One of the most famous and inspirational sayings in aviation and aerospace is “failure is not an option.” If you like the Ron Howard movie Apollo 13, chances are you’d like the book – or the Audible version – about the American space program from the point of view of Mission Controller Gene Kranz. Despite…
by Paul Kortopates One of the more common turbo problems we see are erratic fluctuations in MAP. Below is a plot of MAP (the red trace) & Altitude (the yellow trace) of a Cirrus. Although the data is a bit coarse with a 6 sec data sampling rate, when zoomed in we could see MAP…
In math, a conjecture is a statement you believe to be true based on observations. That sounds like something you could trust and act on. Webster’s says it’s an inference formed without proof or sufficient evidence. That sounds like conclusion jumping that you’d be inclined to dismiss. When we perform engine data analysis, we strive for…
NTSB concluded that Eastern flight 401 crashed into the Everglades in 1972 because all three crew members were fixated on a failed landing light. The lemonade was aviation’s adoption of CRM. As valuable as trustworthy engine data can be for the success of a flight and the goal of engine longevity, bogus data can create…
Assume – yep, we all know what those letters stand for. I can’t speak for “u” but assuming has made an ass out of “me” more than once. There’s a fair amount of assuming attached to any endeavor, including engine data analysis. When the data looks good for all parameters, we assume that all sensors…
There’s a running gag in my family when a mechanical device isn’t performing properly. It takes three people. After the owner of the device has described the symptoms in detail to the other two people, they offer suggestions about what’s causing the problem. Once all those suggestions have been met with “yeah, we tried that”…
I have written about this before, but not in two years, and with lots of new clients and a couple of new Savvy services in that time, it seemed like a good time for a biennial review. The comedians are fond of saying, “Timing is everything.” I think the quality of the material is pretty…
One of the first steps of engine data analysis is evaluating the reliability of the data. In recent Puzzlers we’ve seen probes that didn’t fail spectacularly, they just kept sending data that was almost believable, and could – if you saw it in real-time, cause you to adjust your flight plan, or – if you…
Flying is full of great and memorable sounds. I’ll never forget how quiet the cockpit was after lifting off for my first solo – compared to hours of hearing my CFI issue verbal corrections or way-to-gos. It was just the engine and the air. I can still remember the first time Rare Bear flew by at Reno…
If there were a TV show where I could watch A&Ps, or just plain owners, swinging wrenches on airplanes, I’d probably watch. I’d at least give it a look. Ice Pilots and Flying Wild Alaska and Airplane Repo tend more toward the challenges of aviating and making a living than the challenge of torquing a nut you can’t…