Originally Posted by
cmp3cantrj
(and yes it is the bearings that are at the root of the servicing issue - since all the manufacturers use the same bearings service intervals are pretty similar).
You guys are thinking too literally for engine failure and thinking catastrophic engine failure. Bearing failure is engine failure. Do you think the engine manufactures change out the blades every 25 hours or even 100 hours? There is nothing preventing an engine from having catastrophic failure the first flight out of 25 hour service. When the bearings fail, you have a core engine that doesn't run and money has to be spent on it. At some point, you aren't going to spend the money to fix the engine. A jet flying buddy here had his bearing fail on a NEW engine with less then 5 hours on it. Came apart in the air, fire on board. He was able to land the jet safely, but the fire still totaled the airframe. That engine was junked. Not sure if he got any warranty on the engine, but I know he'll never buy that brand again.
The hour meters are just a guide too. Change the ECU changes the hours on the engine. Unless that manufacture has moved the ECU to inside the engine. This is why buying a used engine is risky because you don't know if it has the original ECU. I had a JetCat and at the time only could afford one engine and swapped it between the two jets. I had separate ECU's for each jet. The hour meter read different with each different ECU. This is why it is so risky buying a used engine on the market. Hours may not be telling the truth. One of the "Life Time Warranty" company's even voids the warranty if you change ECU's for this reason. The engine hours are by RPM too, not an actual clock. So, the longer it idles or flies around at half throttle, you aren't putting the same hours on the engine as at full throttle.
So, waiting until it fails is no more dangerous then our current practices, because catastrophic failure can happen at anytime in the engines life.