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Old 23rd Sep 2010, 14:20
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SNS3Guppy
 
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I've operated a number of Cessna 206's, 207's, 210's, 310's, 414's, 421's; Piper Navajos, Senecas, etc, without issue to TBO, or that have been flow to TBO without losing a turbocharger or having to replace a cylinder. Where cylinders have been replaced, it's a matter of course...aircraft piston engines are designed to have cylinders that are easily field replaceable.

The single biggest contributor to turbo failure or lack of longevity in the turbocharger is improper operation, followed by improper maintenance. The single biggest culprit in the improper operation category is failing to properly cool the turbo on the ground. Ham-handed use in flight, overboosting, and other poor practices also lead to lower component lives. Failure to properly lubricate, inspect, and maintain induction and turbo systems also reduces their lives. Turbo bearings lead a tough life style, and pilots can make it a lot tougher. Want to destroy a turbo overnight? Get on the ground and shut the engine down. Coke those bearings. Get that oil boiling.

I flew for a company many years ago that had a fleet of turbo Cessna 207's. We didn't have turbo problems as a rule, even though we used a lot of fairly inexperienced pilots, because of the way we operated the airplanes. Even with a different pilot flying the airplane on every flight, and between two and three hundred hours a month on the average per airplane, turbo problems tended to be our smallest concern. On occasion we'd see someone lift a cylinder head by pushing the engines too hard, and we did see cylinder cracks from improper operation...but these were generally pilot error. At one point we had a series of bad cylinders from Continental, but this problem went away. Generally we had a lot of reliability, with very few turbo related issues. We also treated the engines like our lives depended on them...because they did.

One practice we used was to finish each trip with a five minute timed cool-down and spool-down. Passengers wouldn't be let out during that time; the airplane would arrive, and several other pilots would gather around the airplane as safety guards to prevent people from approaching the airplane (or getting out) while the engine turned...or to guide people away if we did need to hot load or unload with the engine running). Typical cool down was done monitoring CHT's as well as at a power setting that was conducive to best cooling (not necessarily idle), and where possible, into the wind.

Operating engines with a preventative schedule, spectrometric oil analysis, and regular, standardized operating practices did a lot to keep the airplanes running...and we changed engines routinely at TBO without any difficulty.

I operated Cessna Skymasters on a fairly rigorous schedule in a large fleet, with turbo issues being a rarity. Engine-changes at TBO were a regular fact of life, and that continues today. Our training airplanes were normally aspirated, but all the airplanes used in the field were turbocharged, without any problems.

I think there's a common misconception out there that a turbocharger implies a lack of reliability or an unlikelihood to make TBO, and this isn't true.

I should add a disclaimer that I didn't own the airplanes above; I operated them and in some cases maintained or helped maintain them. The thread asks specifically about owning airplanes, and I didn't own those...but operated a lot more than I could possibly have owned. In my experience, much of the time when there are turbo and cylinder issues (manufacturing defects not withstanding), it's a pilot issue.
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