Failure Modes on the test stand.
The 225 EMLUBE system was, I believe, designed only to deal with a loss of transmission oil not the loss of 2 oil pumps.
In these 2 cases there was not a loss of fluid but an internal failure of the shaft.
So my question is this:
Would proper indication of functioning of the EMLUBE system in this scenario have allowed the safe continuation of flight for the "sacred" 30 minutes (29 minutes 59 seconds as one friend defines it) or would there have been a catastrophic failure of the transmission shaft beforehand?
There would be no way for the crew to differentiate between the two failure modes - except perhaps increasing vibration levels in the event of further shaft failure. With no oil flow through the system there would be no chip detection to advise of things going pear shaped.
I am also told that with dual pump failure and no oil loss from the transmission that the EMLUBE system injecting glycol into an already "full" transmission would cause overflow of a mixture of glycol and oil from the transmission vent which would flow around the transmission area and perhaps even down into the passenger compartment. Would this venting cause a fire hazard?
It would be interesting to see if EC is going to test the transmission and EMLUBE system with this failure model and a fully set up system (alternators producing power ect.) on the test stand.
Edited to add a thought: Since the transmission is still full of oil or an oil/glycol mix would the crew still have an accurate transmission temperature? Don't have my 225 manuals close to hand unfortunately.
Last edited by albatross; 2nd Nov 2012 at 19:44.