out of a car if it goes in the river or lake and fries your electronics? Or if it just glitches? People probably think I'm nuts or paranoid, but I think that is 100% a legitimate concern. Maybe there's a way around it I just don't know about. But there's no manual handle I can see anywhere, tell you that much...
Well, I have to be up at 6:20 am tomorrow for a 340 trip to Mexico (Missouri), and maybe more. So I'm going to go try to relax for a few minutes here.
Pretty skies on the way to AL
Poor BOB getting the oil removed
Ethan H and Doug
Me, Ethan H and Jon
All of us
Sleeping Ethan H on the way home ;)
Upper left corner is the N#. N674MS
Bottom right corner is my squawk of 6767
Kids these days would've thought all the 67s were hysterical about a month ago.
Me and Steve in Kaylee's car
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