AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2020 - 99

P&E

NEVER AGAIN

In a pickle
Strange smell on the first flight after annual

SARAH HANSON

B Y B O B D E LVA L L E

RECENTLY, I was flying with the owner of
a Maule M-6, which had just come out of
annual after the engine had been pickled
for two years. We were doing a test flight for
about one hour. After the flight, the oil filter was going to be removed and inspected
for metal. The reason for the filter inspection was that the owner sold the airplane
and the buyer asked for this test flight and
filter inspection because of the two years of
storage. We departed Sandpoint Airport in
Idaho and as usual I suggested we climb in
the vicinity of the airport to 5,000 feet before
leaving the airport area, just for a little extra
margin. The airplane climbed rapidly to
5,000 feet msl, and then we turned to the
west and flew to Deer Park Airport in eastern Washington. While en route, the pilot
continued climbing to about 8,500 feet msl.
About 10 nautical miles from Deer Park
he started his descent. During the descent
I noticed a burning odor. I asked the owner
if he smelled the odor. He said no. He

mentioned oil was accidentally spilled on
the engine while filling the crankcase during
the annual. I suggested it smelled like oil on
a hot engine and dismissed the odor, which
seemed to diminish as we got lower and
slower. The owner did two stop and goes,
and then we headed back to Sandpoint.
On the return flight we maintained
3,500 feet msl or approximately 1,500 feet
agl. About the time we were over Newport,
Washington, I noted a much stronger odor
of oil burning. I again mentioned it to the
owner, who could now smell the odor. The
owner looked at the oil temperature gauge,
which read fairly low. I then noticed the oil
pressure gauge was reading zero. I suggested
the owner start a climb without changing the
power setting. The owner thought maybe
the oil pressure gauge failed, because the oil
temp was not high, which I agreed was not
typical with low or no oil pressure.
I told him to head directly to Priest River
Municipal Airport, which was now three to

four miles away. As we neared the airport, I
suggested we level at 4,500 feet msl. It was
then we noticed two streams of oil working their way back from the front of the top
cowling. This was clearly an emergency. We
reduced power as we approached the airport and made an uneventful landing. After
parking and exiting the airplane a large pool
of oil quickly accumulated on the ground,
and oil was dripping from every opening in
the cowling.
The mechanic showed up a couple
hours later and determined the prop seal
failed because of a plug that was left on an
oil breather line when it was pickled. It was
missed during the annual inspection. After the
repair, the oil was refilled-only a quart and a
half had been left in the sump. Another three
to five minutes aloft and the engine probably
would have seized from catastrophic failure of
the crankshaft bearings or other parts.
In retrospect, when I first smelled the
oil odor, I should have suggested we inspect
the airplane after we landed at Deer Park.
That would have been a pretty easy task. We
probably would have seen oil in places there
shouldn't be oil. But I chose to dismiss the
issue as some oil spilled on the engine. Next
time I won't be so casual about an odor. My
casual attitude about an intermittent odor
could have had disastrous results. What if
this event happened far from an airport in a
location with inhospitable terrain?
Hopefully this won't happen to you-but
if anything similar happens, start climbing.
Give yourself every opportunity to gain altitude, if possible. This gives you a little edge
and, more important, time. Don't pass up
landing opportunities to make it to an airport. We had two private airstrips to land at
between Newport and Priest River Airport.
That's why we continued.
As a full-time CFI teaching primary
students, backcountry flying, and seaplane
operations, I initiate a simulated emergency on at least 50 percent of all training
flights. I quote Vern Kingsford of Alaska
Float Ratings, who paraphrased Greek poet
Archilochos, "When emergencies occur, we
don't rise to the occasion, we rise to the level
of our training and experience."
AOPA
BOB DELVALLE is a flight instructor who lives

in Sandpoint, Idaho.

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2020

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