Check muffler
 

Was flyn spad, engine starts to make an "odd" noise, I'm a newboob many things are odd, so I thought I better bring it in to see what the prob was. Too late, engine died, plane not quite cg'd right:eek: let it nose dive until about 10' and pulled back on elev, helped a little. What I found was one muffler bolt gone and the other loose. I'm assuming the muffler came down enough to not push air into fuel tank, so no fuel, no go. Nice thing was I had another engine, cleaned this dirty one up, screwed the LG back on and flew the next day after my knees quit shaking. Gotta love spads for "pilots" like me.:D

Maybe someone will learn from my mistake.

No picks, sorry, but from now on I'll start taking the Digital camera.

RE: Check muffler
 

What was your mistake?

RE: Check muffler
 

I didn't check to make sure the muffler bolts were tight to the engine.

RE: Check muffler
 

no did no replace with thread rod with lock nuts i do it on all my motor's

RE: Check muffler
 

I had this happen to me once and the engine got so loud I knew right away . I lost the srew some where in mid flight and tthat ended the flight sesson immediately. :( :)

RE: Check muffler
 

I had the same thing... The whole manifold came off...

The Airplane sounded like a Tractor... Engine kept running though...

At first I was really pixxed because I lost a bolt... But it was pretty funny what with the noise and the HUGE black oil stain down my White Airplane... :D

New bolt... Gasket... and LockTight fixed the issue...

Matt

RE: Check muffler
 

I know.:D I was doing "cloud blenders" (where I would take the airplane up through a cloud and do a blender back out:D), I went from K/E spin into a blender, when only at half throttle the propellor tips started to go supersonic and then the muffler fell out.[:-] This was on a 27% H9 Edge. I never knew a Moki could get so loud.:)

When helis do that though, it gets so loud so fast that it will make you jump.[X(]

RE: Check muffler
 

LoneAl...Checking the muffler bolts before each takeoff is not enough. They can be tight before takeoff and lossen in the air before landing. Usually the engine quits and you may lose the plane. Here is what I do. Take the muffler completely apart and use RTV automotive silicone high temp sealent on all of the joints, including the flange to the engine. Use blue Loctite on all of the threads of the muffler, and on the threads of the muffler mounting bolts. Check the muffler frequently. If you see a leak anywere or anything getting lose, redo everything. Eventually you should redo it. I know people that have lost 3,4,5 mufflers in the air. I have never lost a muffler.