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Fascinating timelapse video shows five-tonne Airbus jet engine being changed hours before take-off

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Virgin Atlantic has released a timelapse video of its engineers replacing a five-tonne engine worth millions of pounds on one of its aircraft just hours before it flew across the Atlantic. (www.telegraph.co.uk) Mehr...

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Greg77FA
Greg77FA 4
Still have 3 engines if this one falls off.
wingspanav
Dennis Hester 4
As a young Captain flying a KC-135A on a training flight we experienced an engine failure just after start at Wright Patterson AFB in the early '70s. 55 minutes later we received a call to return to the plane where the maintenance supervisor called me into the cockpit and advised that the new engine had not been trimmed so just match power levers and watch temps. We departed on a critical support mission involving 5 legs and returned with nothing to write up! Great ground crew coordination!!!
PlainSpeaking
Brent Bahler 4
Just curious how many screws, nuts, and bolts hold that engine in place?
Ruger9X19
Ruger9X19 6
The bell mouth flange has around 46 bolts holding the intake, the Fwd mount has 3 bolts (2 Fwd, 1 aft) and the rear mount has 3 bolts connecting the engine, and way too many fuel, oil, air, and electrical connections.
picturetaker
I think it might be as few as 4 bolts, 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom.
chalet
chalet 2
Did they say how many hours are required for the change, and don´t they have to take a test flight to check the new engine aloft.
mhlansdell00
Mark Lansdell 1
According to Dennis Hester in his post he indicated the flight crew ran in the new engine replaced by squawk.
chalet
chalet 1
But not on a test flight
Ruger9X19
Ruger9X19 1
Usually an engine change can be done in during a single shift, as long as parts and tools are available.
As for flight testing it is regulated by §91.407 Operation after maintenance, preventive maintenance, rebuilding, or alteration, in paragraph b. this says "No person may carry any person (other than crewmembers) in an aircraft that has been maintained, rebuilt, or altered in a manner that may have appreciably changed its flight characteristics or substantially affected its operation."
However paragraph c gives us an out to the required flight test by stating: "The aircraft does not have to be flown as required by paragraph (b) of this section if, ... ground tests, inspection, or both show conclusively that the maintenance,... has not appreciably changed the flight characteristics ... flight operation of the aircraft."
Most (probably all) approved part 135 maintenance programs have processes that comply with paragraph c for engine changes.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=89293dd0ac02c2162501b12663971666&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title14/14cfrv3_02.tpl#0
chalet
chalet 2
I just read carefully this article and it says that the removal of the "old" engine and replacing it with a new one and testing takes 24 hours. Does not sound right to me, should be less, would not you say so.
Ruger9X19
Ruger9X19 1
With paperwork, coordinating run-up, and triming the engine, etc. It is not unreasonable for the plane to be down 24-36 hours. I frequently joke that I have 2 hours of paperwork for every hour of maintenance I perform.
chalet
chalet 1
A shift of 8 hours you mean. Anyway thank you for your explanation.
Ruger9X19
Ruger9X19 1
Apologies this is the correct link for §91.407 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?rgn=div8&node=14:2.0.1.3.10.5.7.4
chalet
chalet 1
A more "severe" engine change took place in February of this year at a remote Canadian airport when a Swiss Airline 777 had to land there when its left side GE90 had to be shut down. Very interesting reading.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/airlines/a25590/changing-worlds-largest-engine/
mhlansdell00
Mark Lansdell 1
I don't know much about R/R a jet engine but it's evidently a cleaner quicker chore than swapping out an RD501 in a class 7 or 8 truck. The fastest I could get it done was 8 hours. AC engines and pods must be set up with the mechanic and fast change out in mind.
JETmob
JETmob 1
Vid dsnt seem to down load
mhlansdell00
Mark Lansdell 1
No need for severe abbreviations. "plenty of room.
ericschminke
Eric Schminke 1
Why is it that reporters can't be specific on time frames? They stated that a 5-tonne engine was replaced "just hours" before takeoff. How many hours?? If it was 2 hours before takeoff, then say so in the HEADLINES. Furthermore, they stated that the engine was worth "millions of pounds". How many millions of pounds? This also applies to distances. In one "Air Disasters" documentary the narrator stated that a plane crashed "just miles" from the runway. How many miles? Every news outlet does this, and there's no reason for it.

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