NGC . Welp, this piston is shot.

[wavedog]

This piston was hiding out in a box of stuff in my shed. I found it today as I was organizing and cleaning. It came out of PW 1820 on the old C-47 I used to fly. I had a collection of these as changing them out was a regular occurrence. Most were a lot worse than this one. Holding it in my hand brought back some memories. Good thing I am not a drinking man.

[V7Record]

First plane I ever flew on was a DC-3 while I was in high school about 1974-5.  It was owned by the FAA and one of my teachers was in the Air Force Reserves.  He arranged to have the class take the flight, which the FAA used to circle the Twin Cities doing touch-and-go's at the smaller nearby airports while checking the IFR systems for the runways.  I think they did this weekly or monthly at the time.  I don't remember the name of the class but it was somewhat aviation focused in that we studied aviation meteorology and made survival kits. 
The kits were supposed to represent something that would fit and live in a plane, we turned them in and then got them back a couple months later in the middle of Minnesota winter when we were dropped in pairs in the woods for a weekend with a sleeping bag and our kits.  Since we likely wouldn't have time to catch any wild food each pair of students was given a live chicken.  At least I had hunted and knew what to do with it, many others didn't and went hungry.
Have had a soft spot for DC-3's/C-47's ever since.

[nc43bsa]

Out of curiosity, is that the result of sub-standard fuel, lack of maintenance, or something else?

[LowRyter]

when folks used to smoke, they made great ash trays. 

[rschrum]

Running a bit lean I would say.

[Murray]

  They will be flying long after the last jet gets parked.

I doubt that engine parts have been steadily more difficult to obtain over the last 25 years, all the WWII surplus have been burnt through and there is not enough flying to justify reopening the production line. Some of the PT6a conversion will keep on keeping on, beyond historical museum flights running them commercially doesn't make a lot of sense.

[s1120]

   That piston looks good, file the crown smooth and reinstall it. I've worked on DC3s in central and south america, in Africa and here in the States. They are the toughest aircraft existent.. They have flown with vegetable oil in their lube systems, diesel and solvents mixed with their fuels.  They will be flying long after the last jet gets parked.

I would think at this point the biggest issue will be having the right/enough fuel at the airstrips that you can land at. Im guessing good petrol is not a big seller at the big places full of jets. 

[Rough Edge racing]

 In 1955 when I was 8, me and dad flew to Florida from Newark NJ. a single tail 4 engine airliner, DC6 ?. Firing up the engines in clouds of smoke ..The exciting takeoff as the pilot reved the engines against the brakes. initial climb at high power loading, the engine cowls opened so you could see the red hot exhaust...At cruise the smiling pilot, cigarette in hand, talking to the passengers...Flying was an adventure.....

[wavedog]

 There used to be a place in Texas that had a large warehouse full of unused, factory new old stock wrapped in the old 40's and 50's paper, cardboard and wood boxes and cosmolene. It was glorious to go there and pick up a magneto or a couple of cylinder heads, piston, pushrods or whatever was needed for the P&W 1820.  They also had a lot of parts for the R2800 that was on another plane I used to fly. These parts had been preserved since they came from the factory. Taking them back to the hanger and opening them was like a trip back in time. It was almost a religious experience. It was a shame to put them on that old freight dog of a C47 and then fly it the way I did, but a guy has to make a buck.
 There used to be a few places that would rebuild parts for the radial engines in some of the ag-planes and the C47. Don't know if some of them are still in business. It's all turbines now- suck squeeze bang blow. Funny thing - the turbines were touted for reliability etc when I was flying airtankers working fire in the west, but the catastrophic engine failures that I have experienced on turbines outnumber the complete catastrophic failures on the radials that I flew behind. Maybe I am lucky.

[John A]

I worked at Southern Aviation, an FBO that was a repair station for radial engines and propellers after I left the military.  Radials are much more interesting to overhaul than turbines.  Other than the gearbox, there is not much to look at in a turbine internally. Lint from a rag can cause a catastrophic failure if it plugs an oil gallery.  Radials are more forgiving in nature and can be repaired in rough conditions easier but took more maintenance. ground fires were much more common so that was exciting sometimes. I remember unpacking parts that left the factory in the ‘40s, packed in cosmoline that were preserved so well it was heartbreaking to see them in a dumpster.  When they closed the repair station it was decided that rather than risk the liability it was better to destroy the irreplaceable parts. I left and became a migrant helicopter mechanic when they started doing that.  There was a time there was so much surplus in radial engine parts that they were almost worthless.  When an aircraft accident happens, it is customary to sue everyone that ever touched it, in the hopes that the big guys will find it cheaper to pay off rather than fight it in court.

[Rough Edge racing]

When in college in the early 70's I worked part time at a surplus aircraft parts warehouse in NJ.l ai think the name was Surplus Parts?. It was run by a Hungarian women who's husband bought up US Parts left over from WW2 and somehow shipped them to the USA....I had little interest in vintage planes then but I do remember pistons, cylinders, crankshafts etc...

[wavedog]

  One thing about old airplane parts, especially radial engine parts, is that if the part is bad and replaced and if the bad part sits on the shelf long enough, it magically becomes good again.