AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - December 2018 - 83

To my knowledge, the only legal choices
for nickel-plated airplane cylinders are
aftermarket electroplating by Aircraft
Cylinders of America in Tulsa and new
"NiC3" cylinders from Continental Motors
in Mobile, Alabama. That manufacturer
has FAA approval to produce Continental
components, parts approved for Lycoming
engines, and Experimental engines and
components under the Titan name.
A number of well-regarded engine
shops I spoke with buy new NiC3 cylinders from Continental, or purchase
Superior or Lycoming jugs and have
them plated in Tulsa for around $300
each, plus shipping. Anyone going that
route should ask how aftermarket mods
affect the manufacturer's warranty. RAM
Aircraft's website says the company's
"Nickel New Cylinder Package cylinder
assembly" is warranted for one year from
the shipping date. It also warrants the
cylinder bore to remain corrosion- and
wear-free for five years.
Aircraft Cylinders of America
Production Manager James Pitts told me
they started nickel plating because customers asked for it, but added the company's
owner and he are chrome fans.
"It's been around forever and we think
it's dependable," he said, adding that
chromed cylinders can be re-plated numerous times, whereas nickel can't.
Personally, I'm getting all new NiC3 cylinders from Continental for four reasons.
First, it only costs $175 extra for each
cylinder. That's cheap insurance from a
company that's manufactured millions of
cylinders.
Second, I prefer having one organization in charge of a product from start
to finish. I also want to feel confident
the company will be around for decades.
Continental has been producing engines
since 1929, appears well capitalized, and
keeps innovating.
Third, NiC3 coatings were developed
more than 50 years ago for high-performance sports cars. The material has
proven durable and effective over tens of
millions of hours. Plus, it's far easier to
break in than chrome, which can make
a huge difference when it comes to longterm performance and oil consumption.

Fourth, the company's industry-leading
warranty is for 24 months or 1,000 hours,
whichever comes first. Cylinder barrels are
warrantied to be free from wear or corrosion for five years.
SEEING IS BELIEVING

When business recently took me to New
Orleans, I drove two hours northeast to
Mobile where I could talk with some of
Continental's engineers.
Continental acquired San Antoniobased PMA parts manufacturer Engine
Components International (ECi) in 2015.
The FAA had granted ECi permission to
improve existing technology and sell the
results as proprietary if it met ASTM standards. This allowed ECi to apply nickel
silicon carbide to its Titan engines for
Experimentals. Once ECi was acquired,
Continental gained access to its technical
inventory and moved everything to Mobile.
Staff metallurgist Mike Byrnes
explained that nickel and silicon carbide have strong, independent properties
in cylinders when they're applied with
electroplating. Under his lab's electron
microscope, the combination resembles
concrete with chunks of silicon carbide
resting in nickel. The coating naturally
retains oil that flows between the carbide,
like water between rocks.
"The silicon, which is nearly diamondhard, protects the nickel, and they work
together to get a smooth surface that will
allow an oil film to remain," he said, adding
that NiC3 cylinders also break in far easier
than steel or chrome cylinders because all
the wear is in the rings, not the super-hard
NiC3-coated cylinder wall.
The industry-standard Knoop microhardness test for mechanical hardness
confirms what Byrnes said. On that scale,
diamond is 7,000, nickel silicon carbide is
3,300, hard chrome is 972, hardened steel
is 822, and tooth enamel is 343.
Byrnes noted that pistons in many
chainsaw and weed wacker engines are
nickel plated since they run so rarely and
would otherwise rust.
"When you get corrosion in a cylinder
and start the engine, it's like a cheese grater
on your rings. You expose new, bare metals
to rust again. With the nickel, you don't have
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AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - December 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - December 2018
