Page 22 - Volume 12 Number 8

a quick bio-break and return for the ground start attempt. As you may or may not know, the fixed-shaft TPE331 design requires that the propeller be out of feather, on the low pitch “Start Locks” before doing a ground start. No problem, we merely use the unfeather pump to drive the oil into the dome so as to flatten the blades. It doesn’t work. No blade movement takes place.
Then it dawns on me why. Those fruitless attempts in the air had pumped all of our oil out of the reservoir and into the engine via the prop, but since the engine did not continue to run the oil scavenge pumps did not have time to return that oil to the reservoir. The unfeather pump was seeking oil from an empty tank. Ah, but there is an easy fix.
We exited the cockpit, went to the feathered left prop, and started turning it by hand in the normal direction. The engine rotation caused the scavenge pumps to slowly but surely return the oil into the tank. Maybe 100 or more propeller revolutions were required before the tank finally showed a normal oil level reading. Then back to the cockpit we went to find that the unfeather pump could now do its job successfully and the ground start proceeded without further problems.
Back at KLAX, I let the chief pilot know in no uncertain terms that I was less than impressed with their weird engine and with their lack of proper briefing to me!
An interesting follow-up: A few months later I received a call from the chief pilot. “Hey, Tom, just wanted to let you know. We don’t have to worry abut the engine anymore. It blew up yesterday, destroying itself, on takeoff for the flight back to Phoenix. The co-pilot you trained was in the left seat and he handled it perfectly. Thanks for your training.”
Golly! When the engine manufacturer itself cannot find and fix a problem on their own engine, who can? Don’t get me wrong; I have come to like the TPE331 as an excellent alternative to the PT6, but what a strange event this was!
Stay tuned for more War Stories from ol’ Tom. KA
King Air expert Tom Clements has been flying and instructing in King Airs for over 46 years, and is the author of “The King Air Book.” He is a Gold Seal CFI and has over 23,000 total hours with more than 15,000 in King Airs. For information on ordering his book, contact Tom direct at twcaz@msn.com.
Tom is actively mentoring the instructors at King Air Academy in Phoenix.
If you have a question you’d like Tom to answer, please send it to Editor Kim Blonigen at editor@blonigen.net
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20 • KING AIR MAGAZINE AUGUST 2018