Overhauls and repairs of Lycoming and Continental engines

We perform repairs and overhauls of Lycoming a Continental piston engines in certified and non-certified versions. Our organisation holds an EASA approval No. CZ.CAO.0010.

Maintenance of certified engines is offered to customers in EASA countries and other countries recognising an EASA Form 1 release. Maintenance of non-certified engines (to be installed on aircraft with no type certificate) has no geographical limitations; airworthiness release documentation can be adapted to customer's needs.

Every Lycoming or Continental engine type exists in many models. Despite the general similarity, these models may differ a lot in their characteristics and compatibility, and searching for information on Internet may sometimes produce misleading results. Call us, and our engineers will offer you several solutions to your problem. We know how to save you money without compromising quality and airworthiness.

Samples of our work

Since 2015, we have overhauled over 50 engines. Here are some of them.

Engine maintenance in detail

Engine diagnostics

Diagnostics is a crucial part of maintenance. Just like in medicine, a misdiagnosis leads to treatment of the wrong organ for the wrong disease.

We use all the diagnostic techniques prescribed by the manufacturer. Their comprehensive application is what allows us to perform comprehensive repairs.
We employ every existing technique where needed: whatever we cannot do in house, we subcontract to specialists.

Nondestructive testing techniques in our work include:

• Visual inspection
• Magnetic particle inspection
• Fluorescent penetrant inspection
• Eddy current inspection
• Ultrasonic inspection

Major maintenance

Major engine maintenance falls under several categories:

• Overhaul (or "major overhaul" as it is often termed) of certified engines
  The engine is completely overhauled in accordance with manufacturer's specifications. It involves replacing two categories of parts:
  – Replacement on condition, when the part no longer meet the specifications;
  – Mandatory replacement regardless of condition, prescribed by the manufacturer.
  The spare parts used for certified engines are either manufacturer's original items or third-party equivalents certified by FAA for use on certified engines under the Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) program, plus some standard parts (such as bolts, nuts, washers, seals) with a certificate of conformity.
  This overhaul procedure is required for all aircraft with a type certificate.
• Overhaul of non-certified engines
  This is also a complete overhaul with full engine teardown, but the mandatory replacement is limited to rubber and paper gaskets, lockwashers and similar short-lived parts. Other components are thoroughly inspected and can be reused if they are within dimensional limits and no unacceptable defects have been discovered by nondestructive testing. Replacement parts in this case may also come from non-certified manufacturers or our own specialist subcontractors.
• Top overhaul
  Despite the colloquial name, this repair does not officially count as an overhaul. It does not involve a complete disassembly of the engine – we merely remove cylinders and pistons, check everything that's accessible, and perform repair on condition or in accordance with the operating time logged.

Minor maintenance

Lots of different minor troubles can happen to an engine – to each of them, we have a solution or two. Repair scope and pricing is negotiated with you on a case-by-case basis.

Component maintenance

Individual components, assemblies or ancillaries on Lycoming and Continental engines may be repaired as necessary in the context of whole engine repair or, in case of non-certified engines, as a separate order:

• Crankshaft maintenance
  Inspection for cracks, measurement of journal and propeller flange runout
  Grinding and polishing to undersize
  Nitriding
  Matching of bearing inserts to crankshaft: regular or undersize, original or PMA
• Cylinder maintenance
  Grinding to oversize
  Valve replacement (or reconditioning for non-certified engines)
  Replacement of valve guides (regular or oversize)
  Honing (in the context of oversize grinding or to restore the oil-retaining finish of the cylinder bore)
• Crankcase repair
• Cylinder assembly building
  Cylinder assemblies can be built to your order.

Maintenance of ancillaries

For certified engines, ancillaries are serviced in the context of whole engine maintenance. Non-certified engine ancillaries can be serviced separately.

• Overhaul and repair of alternators by Chrysler, Aerotec, Falcon, Tempest, Hartzell and others; conversion of automotive alternators for non-certified engines
• Overhaul and repair of starters by Delco, Hartzell, B&C, Sky-Tec, Falcon, Tempest and others
• Overhaul, repair and 500-hour service of Slick and Bendix magnetos
• Overhaul, repair and modification of Marvel-Schebler (MSA) and AVStar carburetors
  

...and any other ancillaries.

Sourcing and sales of spare parts

Sourcing the right parts for an American aircraft engine is a non-trivial and multifaceted process. There are several aspects to spare part selection:

• New or used: the price difference can be tremendous. The risk of failure also varies from very low for new certified parts to reasonable for airworthy used parts with proper documentation and verified service time, to very high for undocumented used parts (which cannot go on certified engines and otherwise need a thorough inspection and testing).
• Original or third-party. Third-party components, in their turn, can be certified (FAA PMA) or non-certified.
• Purchased (see above) or produced in house. In-house fabrication is a routine occurrence in case of non-certified or very old engines that are no longer supported by the manufacturers and installed on homebuilt aircraft.

We handle all kinds of spare parts and can offer you different options for purchase and fabrication.

Remote technical support

Over the years we learned from experience how difficult it is to make the right decision – which way to proceed when your aircraft develops a technical issue. Younger folks often have it easier if they are used to researching information on the web and reading forums to learn about other people's experience with similar situations. On the other hand, many aircraft owners are simply unable, unwilling or too busy to find the information they need in order to buy the spare parts or perform the work themselves. We can assist you with decision-making, component purchasing, and the actual work.