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> Each one is almost always a direct response to a particular incident that killed people ...in 1970. Not saying that all aviation regulations are bad, but th
by stickfigure 6y ago
> Each one is almost always a direct response to a particular incident that killed people
...in 1970.
Not saying that all aviation regulations are bad, but the fact that carburetors are still used in general aviation is pretty damning.
- ksd482 6y agoInteresting. Can you please elaborate your point about the carburetors? Why shouldn't they be used in general aviation? I don't have much knowledge about engines, that's why I am asking you.
- redis_mlc 6y agoCarburetors are mainly susceptible to icing in normal use. Your engine can just start losing power and rapidly quit. I once had carb icing in Hawaii at 2000' near Wheeler due mostly to humidity, and it was only thorough training that allowed me to figure that out fast enough to apply carb heat and save the plane. A lot of inexperienced pilots just ride it down into the ground. Dual fuel injectors prevent the icing problem (usually, unless your fuel actually crystallizes or freezes), but they have other failure modes like dirt or wear. Or forgetting to turn them on.
- stickfigure 6y agoI'm not a pilot but I have a lot of experience with carburetors in cars and motorcycles. Carburetors are fiddly analog devices that require tuning by way of changing port sizes, needle valve sizes, float levels, mixture adjusters, throttle position adjusters, and more. Most of these require disassembly, and they clog and distort as the carburetor ages. Carburetors are highly sensitive to temperature and altitude. Tuning them is "more art than science". Modern fuel injection systems have digital control and feedback loops using a variety of sensors. They provide optimal fueling in pretty much any condition. They may be more complicated, but (at least in vehicles) they're rock solid reliable compared to carburetors. They also have more graceful failure modes - if the O2 sensor craps out, the computer defaults to running rich and puts a warning light on the dash. I'm pretty sure that if the carburetor was invented today, it would never be allowed to carry human traffic.
- bfuclusion 6y agoCarbs have an advantage when you're not going inverted: You can gravity feed them, with no fuel pump required.It would be interesting to run the numbers on fuel pump engine outs vs carb icing engine outs to decide which one was worse.
- s1dev 6y agoA good example of a recent technical failure where one likely alternative is "everyone dies" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_38 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_38 The engine needs to be able to run without electrical power, or you need to convince the FAA that your backup will fail with an extremely small probability. This is one of the reasons magnetos + carburetors are common in general aviation
- danaliv 6y agoNothing damning about it. It works. I know seven people who have experienced engine failures in general aviation airplanes. Not one had anything to do with the carburetor.
- p_l 6y agoCarburetor icing is pretty common cause of accidents, sometimes deadly. However, that is often compounded with "the plane was made in 1960s"
- looping__lui 6y agoLol. And don’t forget the choke... In planes it’s called the “primer” - and starting up the engines can be quiiiite tricky if you don’t know your plane. Especially in cold weather. I know plenty of people that ignited a carburetor fire on startup and the planes were almost write offs...