tive care, parts need to be swapped list,” Curry reports. While Radial
out – and, of course, locating spares Engines and Precision Engines hold
for radial engines can be quite a chal- the PMAs and STCs, the parts produc-
lenge. “None of the OEMs support tion is generally farmed out to spe-
these engines,” Curry states. “If you cialized companies in or near Guthrie
talk to Continental or Lycoming they and Everett.
give you the ‘deer in the headlights’ With luck, surplus parts can be
look. They will not release any data unearthed, and they can be considered
on them [and] that’s made it very dif- “new surplus,” according to Dalton.
ficult to manufacture new parts.” However, the surplus parts supply is
Parts manufacturing for these dwindling, which means many parts
engines generally involves gaining need to be remanufactured. Dalton
from the FAA parts manufacturer says Precision Engines produces Curtis
approval (PMA) or, in the case of a Wright parts, and it acquired a compa-
As with any piston engine, corro- new and improved design of a part, a ny a few years ago with approximately
sion can be minimized. For example, supplemental type certificate (STC). 1,200 PMAs for many Pratt & Whitney
single grade oils tend to stick to met- “The original drawings are avail- radial engine parts.
als better than multi-viscosity oils, able for the Jacobs radial engines,” Finding the materials to produce
says Dalton. Also, changing the oil is says Curry. Radial Engines acquired the parts also can be a challenge.
important, especially prior to parking a set of drawings at an auction, According to Caleb Curry, Radial
an aircraft for the winter. but they also are available at the Engine’s general manager and Steve
And oil preservative can be used, Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Curry’s son, “Some metal alloys
such as from AeroShell. “You drain Washington, D.C. become obsolete, and the names of
out the oil and put [preservative] in “We PMA quite a few of them now. metals may be different today from
and give [the engine] a good run,” We make pistons, link rods, valve what they were in 1940.”
Dalton says. guides and other parts. Anything we “We go to metal supply houses,” he
But even with the best preventa- run out of we just add to our PMA adds. “It takes a lot of research.”
Precision Engines runs a radial engine on a stand in its facility
28 Aviation Maintenance |
avmain-mag.com | Oct/Nov2009
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