Piston Crown
The Piston Crown is the first image of the cylinder that will be taken. This image we need to be sure to get as much of the Piston Crown as possible. In the slide show below I will go over a few things we look for in a normal inspection.
First, we want to make sure there is no missing material, so all the edges are nicely rounded. Lycoming and Continental Pistons do differ a bit. We will get to that later. Notice on this Continental Piston, the edge has a flat spot around the 3:00 position. and the next image is an up-close of that. This is Edge melting.
First, we want to make sure there is no missing material, so all the edges are nicely rounded. Lycoming and Continental Pistons do differ a bit. We will get to that later. Notice on this Continental Piston, the edge has a flat spot around the 3:00 position. and the next image is an up-close of that. This is Edge melting.
Important Preventative Measures
Given the critical role of cylinders in your aircraft engine performance, a cylinder inspection is one of the most important kinds of preventative maintenance you can have done. In short, it helps you to get ahead of failure.
I have become outspoken and well known in the industry for my expertise on this topic. After working on countless cylinder inspections over the years, I realized that the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association poster on cylinder inspections only shows late stage exhaust valve failure and does not differentiate between failure modes. In my experience, there are two failure modes. The most common is rotator failure. The other is failure due to operation beyond redline CHT. The rotator failure takes place over time and is detected by monitoring changes to the heat signature on the valve. Frequent inspections allow us to stay ahead of valve failures and prolong cylinder life.
I have become outspoken and well known in the industry for my expertise on this topic. After working on countless cylinder inspections over the years, I realized that the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association poster on cylinder inspections only shows late stage exhaust valve failure and does not differentiate between failure modes. In my experience, there are two failure modes. The most common is rotator failure. The other is failure due to operation beyond redline CHT. The rotator failure takes place over time and is detected by monitoring changes to the heat signature on the valve. Frequent inspections allow us to stay ahead of valve failures and prolong cylinder life.
My cylinder inspection video below will give you an understanding of the process:
Learn more by reading my published articles on this topic.
