Had to pick between a full engine teardown or just the accessory gearbox on a King Air last week.

The pilot reported a rough mag check and some metal in the oil filter. I was looking at pulling the whole thing for a major, but the borescope showed clean cylinders. I went with just dropping the gearbox... found a cracked idler gear housing. Saved the owner about $15k in labor and parts. Has anyone else had a King Air try to trick them into a bigger job than it needed?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_wesley15d ago

A cracked idler gear housing from just a rough mag check? That's wild. Good catch saving them from a full teardown. These planes really do try to sneak the big bills past you sometimes.

miles94615d ago

Honestly makes you wonder what else might be hiding in there, @the_wesley. Good thing you caught it before it turned into a real party.

emmaj339d ago

Yeah, "sneak the big bills past you" is so true... I used to think differently.