enginehistory.org

[jwilcox]

The vent line separator has made a difference in the oil that was misting from the vent so seems it was a worthwhile addition, I had welded a fitting in the tank originally thinking it might need a separator, glad I did.
Attaching a photo taken by K Horton at the Stanley flyin, similar to others but I just like the photo, the mid day light is good and it takes in the whole unit as it sit's waiting to run.
Jerry
http://www.enginehistory.org/BBimages/WilcoxJ/111.jpg

[jwilcox]

Ran the engine for a small group of friends yesterday, it now has an hour or more of run time, adds up slowly at 4 or 5 minutes a run. It always starts well and has really given me no trouble other than a few leaking push rod seals. Have checked the filter twice and all is good. It drips oil while sitting and I'm convinced that is from the rocker arm cavities full of oil on the lower cylinders. I have a plan to drain these in a way that will not alter any parts and plan to work at that over the winter. Only one more planned run then it will be put in storage.
Some time ago I had planned to post some photos of the magnesium bits that were left to fend for themselves in the bottom of the storage can. Luckily replacements were available or it would have been a tedious job repairing these. Many of you probably know but the easiest way I have found to determine if it's magnesium or aluminum is a drop of vinegar, on aluminum it does nothing but will bubble within a short time on the magnesium.
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[tfey]

Jerry, thanks for posting, fantastic stuff. Can you please identify the corroded magnesium pieces in your posted pictures? Thanks. Tom

[jwilcox]

Tom,
Thanks for comments, one of the parts is from the sump, the very bottom that houses one of the scavenge pumps. The pump itself was aluminum and as good as new. A second part is from the bottom of the supercharger/rear case housing and carries the drive gears that drive a shaft to turn the scavenge pump mentioned above. The third part is the inside half of the duel accessory drive on the back of the rear cover. The parts were removed after the crash to check for failures or contamination, none was found but the bits were left in the bottom of the storage can. I was very lucky that the local supply of parts had not been sold at the time and replacements were readily available.
Ran the engine one last time Monday for the guys at Forest Protection Ltd. Great bunch of guys some of whom had worked on TBM's and some who had not. They run turbines now but all were impressed with the run. Tucked the engine away in a friends hangar yesterday.

[jwilcox]

The engine is in storage now but over the last couple of weeks I've been doing a little test. I've posted before about the oil in the valve covers and it's possible connection to smoky starts and hydraulic lock. I have a few spare cylinders so decided to get one front and one rear cleaned up, honed and lap the valves in case I ever need to change one. One of them I put together, installed the rocker arms, covers, push rods and tubes and turned it head down as it would be in a lower position on the engine. I filled the rocker cavities from the open end of the push rod tube and each side held 1/2 liter, so each lower cylinder could have this much oil in them all the time. I left it in this position for several days and each day the amount of oil in the intake port was higher, the oil leaking by the intake valve/guide. This is also a fairly low time cylinder, 70hrs, with a nice tight guide. The system would equalize when the oil level in the tube was level with the top of the guide but several ounces of oil are now in the port. This alone would likely not cause a lock, not enough oil, but sure adds to the startup show. The exhaust side didn't leak in this test but that's probably my fault, I coated the valve with some grease to install it and the oil likely got blocked. Anyway just thought some might find this interesting.
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[jwilcox]

Way too cold here to do any outside work but shop time is good. I've been working on the drain system for the lower valve covers and have it pretty much ready to install in the spring. Plan is to drain the bottom 5 cylinders through the -4 lines into a 2 gallon collection tank after shutdown. After a couple of runs the tank will be dumped in the oil tank. I'm not using the studs that normally hold cowl flap bits so makes an easy install as the stud end actually penetrates the valve area.
A couple of weeks ago, on a warmer day, I removed the front plugs so I could turn the engine by hand. I plan to do this a few times over the winter. I was pleased to find all the plugs dry and looking like it had just finished a flying season.
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[jwilcox]

So what do you do with the 30 or so inch piece cut off the prop blades to make our ground run prop. I couldn't see them going for scrap at 50cents a pound, hardly worth the trip to the recycler. Aluminum looks great polished so polish it is, a friend gave me a nice piece of 2" walnut and I had some brass, all together makes a nice display piece and I'm even getting some of my costs back.
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[ktowne]

That's pretty sharp! Nice work!

