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A SumpThis General Aviation Timeline |
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1975-1978 |
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Undetermined |
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On January 26, 1998, Scovill flew his aircraft with no abnormalities. |
1998 |
NTSB records indicate that 118 undetermined engine failures occurred in 1998. | |
1998 |
On August 21, 1998, Scovill flew his aircraft from home base to another location for the aircraft's annual inspection. During this flight, the vacuum pump failed. Scovill then used the back-up electric horizon on the co-pilots side.
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1998 |
On August 28, 1998, over the past week, an annual inspection was performed on Scovill's aircraft. In preparation to fly his aircraft back to home base, Scovill performed a preflight inspection in the presence of maintenance personnel. It was noted during the preflight inspection that fuel samples taken from the aircraft's wing sump drains did not reveal fuel contamination. On departure, Scovill climbed to 5000 feet under IFR control by Nashville Approach. During the flight, approach control instructed Scovill to descend to three thousand feet. Immediately after the descent, the engine lurched, vibrated and stopped-a total engine failure. Scovill made an emergency landing in a farmer's field. Later, in the field, a FAA Inspector and a maintenance person entered the aircraft, and with no problems, started the engine. Then fuel samples were taken from the wing sump drains and also from the belly of the aircraft with no evidence of water. It was then suggested that carburetor icing had occurred. Scovill prepared to depart from the field. The terrain of the field was very rough, and during a taxi attempt to a makeshift runway, the airplane was abruptly bounced around. Suddenly, the engine began to run rough. It backfired, and Scovill could not get a good magneto check, so he shut the engine down. Immediately, the FAA Inspector and the maintenance person took another fuel sample using a 32-ounce clear plastic bottle for a sampling cup. The bottle was filled with a fuel sample drained from one of the wing's sump drains. The contents of the sample contained about two-thirds fuel and one-third water--approximately 10 to 12-ounces of water. In the life history of the airplane, this fuel sample is the first sample to contain water. Furthermore, this first time observation of water draining from one of the aircraft's sump drains is coincidental to the first time that the airplane was taxied on a rough terrain surface. The evidence of this water finally put to rest the theory of carburetor ice.
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1998 |
On October 30, 1998, Scovill flew his aircraft with no abnormalities |
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1975-1978 |
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