Video from my engine failure & emergency landing on 6/29/18

[Titanium Cranium]

While my 11 year old son and I were on our big trip from Dayton, OH to Phoenix, AZ, we experienced an engine failure and had to make an emergency landing in our Aerovee equipped Waiex. About 15 minutes after departing from KTCC - Tucumcari, NM (AKA - middle of nowhere), and after we climbed through 6000 ft MSL (planed cruise at 8500 ft), the engine started cutting out just a tad. My first though was mixture due to the high density altitude (7400 ft density altitude at time of departure) but we had been cruising at 6500 feet and landed at a field elevation over 4000 ft with a density altitude of 7800 without any issues at all. I tried leaning the mixture without any improvement, then tried to go richer with the mixture, again with no improvement. It had been about 10-15 seconds at this point, and we were about 20 nm west of KTCC, so I immediately turned toward I-40, which was about 7 or 8 miles to the south. I had a good spot in the desert picked out in case the engine cut out completely and we couldn't make it to the highway. I couldn't maintain altitude, and was slowly descending, so I got Albuquerque Center on the radio and informed the controller of the engine troubles, as well as got a transponder code so they'd know exactly where we were. I let them know we were keeping I-40 under us to follow it back to KTCC (I-40 goes right by the runway). As we descended, the engine started cutting out more, so I declared an emergency with the expectation of landing on I-40. Luckily, the engine stayed on enough for us to make it back to KTCC a couple hundred feet below pattern altitude. I stayed in close on downwind in case we lost the engine completely. We lost the engine completely a couple seconds after the wheels planted on the runway. That was one of the toughest landings I've ever done. We landed on runway 21 with winds from 170 at 22 gusting to 33. My son did a good job of staying calm through the whole ordeal as I explained what I was doing and why with each step. I had him record the last few minutes of the flight and the landing (definitely not the smoothest landing, but it worked). I have to apologize that the video isn't great, but considering the fact that a very scared 11 year old did it while trying to pay attention to me and while he was saying lots of prayers, I'd say he did just fine. You can definitely hear what the engine was doing in the video, and after touchdown, you can see that the prop is stopped while we're still rolling. You can also see the engine information gauges quite a bit and see that all numbers were normal. I'm guessing it was a fuel flow issue, but because I'm not the builder and not experienced with engine tuning, I'd love to hear your input as to what you all think it may be.

I had to leave the plane there and had my brother from Albuquerque come rescue us. I'll have to figure out how to get back out there to diagnose it, fix it, and fly it back some time, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to do that.

Here's the link to the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1jHT-jSd6I&t=52s

[Rynoth]

Thank you for sharing Tom, great job maintaining your composure and getting both of you on the ground safely.

I do wonder about a fuel system issue, whether that's fuel flow, clogged filter or carb (aeroinjector?)

[Titanium Cranium]

It does have the aeroinjector. Mike Singleton said he had an engine failure after the set screw for the needle came loose. I think that would make sense considering the fact that mixture didn't change anything. I know the aeroinjector is said to be very sensitive to altitude and it doesn't always seem to follow typical aviation principles (leaning more and more as you climb), so I thought it might be a tuning issue. Because we had been cruising at 6500 ft MSL without any issues at all, and I've had it up to 11,500 before, and it didn't improve at all as we descended, I think that pretty much rules out a basic tuning issue. I suspect it something minor, but obviously had a serious impact. A friend of mine also wonders if perhaps the fuel tank vent became clogged and wasn't allowing air to replace the fuel used.

[Titanium Cranium]

Another thing I wonder about is temperature. We had already flown 2 legs (about 2.5 hours for each leg) that day prior to the failure and were dealing with temperatures around 100 (I hadn't flown it in anything hotter than the high 80s before this trip). It sat for around 2 hours prior to starting the leg with the failure. I had flown 3 legs with only enough time to refuel and hit the restroom on Thursday afternoon & evening, and had no issues, even with pretty high temperatures. Has anyone else flown a lot of hours in a single day and had any issue with temperature affecting engine performance?

[kmacht]

What is the fuel system setup on the plane? Does it have a gascolator, burp tube, all fuel lines insulated, straight line from the tank to the carb or is there a low point in the system besides the carb?

[Titanium Cranium]

The plane has a gascolator located on the right lower part of the firewall, and has an insulated line from the gascolator to the aeroinjector. I had to look up what the burp tube is because I had never heard of it until now, and I'm almost positive my plane doesn't have one (I'm not the builder, so I've been learning the plane as I go). With the location of my gascolator, it is just slightly lower than the aeroinjector.

[kmacht]

It sounds fuel related to me but its impossible to tell from just the video. If it is a case of the sonex burps it is probably one of the worst ones ever caught on video. If you aren't familiar with the burps go take a look at this thread. Specifically take a look on page 3 for a post from Jeff Schultz about what they are and how to help minimize them. It really should be required information included with the aerocarb from Sonex.

http://www.sonexbuilders.net/viewtopic. ... 1&start=20

I have to say that you did a great job of staying calm and making a successful landing. Hopefully others will learn from your video. Keep us posted on what you find when trying to determine what the cause was.

Keith
#554

[radfordc]

I once had a situation where my engine did something similar....rough running and loss of power to the point that it wouldn't sustain flight. My issue was vapor lock due to using "winter blend" auto gas on a warm spring day. I was near my airport when it started and landed OK but the engine wouldn't run on the ground until it cooled down.

[WaiexN143NM]

hi tom,
in reading this thread, i didnt see what type of fuel you were using. also installing a burb tube with the aeroinjector set up would be wise.
maybe vapor lock?
were you monitoring cht/egt’s any chang e from normal? i watched the video but cant read the guages. sounds like you said all was normal.

good job to get plane down safe with your son. good you called for help w atc abq , and had a plan set up to land on I-40.

michael

[Titanium Cranium]

Based on what I’m reading here about the “burp” issue, that sure sounds like the culprit of my issues. It was so bad that the plane couldn’t maintain altitude. I only run 100LL avgas in my plane. As for CHTs and EGTs, everything was normal. On previous flights with the engine already hot from a prior leg, I’ve had a couple little sputters, but I always thought it was because I went to full throttle too quickly. I found that if I smoothly apply throttle up to full, that sputter never happens. Looking back, I’d bet that was the burp issue, it just never did it in the air and it always smoothed out right away if I added the throttle in too quickly.