Engine failure on take-off

[Gord Tessier]

Hi Folks, I was down in Nassau helping the folks at Bahamas Habitat when on takeoff we lost the rear engine. No problem, though after all it is a Skymaster. We came back for a landing on the front engine. Did the paperwork and now it is in the hands of the insurance company.

We had a prop strike and it appears the prop seal failed. As well there is oil all around the back of the engine. The engine bay looks ok with some oil in the back and I did not appear to lose a lot of oil. Any ideas on what happened?

What are my options? how does the process work? Should I upgrade if it is covered to a bigger engine, any insurance issues with the mods? Costs of any upgrades etc.
Your thoughts please.

[skymstr02]

Until you get the engine cowling off, and inspect what you have, you don't know exactly what the problem could be.
The oil doesn't necessarily mean that the prop seal failed, it could come from somewhere else.
Depending on where on the blade that the nick is, is dependant on whether or not the blade is repairable.
If you threw a rod, and that's where the oil came from, and what caused the FOD on the blade, then that would be catastrophic.

IF you upgrade engines to a different type, then you would have to replace both engines, not just the rear one.

[Gord Tessier]

Thanks for the information.
Has anyone else out there seen this kid of damage and oil spray pattern before?

[Gord Tessier]

The insurance adjuster came back to me today and indicated that the No 6 exhaust valve got sucked out the tail pipe and struck the prop?
Can this even happen the way the exhaust is baffled?
Anyone ever had this happen?

[WebMaster]

Wow
That's incredible.
There isn't a lot of baffling in the rear muffler, even less in the front.
It could have missed completely, in which you would have been even luckier.
Probably rattled around a bit, then ejected itself through the pipe.

[WebMaster]

Thanks for the information.
Has anyone else out there seen this kid of damage and oil spray pattern before?

Damage no, but when Jerry lost a rocker arm stud, coming back from the Bahamas, we had a lot of oil all around the rear of aircraft. Even more inside the engine cover. Did you pull the cover and look inside? I'm suprised, if the valve went through the exhaust, that you had any oil at all.