At Jet Guys everything has a name or a nick name, it’s a simple method of keeping things in some form of order. A Vari Eze we were working on for a customer, ended up being purchased by a couple of friends of mine.
When you buy an airplane, you look it over, read the log books, but in the end you take your best guess. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
On this Vari Eze the engine book said 200 hours since overhaul, but the engine had that rode-hard and put away wet look. When you look through log books, you look for yellow tags and other paperwork from repair stations; also a lengthy statement from the shop or A/P who assembled the engine. This book did not include any of this. The only statement was that the engine had 2 hours on it since overhaul. Do you see the big red flag waving here?
After being in aviation for alot of years, you begin to understand that log books do not tell the whole story. We checked the end play on the crank, pulled a couple of cylinders, and with our vast knowledge and finely honed skills... we determined that puppy was all worn out. For us, this is not a big deal, but for some it’s the end of their dream.
The Jet Guys team used this as an opportunity for two old turbine guys to overhaul an 0-200. We can’t help ourselves, when something is in many pieces we just have to make it look cool.
You will find that a lot of things on airplanes are done for peace of mind, not for pure logic.
You are probably wondering why this Vari Eze got named the White Russian. I don’t have a clue, but it is kinda catchy.
Comments