C145 Longevity and TBO

[GAD]

Thanks for the feedback regarding TBO. A number of the planes I'm considering have sat for several years with minimal or no flying time. While most have been in a hangar and or a dry climate, the fact that they were sitting so long doesn't seem to lend itself to longevity. Is there anything a guy could do to reduce the risk if I still wanted to consider one of these planes? What if the engine had been pickled? What if it has been run for fifty hours in the last year since being brought back to life? Should I plan on an 800 hrs TBO or 1800 hours?

Thanks, Greg

[GAHorn]

It might be better to keep this conversation in the original thread rather than create a new one to continue the same conversation....but....
You are asking for a Fortune-Teller's opinion. Yes a "pickled" engine certainly would have been better, but the problem is that lots of folks have their own ideas of how to perserve an engine in long-term storage and few folks (if any) follow the mfr's advice on this subject.
In any case, your best best to perform a detailed inspection, run up, oil/filter change/inspection, and expect to see a bit of rust in the engine/upper cylinder walls ( which, frankly, is not a condemnation in a Continental but which in a Lycoming is somewhat more troublesome for several reasons. The major reason is that the Lycoming cams sit above the crankshaft and are more susceptible to rusting and scoring of the cam lobes and valve lifter/followers. The Continental engine's cam is below the crank where it is better situated with regard to oil protection from rust.
I've flown Continental engines (older overhauls performed in the early 70's and which then sat around for 25 years) with upper cylinder rust and the TCM field rep even went so far as to recommend I continue operations. I did, flew them for 5 years and then sold them, and now 10 years later the next owner is still operating those engines without difficulty.

[phantomphixer]

My engine was overhauled and then sat in the aircraft for 10 years. It was never run after overhaul. Buddies of mine bought the aircraft at auction and reupholstered, painted and went thru it top to bottom. It had no avionics and they never put the wings back on it. Heart attack kinda stopped the reassembly. I bought it in 2000 and have flown over 600 hours since. Had a few cylinder changes (2) but no other problems. It might help that I live in the desert.
Do any of them make TBO??? We all wish they would.
My $0.02 worth

[Paul-WI]

Should I plan on an 800 hrs TBO or 1800 hours?

Plan on the 800 and if it goes to 1800 you will be happy. Plan on the 1800 and it will fail at 800 Murphy's law at it's finest! Seriously, I bought 3458D last fall and it had only flown 9 hours in the past 10 years. Other than exhaust rebuilt and carb rebuild, it's been running strong and I have put over 50 hours on since I bought it. Oil looks clean and when I check the screens, they are clean. >>>>>>|| (That's me knocking on wood)

Paul
N3458D

[theduckhunter]

If we could only combine the bottom end of the continentals with the top ends of the lycomings our problems would be less!!!!