Standing next to an airplane engine at full throttle is a little intimidating. You’re mentally going over all the bolts that are holding it in place. “I tightened those, right?”

This engine ran pretty good! We needed to do a few minor adjustments (which is completely normal) and we chased an oil leak for a few an hour or two. It can be hard to pinpoint where oil is coming from when it blows all over the engine! Right at the end of the day we figured out which gasket was leaking so we’ll make short work of that tomorrow.

The engine runs are pretty much done and so this engine will be leaving the test stand and will be mounted to the airframe – a late 1950’s model Cessna 182. Then we have to rig all the controls and install all the baffling (baffling directs airflow through the engine fins) and the cowling (the outside panels that go around the engine give the airplane aerodynamic shape). Then we’ll do more engine runs to determine all the controls are rigged properly.

Fun!