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Mike M
08-17-2013, 11:49 AM
Mike Busch's article is well worth reading if you haven't yet. He explains how borescoping doesn’t require a fancy aviation-grade borescope. The value of a borescope inspection depends on whether the person knows what to look for, not the price of the equipment. Few A&Ps or IAs are trained, yet he says borescope inspection is not difficult. You can learn most of what you need to know in about 30 minutes by looking at a bunch of borescope images of good cylinders and bad cylinders. He notes lack of adequate training has hampered acceptance of borescopy, but he's optimistic it will change. This ability to capture digital images with new, comparatively low-cost digital borescopes - heck, I've even seen a cheap Chinese dental tool turned into a "borescope" - that capture email-able images means that mechanics can capture images and send them over the Internet to an expert for interpretation.

Now the questions.

Since Mike (a prolific author and acknowledged expert) hasn't found schools or textbooks for this, who does one go to for the 30 minutes' worth of annotated good/bad photos? Who has the resources to accept digital photos over the internet and advise the "photographer"? Who is a fellow EAA'er more interested in aviation safety and shared information than making a buck on the ignorance of others?

Might it be that we can collectively beg the guy who notes, "My company manages the maintenance of nearly 500 piston airplanes, more than 80 percent of them Continental powered. We always ask that the shops performing annual inspections on “our airplanes” follow the guidance of SB03-3 to the letter. We want every cylinder borescoped at every annual..." to put 30 minutes' worth of those 2400 or more borescope photos he's collecting every year so we can learn from them, too?

Last question. Is there room on the EAA website to host Mike's annotated photo album of the maybe good and the probably suspect?

In case there's any doubt, MIKE BUSCH, I'M BEGGING!

Jim Rosenow
08-17-2013, 02:48 PM
+1

tysonr
08-20-2013, 06:18 AM
+ another 1

Also would appreciate any advice from Mike or others on which boroscope brands (dental or otherwise) to look for and which brands to avoid.

Aaron Novak
08-20-2013, 01:11 PM
I read Mikes article as well. Unfortunately as passionate as he is about saving customers money, I think he needs a bit more education on engine inspection and the science behind it. In the article in question he fails to make it clear that the leakdown test is the "final answer" method, and that the borescope is a tool to help diagnose problems as well as to check for condition. No matter how good the cylinder looks to the naked eye, if the leakage is high it gets pulled, and that makes perfect sense. I do agree that there are a lot of mechanics out there that probably are not intimate with power cylinder inspection, but some are. The best are the factory guys from the engineering departments of the engine companies, and would probably be the best qualified to put such a training together.

BTW we use a lot of Olympus and Hawkeye scopes. All take some getting used to. I personally like to have a solid optical strand, or a camera right on the end. The cheap flexible optic cable ones dont have the clarity.

DaveB
01-28-2014, 07:50 PM
Have you tried goggling SB03-3. It takes you to a Continental service bulletin with pictures near the end.

RickFE
01-29-2014, 08:47 PM
The Continental Factory service school in Alabama covers borescoping in their curriculum. They cover it a bit in their courses at airventure as well.

crusty old aviator
02-21-2014, 04:10 PM
The best borescope I ever used was one a friend had found on a house that had been raided by the FBI, DEA, or ATF, or maybe all three. They used it through holes in the walls to see where all the occupants were to determine the best time to bash in the doors, then left it there, still in one of the holes. He called them and told them about it, but they never came around to pick it up, so after several years, out to the hangar it went. He considers it a tax rebate, like big corporations get for moving their factories somewhere else.

Mike M
02-21-2014, 06:55 PM
The best borescope I ever used was one a friend had found on a house that had been raided by the FBI, DEA, or ATF, or maybe all three. They used it through holes in the walls to see where all the occupants were to determine the best time to bash in the doors, then left it there, still in one of the holes. He called them and told them about it, but they never came around to pick it up, so after several years, out to the hangar it went. He considers it a tax rebate, like big corporations get for moving their factories somewhere else.

Sounds great to me. Better to use it than have it corrode.

tspear
02-23-2014, 01:16 AM
BeechTalk has a great thread with pics. Registration is free. (I am also on BT)
http://www.beechtalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=51426

Tim