[jwilcox]

The snow is finally melting here on the east coast, I'm hoping to wake the engine within the next week or two. Here's a short one minute video taken at a flyin last fall, if you like the sound of a radial turn it up and listen, the video starts and stops a bit abruptly but the sound is great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnUQ2DDMRnY

[kmccutcheon]

Well done, Jerry! Great work.
_________________
Kimble D. McCutcheon

[jwilcox]

Thanks for the comments guys, I spent much of the weekend at a local auto/truck/bike show. The Wright was a hit, even got a trophy and requests from several to attend their events. The sound of the Avenger was a spring time ritual in New Brunswick for decades spraying the forests and fire bombing. So many talked to me about the sound of the planes with fond memories even though they were in the early days spraying some very harsh chemicals. After the show I did a short run mostly for the show participants, first run of the year and it sure marked it's territory with oil, anxious to get started at the install of the lower cover drains.
http://www.enginehistory.org/BBimages/WilcoxJ/frexrod.jpg
http://www.enginehistory.org/BBimages/WilcoxJ/P1110243.jpg

[jwilcox]

My education continues with this radial engine. I for some reason felt that the oil tank would need an atmospheric vent, the fuel tank does so why not the oil. The problem of misting from the vent has been a real nuisance so after some thought I figured its a dry sump engine but the oil tank is really just an extension of the engine case that holds the oil. Oil in and out will be fairly constant unlike the fuel that just goes out and at a fair rate I might add. I've removed all the bits I made to try to vent the tank and have the one vent line from the tank to the back of the engine case. Works great and I guess as it should, a couple of years ago there would have been a TBM handy to look at. Pretty sure I can run the level higher also.
The next run will also tell how the bottom cylinder drain lines are working. I ran a few days ago and after opened the drains and got about 6 litres of oil from the bottom 5 cylinders. My hope is to get just enough smoke on start to put on a show but not enough to make a mess. I'm sure that had these engines been produced post 1945 they would have eventually incorporated a scavenge system for these lower jugs but that was not to be.
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[jwilcox]

Had a couple of great runs on the engine earlier this week, first run was over 7 minutes, cylinder and oil temps were good, I set it at 1800 - 2000rpm and just let it go for a couple of minutes. I had drained the bottom cylinders prior to this run and the oil on start was noticeably less. The left side was about 30% of the mess I would normally get but the right was only a bit better than before. I think the fact that the right exhaust picks up one more bottom cylinder than the left might be a factor. More runs will give better comparison to before the drain system. The second run about 3 hours later just gave a few puffs of smoke and was clean running after.
One thing I can say is the engine is not dripping as much oil while sitting, it used to come from the exhaust ports but with the drains working it is not nearly as bad, hardly need the drip tray.
http://www.enginehistory.org/BBimages/WilcoxJ/P1110272.jpg
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[vbentley]

Great to see the pictures of it running.

Your experience of it not leaking as much now is typical of radials that are in use. Our museum fleet with Kinner, Jacobs and R-1340 radials always settle down to just a few drips after flying during the summer. First flights in the spring are a different story!

[jwilcox]

I've had the engine to a couple of shows and have run six or eight times this year, another show this weekend. The oil drain system is working just about as I hoped it would but I'm getting much more oil in the drain tank than expected. The tank holds about 7 litres and I'm getting at least 9 or 10 so need to dump it and then catch the remainder. Have a new larger tank partly fabricated. The engine had been sitting for about 10 days so today I ran it, it was a nice smoky start as usual but on shut down the trailer was almost clean, hardly need to wipe it down. Before the drains the diagonal braces on the trailer in the photo would be covered with oil, this time there is a bit of oil on the right inner fender and that's about it. This makes it much better for shows because I don't have to worry about messing up someone's tarmac or turf.
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A group of kindergarten kids showed up unexpectedly at the airstrip today, friend of mine took a photo.
http://www.enginehistory.org/BBimages/WilcoxJ/CCG3Kids.jpg