Continued from page 28
prolonging the engine life of an aircraft. Oils that do not have a high load-carrying capacity can fail to keep heavily loaded metal components apart, resulting in damaging wear from metal-to-metal contact. Poor lubrication can even lead to excessive wear on cylinders or/and the piston rings and unexpected maintenance costs.
Maintaining your lubricant While we often discuss the protection that they offer to aircraft, it is important to note that lubricants themselves must be properly maintained to ensure optimum performance. If an oil flows too slowly on start-up, it may fail to reach and protect critical components, leading to high oil consumption and blocked oil-ways, causing oil starvation. The result is expensive damage and in some cases, in-flight shutdown. The low oil pressure that can cause this can develop gradually due to viscosity loss, or when the viscosity of the oil is not suitable for the climate in which the aircraft is being operated. To ensure that the viscosity of your oil is properly maintained, major OEMs recommend oil drain and oil filter change intervals every 50 hours, or every four months for engines fitted with full flow oil filters.
Educating the next generation Given its importance for aviation in general, maintenance is also a central element of the curriculum for flying schools. When a student undergoes flight training, both the school and the student need to know that the engine is protected all year round, helping the student fly with confidence. For flying schools, having a lubricant supplier with a comprehensive range of approved oils is key to ensuring they meet the needs of each aircraft type.
The importance of innovation
Just as continuous innovation continues to advance aircraft engines, so too must new lubricants formulas and technologies be developed to meet the changing demands of engine specifications.
The 1950s saw the introduction of the first piston engine oils to use ashless dispersants for cleaner engines. Containing non-metallic dispersant additives, these oils helped to avoid the build-up of metallic ash residues on critical engine components. The first semi-synthetic, multi-grade aviation oils followed in the 1980s. The grade of an oil – either mono (e.g. W 80, W 100) or multi-grade (e.g. W 15W-50) shows
30 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.143 FEBRUARY 2018
its viscosity – the lower the temperature the aircraft will be flying in, the lower the viscosity needed. By definition, single grade (e.g. W 80, W 100) and multi-grade oils (e.g. W 15W-50) both meet the same specification – both types of oil are designed to provide excellent service, offering the same rust and corrosion protection.
Multi-grade oils also offer particular advantages for those pilots who fly less regularly or only during warmer months, as they provide protection when the aircraft is stationary for an extended period of time. This means that pilots can be confident that their engine will have total protection from rust and corrosion in between flights and, most importantly, that it will be in pristine condition when they next take to the skies.
In addition, as they remain almost constant as the temperature changes within a particular range, multi-grade oils are able to perform consistently at both high and low temperatures. As a result, they can provide improved operation in extreme temperatures, allowing flying schools and pilots the flexibility to fly throughout all seasons. Maintenance schedules and workshop stock management are simplified by removing the need to change oil between summer to winter grades, and idle time, operating costs and fuel consumption are all reduced when compared with single grade oils.
In the 2000s, the first oil was developed in conjunction with major engine OEMs specifically for light sport, very light and ultralight two-and four-stroke engine aircraft. It was developed to satisfy the specific demands of the small, 4 cycle piston engines used in the light aviation sector, which previously relied on motorcycle oils. The formula that was developed offered improved anti-wear protection compared with the previous generation oil, while also facilitating smooth clutch and gearbox component movement through enhanced protection and lubricity.
These developments underscore the importance of continued innovation in aircraft lubricants, ensuring the availability of high quality products that can reliably meet the demands of the newest aircraft engine technologies.
LINK
www.aeroshell.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
