I was 15 minutes into that leg when I started seeing puffs of smoke coming from the cooling air outlet on the left side.
Next the cockpit started to fill with smoke, it was obviously burning oil causing the smoke and there was an airport ahead in about 10 minutes so I decided to stop there and figure it out. 30 seconds later the engine was shaking, noticeably, 10 seconds after that there was a loud bang and the prop stopped.
I took the highway option, I kept it in my lane until the cars got the hint and cleared a path then I was able to put it on the center line and roll to a stop without a scratch. Turns out it blew a jug clean off the motor and locked up solid.
Trevor had just left Newberry, heading to the Wings Over Marquette airshow... when his engine let out ALL the smoke.
That is a pretty interesting Pitts. First one I have ever seen with a radial engine. Must be a Model 12 or 14. He did a great job of setting it down.
ReplyDeleteit's a Pitts 12, and yeah, he made the people on the highway (only two lanes wide) understand that he had to put it on the ground, and they got the message!
DeleteAfter I made my first post I realized that you had noted it to be a model 12. https://www.kitplanes.com/flight-review-pitts-model-12/. As you can see the Model 14 was quite a ride as well. Nothing quite like a round motor in font of you.
ReplyDelete