By Vic Syracuse, EAA Lifetime 180848
This piece originally ran in Vic’s Checkpoints column in the July 2024 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
In May’s column I promised an update on my proposed panel upgrade for the RV-10. Suffice it to say that it has happened, and I am happy with it. I will share the details in the next column. There’s a more important topic that I want to share with you this month, and it has to do with service bulletins (SBs).
Those of you who have been reading my columns over the years know that I have a firm stance on compliance with SBs, and especially airworthiness directives (ADs). I won’t let an aircraft leave our shop with a condition inspection unless all pertinent SBs and ADs are complied with.
I know many in the experimental aircraft world disagree with me, but I think we owe compliance to SBs and ADs for our friends, family, and passengers. In the early days of amateur-built aviation, most aircraft were single seat without electrical systems and have no resemblance to mainstream experimental aviation today. Most of the aircraft currently being built have two to four seats and are equipped for flight at night and on instruments, with some even being pressurized for flight in the flight levels.
Recently, my belief with regard to SBs was driven home to me personally. A few weeks ago, Carol and I were planning a trip to the SUN ’n FUN Aerospace Expo in the Hummingbird helicopter. Unlike the two-hour trip in the RV-10, the helicopter trek is a roughly six-hour flight, and it’s not capable of anything except VFR. Six hours of hand flying a helicopter can be a little tiring, so we break it up into shorter legs, which also adds an extra hour or two. After all, it is about enjoying the journey. I tell everyone if we have to be somewhere, we take an airline, and if we can be somewhere, we fly ourselves. I don’t like being backed into a timeline.
We’ve been so busy, and since we missed our usual Christmas trip due to weather, I thought we would leave a week early and enjoy some time at Cocoa Beach. The forecasted weather looked better at the beginning of the week, so the decision was made to leave early.
I had spent a lot of time preparing the helicopter, as I do with all my aircraft. I had just completed the first condition inspection during the first week of February. I like for the trips to be maintenance free. We departed early on a Monday morning, admittedly into lower ceilings than I normally like to fly the helicopter, but the weather was much better about 50 miles south of us. The ceiling was 1,200 feet, but visibility was excellent. Since I always fly the helicopter at 1,000 feet, which gives me about a mile in any direction if an autorotation is needed, I was comfortable with the situation. I figured I would fly at 600 feet above ground level, and that would leave enough of a cushion. The route was over unpopulated farmland and trees.
About 25 miles south of our departure airport, I felt a shudder in the helicopter. I had just changed the intermediate gearbox over the weekend, so it was top of mind, even though I had test-flown it for several days prior to leaving. I made a comment to Carol that “something didn’t feel right,” and I no sooner got the comment out when the shudder became strong enough that I gently reduced the collective to reduce the power but kept enough throttle to keep the engine and rotor needles synced. The vibrations got bad enough in the next few seconds that I was beginning to think we had a major rotor system problem.
I always have a field picked out in case of an emergency, and this was no exception. I made a gentle turn toward a cow pasture, and when we got to about 200 feet, Carol asked if we were landing. I always try to not alarm the passengers if something isn’t right, but I answered, “Yes, please prepare for a landing.”
It’s amazing how everything looks flat from cruising altitude, but not the same when you get closer. I had noticed a stretch of pavement in this field that looked like an old RC aircraft runway, but as I got ready to flare, I could see that the pavement was all broken up, and it sat on a high spot. I quickly made a turn to the left and floated over a depression and landed on another high spot, coming to a complete stop in the hover followed by a gentle set down. Yep, I was lucky! (Later, I downloaded the electronic flight instrument system data and saw that I reduced manifold pressure to about 12 inches when I noticed the shudder, and just as the groundspeed shows zero, the manifold pressure increases to 28 inches for the flare.)
After touchdown, I reduced throttle to 2200 rpm for the cooldown, and I checked the ignition systems, which were composed of one Slick magneto and one Lycoming electronic ignition system (EIS), which is a SureFly magneto rebranded by Lycoming. The engine was backfiring like crazy on the SureFly, so I immediately turned it off and felt relieved that I had found the source of the problem.
We got out of the helicopter and found ourselves in a standoff with a few dozen cows. I looked around for the bull but didn’t see one. While they all stood line abreast about 200 feet away, they stayed put, albeit mooing quite loudly at us. My first call was to Chris Gayman at Lycoming. Chris is the head of the Thunderbolt line. I explained the situation, and Chris responded that he knew what the problem was, and he would get a replacement out to us overnight. What great service! Carol and I were now trying to decide who was going to sleep with the helicopter and keep the cows away.
It turns out there was a Lycoming Mandatory Service Bulletin (No. 656) issued on February 13, 2024, which was primarily directed at Robinson helicopters using the Lycoming EIS. Lycoming and SureFly both missed notifying me because I was experimental, and they had forgotten about it. Both companies were profusely apologetic at SUN ’n FUN. SureFly doesn’t have any applications of its unit for helicopters.
Robinson has had quite a few failures of the units in the R44s, which basically have the same engine as our Hummingbird (AEIO-540). The gears in the units are failing. Testing has shown that the vibration levels in the helicopters, especially in the left magneto position, are much higher than anyone thought. The gears for the SureFly have been redesigned, and Lycoming is now planning on a 400-hour endurance test, which it hopes to have completed by midsummer. In the meantime, we need to replace the EIS units every 50 hours.
During the last year, I have flown the Hummingbird more than 140 hours. I am not comfortable with a 50-hour part, especially when it is the ignition system. Unlike in an airplane when a magneto fails and you can check the ignition systems and turn off the offending magneto, you don’t dare touch the ignition switches in a helicopter while airborne. There is no mass from a spinning propeller as there would be in an airplane, or airflow to keep the engine turning. If an ignition system is dead, the engine will quit immediately. Most likely you won’t get it started as you need to focus on the autorotation. So, in the meantime, I am replacing the SureFly and the Slick magneto with a pair of Bendix magnetos, which are proven installations for this application. Everyone agrees that is a good path for now. Once the problem is solved with the SureFly, I would like to continue to take advantage of it.
In summary, this experience has driven home my belief that all of us in the experimental world should pay attention to SBs, especially mandatory ones. I think that practice will keep the fun factor alive. Yes, we made it to SUN ’n FUN, and had a great time meeting many of you and putting names to faces.
Vic Syracuse, EAA Lifetime 180848, is a commercial pilot, A&P/IA mechanic, designated airworthiness representative, and EAA flight advisor and technical counselor. He has built 11 aircraft and has logged more than 10,000 hours in 74 different types. Vic founded Base Leg Aviation, has authored books on maintenance and prebuy inspections, and posts videos weekly on his YouTube channel. He also volunteers as a Young Eagles pilot.