How long can you fly without oil?

Well, that's one way to figure it out. I think a more appropriate title is how long till you grenade an engine. As a Navy flightline guy I was cringing as he tried to manually rotate the prop and had to hang off of it. Chances of it firing are extremely slim but I just cant get past all those safety briefs and videos I've seen of prop arcs causing fatal problems.
 
How long can you fly without oil?

All the way to the scene of the crash.

Wonder what the back story is on why they trashed a $30K engine and later took a saws all to the wing.
 
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The theme is banal, I'm more interested in why that airplane got chopped up instead of sold or insurance totaled. Comment section didn't give much away. What's the backstory?

ETA: This is why PA-28s get no love. You don't see people kicking out windows and doors on their Bonanzas or Mooneys for funsies then posting it on YT.
 
They should’ve given @Tom-D or another respectable A&P a call before doing this - would’ve made for a good project. :)
 
...and the kicked out window, and the door latch he broke by kicking out the door with it latched on a previous video....
 
I know a PA-28-161 owner who had no visible damage following a hurricane, but the airframe was bent. It exceeded VNE while tied down on the ramp. Add a run out engine with a third run case and crank that might not have much core value anyway and it could have been purchased fairly cheap as salvage.
 
I'm only a few seconds in..but it looks like N9907W
does that help anyone figure out the back story?
 
I can tell you that once the oil starts flowing, between the first indication that there was something wrong and the engine blowing up completely was less than two minutes.
 
Brad W said:
I'm only a few seconds in..but it looks like N9907W
does that help anyone figure out the back story?
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It's where I was coming from with the hurricane comment. The registered owner was in Sarasota FL.
 
That engine would be much more expensive to rebuild if that was ever the intention now that he's intentionally seized it. Bearings, shafts, scoring, pouring cold water over hot cylinders etc. might impress the non-aviating public, but it just shows the idiocy of what passes for good video these days. Also, hanging on a prop on any plane is like climbing into a tank with a manta ray...you just never know. Seems these polished skull, fast talking, quasi-experts can find an audience in every YOUTUBE genre (especially firearm videos).
 
I flew without oil for about 3 months. Then I went and picked up a case.
 
According to the video description on youtube:

"A NOTE ABOUT THE AIRPLANE... This aircraft is deregistered, and due to serious structural damage, not airworthy. As this aircraft was destined to be scrapped in the junkyard, we wanted to give it one last purpose in life as an instructional aid to more effectively educate the aviation community on topics that could otherwise not be demonstrated, with the primary objective being to increase flight safety."
 
Brad Smith said:
Also, hanging on a prop on any plane is like climbing into a tank with a manta ray...you just never know.
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Mantas, while huge when fully grown, are quite docile. They're filter feeders, living on plankton, and lack the barbed tail of the stingray.
It's an amazing experience to get to dive with them.

As an alternate analogy, I wouldn't get in a pit with a wolverine.
 
My bad. I no animal expert, just remember the risky things that Mr. Irwin did for the camera. Stingray is the correct creature.
 
Dana said:
According to the video description on youtube:

"A NOTE ABOUT THE AIRPLANE... This aircraft is deregistered, and due to serious structural damage, not airworthy. As this aircraft was destined to be scrapped in the junkyard, we wanted to give it one last purpose in life as an instructional aid to more effectively educate the aviation community on topics that could otherwise not be demonstrated, with the primary objective being to increase flight safety."
Click to expand...
I'm glad someone on here can read.
 
Dana said:
According to the video description on youtube:
"A NOTE ABOUT THE AIRPLANE... This aircraft is deregistered, and due to serious structural damage, not airworthy. As this aircraft was destined to be scrapped in the junkyard, we wanted to give it one last purpose in life as an instructional aid to more effectively educate the aviation community on topics that could otherwise not be demonstrated, with the primary objective being to increase flight safety."
Click to expand...
I need more details. Many aircraft are repaired with "serious structural damage." And registration has nothing to do with it.

Could the engine have been salvaged and overhauled? Sold as used?
 
Domenick said:
I need more details. Many aircraft are repaired with "serious structural damage." And registration has nothing to do with it.

Could the engine have been salvaged and overhauled? Sold as used?
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I get what you’re saying but in the end his airplane his choice.

Hell I know of a pilot who couldn’t sell his airplane so he crashed it (well, gear up). In the end his plane his choice.
 
Dana said:
According to the video description on youtube:

"A NOTE ABOUT THE AIRPLANE... This aircraft is deregistered, and due to serious structural damage, not airworthy. As this aircraft was destined to be scrapped in the junkyard, we wanted to give it one last purpose in life as an instructional aid to more effectively educate the aviation community on topics that could otherwise not be demonstrated, with the primary objective being to increase flight safety."
Click to expand...

I think we all get that it was a plane that was no longer airworthy and beyond economical repair. That's when all aircraft get sent to a boneyard, whether it's a C-150 or an Airbus A380.

But what these folks did wasn't salvaging an aircraft. The engine was rebuildable or at least had a significant number of usable parts. and the aircraft (that they took a sawzall to) also no doubt had a significant number of usable parts that are then used in other aircraft still in the fleet.

What they did was just a waste.
 
I enjoyed the video and got a few things out of it... don't think too deeply into it, folks. That aircraft wasn't going to fly again either way, and it belonged to him, so it costs the viewer nothing.

I was surprised to see smoking oil come out while the temperature gauge creeped up very slowly. Though it makes sense, I hadn't really envisioned that happening. I was also surprised it ran for such a long period of time with no oil, and it was interesting to see how throttle and mixture position adjustments affected power output.
 
Bill Jennings said:
I get what you’re saying but in the end his airplane his choice.

Hell I know of a pilot who couldn’t sell his airplane so he crashed it (well, gear up). In the end his plane his choice.
Click to expand...

:D

That incident was shocking. One of the world's best pilots put it down on the runway with the little black round things still stored in the aircraft.

If he can make that "mistake", what chance do the rest of us have to survive?

:D :D
 
If you fly a Beaver you can always add as you go, yellow oil cap lower center of picture...:rolleyes:

1306beaver3.jpg
 
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