a few questions for my own knowledge bank

should a robbo with 11 hour to next 100 hr check have black treacle oil anyway ?

how often is oil changed in a robbo and is it always changed at 100 hrs ?

whatis the oil consuption of a robbo?

steve

agreed - youd didnt assume that the previous flyers had checked it and filled it and that there is a problem???

A wiper seal going would use lots of oil in the last flight but not really give any indication in flight.

Any tiny water droplets in the oil???

Worrying that your first thought was that the instructors/SFH's simply hadn't look!!!!!!!!

MADY

To be brutally honest, my first thought probably would've also have been human error (rather than mechanical failure.)

MD600:

should a robbo with 11 hour to next 100 hr check have black treacle oil anyway ?

No, but the oil does tend to darken fairly quickly. But without a picture of said oil its difficult tell what state this particular engines oil was in.

how often is oil changed in a robbo and is it always changed at 100 hrs ?

At my place every 25 hours i.e. on the 100Hr Insp, then a 25 hourly, then at the 50Hr Insp and then again at 25Hrs (75 post 100Hr)

what is the oil consumption of a robbo?

Couldn't really tell you. But in my experience R44 II's like to be on 7 qts (dipstick minimum) and will happily stay there for a good few hours. R44 I's sit happily at around 8 and R22's 5Qts. Not really consumption figures, but They are all slightly different.

Hope that helps a tad!

I have SFH around 8 different R22's in the last three years. I guess I have put a quart in around 1 in every 6 fights.

Quote FH1100 "just bring the oil up to the proper level for your flight and make a note in the maintenance log of the amount added. Have a calm word with the head guy of the outfit and move on."............. I apologise for being insulting, but that has got to be the worst armchair advice I have heard in a long time.

I am not saying this aircraft is unairworthy (I don't know enough of the facts), but by the same token you simply cannot say "The aircraft is very likely not an unairworthy timebomb".

It was 3 quarts below minimum, not recommended, not maximum – surely these circumstances deserve investigation before flying ?

There may well be a simple less worrying explanation but on a balance of probability either it is using oil at an abnormally high rate or there has been a systematic failure to maintain (18 – 24 hours of use without topping up ?). IMHO - either way, filling it up, having a calm word and going off flying is like putting in a request to be an air accident statistic.

Are you saying oil was off the stick? if so the engine must have been really low on oil when running previously.
What has drained down will be spread about the innards on start up leaving even less for the oil pump to pick up especially in flight, air cooled engines also use oil as a coolant so there was double reason to worry.
Move on find another SFH, the reply you got if as quoted shows a rather cavalier attitude to your safety.
Personally if I was hiring out the helio I would have a walk round either myself or by the Eng just in case the next hirer was a bit lax & forgot to do what are basic checks.
I don't fly a 22 but is it not a requirement to ch oil as part of pre flight?
And if you say you are worried about an over T as well as other problems why ask you know the answer.:sad:

IanHud:Gosh, are you guys babies or pilots? Do you really *not* know how oil systems work? Do you really think that oil in the sump helps "cool" the engine? Do you think that low oil level in the sump will cause the engine to "run hot?" Some of you should spend some time with the engineers/mechanics, because it sounds like there are some bad misconceptions going around out there.

Look, we're not talking about 'round-the-world endurance flights here. It's SFH - short local flights. Does the a/c have a big puddle of oil underneath it all the time? Is there obvious evidence of an oil leak? Talk to other pilots who've flown the bird - do any of them report higher than normal oil consumption?

Fill the thing up to max and go flying! Jeez. Is it making power? Is it running well (e.g. smoothly, mag check good)? Are the T&P's within limits? While flying, there are a couple of little gauges...I'm sure the R-22 has them: Oil Pressure and Oil Temperature. You should probably check on them once or twice per flight. Make a flight, keep it short if you're scared. When you land, check the oil. Check the engine for signs of a huge leak.

If you are so terrified that the engine might quit, perhaps helicopter flying is the wrong endeavor for you. If I were flying an R-22, engine failure would be low on my list of worries.

FH1100 Pilot......... Great post, what a wind-up ! Just for a short time I thought you were serious !! :D

E.

I fly about 20 days a month and never bother checking the engine oil level ever. Even if I haven't flown the a/c for a week or more and it's been flying with someone else.

:=