I reckon a crack that long would be entirely within tolerances and only require monitoring each annual inspection
Actually, out of the blue, it started to grow unexpectedly and soon went out of tolerances!
I thought this thread was about engine failures - not failures in general!
Apart from the 3 partials and the momentary total lack of noise referred to above, I have only had a few relatively minor clitches over the last 35 years.
1) One short-lived engine fire (Auster J1B) that I didn't know about until after I had landed.
2) 3 or 4 vac pump failures - two in SE aircraft in IMC.
3) 2 total electrical/alternator failures
Probably the most interesting was a multiple systems failure - that led me to "acquire" the Forktailed Dr Killer.
I had always been able to private hire good aircraft up until about 10 years ago when they became very scarce.
This particular day I was enroute YBTL - YLRE in a C182RG, on an IFR plan but sitting in VMC on top when I started to smell what I thought was paint! I didn't have any paint on board, but I eventually noticed oil dripping from the compass. Needless to say it drained itself dry and became useless. Not a big problem.
Sometime later the AH rolled upside down! OK, I thought, no big deal as I am in VMC on top and YLRE is reported to be Cavok.
I made the return flight to YBTL as a VFR flight. About halfway home I had an alternator failure. Not to get caught out with a flat battery, as had been the case with an earlier alternator failure in a C210, I dropped the gear and completed the last 100nm or so with the gear down and locked. I used my handheld VHF radio (bought after the C210 incident) to get a clearance and talk to the TL tower.
After I landed I wrote up all the faults in the Maintenance Release, thus grounding the aircraft - much to the owners displeasure.
I decided that if I was going to continue to use an aeroplane the way I had been, I needed to find one that I could rely on!
Enter the FTDK!
Dr 