General Aviation: Pros and Enthusiasts Benefit From Lycoming’s Piston Engine School

At the Lycoming Piston Engine Service School in Pennsylvania, students can learn about the construction, operation and servicing of the Lycoming engines or they can take a course in disassembly and reassembly. Either way, there is a lot to discover.

Do you own a Lycoming piston engine? Do you work on them? If so, you might enjoy taking a class at the Lycoming Engine Service School in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The four-day class, which is offered by the Pennsylvania College of Technology of Penn State University, covers the construction, theory of operation, servicing, and troubleshooting of Lycoming reciprocating engines.

This $600 course is offered 12 times a year, with spaces for 12 students per class. For those who are interested in a deeper understanding, the Lycoming Piston Engine Service School also offers a course in disassembling and reassembling Lycoming engines six times per year, which costs $550.

I attended the course on March 22 and interviewed the instructor, James Doebler, and some of the students.

Lycoming Engines, which is a subsidiary of Textron, supplies about 75 percent of the piston engines used in general aviation and about 85 percent of new general aviation engines, according to Doebler.

The Instructor

Doebler, who is the department head of the Aviation Center of the Pennsylvania College of Technology, knows Lycoming engines like the back of his hand. He has taught the course for 12 years and has more than 40 years of aviation experience. In addition to teaching this class, he has worked in FBO shops, taught A&P courses, and taken calls for the Lycoming service department. Doebler has also licensed more than 800 mechanics in his role as a designated examiner.

Although he is no longer an employee of Lycoming (the Pennsylvania College of Technology gives this class under a contract with Lycoming) Doebler says that Lycoming treats him "like one of their own." For instance, Lycoming consults with him about design and maintenance issues.

In addition to teaching the school in Williamsport, Doebler regularly takes his show on the road, teaching the Lycoming servicing course all around the world, including Finland, Greece and the Dominican Republic. His most recent overseas trips were to Vera Cruz, Mexico in June and to Brazil this month. Additionally, Spain and Belgium have asked to be schooled. In many of these nations, the client is the nation’s air force.

In addition to knowing what he is talking about, Doebler is also a man who likes what he is doing. He says he wants to teach the Lycoming courses for another 12 years.

The Classes

Doebler walks his students through the parts and systems of the Lycoming engine one part or system at a time, from the crankshaft, camshaft, crankcase, connecting rod, cylinder and piston assembly, and valve train through the lubrication, ignition, exhaust, induction fuel, and turbo-charging systems. As he describes each part, assisted by PowerPoint projections, he hands the relevant part to the students so that they can examine it. (A Lycoming engine and boxes of parts are in the back of the class). He also uses the Socratic technique: "What does this part do?" "What happens if this hole gets blocked off?" There is a lot of give and take between Doebler and his students and Doebler will answer any question.

To describe the physics behind each part or system, Doebler uses metaphors involving water and household appliances. For instance, a float type carburetor works like toilet valve. The fuel mixture control works like a faucet. The throttle control works like a dam. To describe the mechanism for shutting off fuel flow, Doebler analogizes to putting your thumb on a straw.

For each part or system, Doebler also highlights common trouble-shooting issues and remedies. Some of these problems, such as a plugged bleeder valve, have resulted in crashes. He also teaches optimal operating procedures. For instance, he described the best way to start a hot Lycoming engine. He does a stirring vocal imitation of what an engine sounds like when it is started using the wrong procedure.

The Students

People from a variety of walks of life attend the course. I group them into two basic groups: professionals and hobbyists. Professionals include licensed mechanics, instructors from A&P schools, engineers, spark plug manufacturing employees, Lycoming employees and liability lawyers, Cessna sales people, FAA and NTSB employees. The hobbyists include amateur pilots and home aircraft builders.

This particular class was long on retirees and home builders, like Claude Van Vooren, from Louisville, Kentucky. In his retirement, Van Vooren built his own plane, a Glasair, which is "in the hospital" with Lycoming for an engine overhaul. "After 50 years of flying," he said, "it’s time to find out how things work." He praised the Lycoming engines, which he characterized as straightforward and easy to work on, compared to modern automobile engines.

Dan Hopkins and Mike Mahar from Cleveland, Ohio are building a wood-framed GP4 from a kit. They took the course because they have had bad experiences with engine rebuilders. They want to rebuild their engine themselves and plan to take the disassemble/reassemble class in November. Mahar raved about the value of Doebler’s instruction.

Gray-bearded Tom Doris, an electrician for the New Jersey State Correctional System, had built an RV6A with a Lycoming engine from a kit manufactured by Vans. He found out about the piston service school through a magazine and he was glad he did. Doris viewed the class as "my kind of vacation — learning about what I love." He said, "Jim Doebler is a treasure trove of useful information, some of which could keep you alive." Doris also had rave reviews for Lycoming, which he said, "has a tremendous track record." He was especially thankful for Lycoming’s telephone advisors. Doris also plans to come back in November to take the disassemble/reassemble course.

The class included a father and son team from Cessna, Lycoming’s sister corporation, in Wichita. Tom Moody, who has been with Cessna for 30 years, is a Cessna air safety investigator. A commercially trained instrument pilot, Moody likened Doebler’s instruction to an A&P mechanics refresher course. Tom’s son, Brian, is an A&P who worked in the Cessna service center for five years, although he is currently working in trade compliance.

How to Register

Students who attend the course get a certificate without having to take a test. The certificate can be used to qualify for the Inspection Authorization Renewal Program under FAR 64(a)(4). College students can take the course and get college credit if they pass a test. International certification bodies frequently give credit for the course to international students.

Upcoming dates for the Lycoming Piston Engine Service School are September 24-27, October 1-4 and November 12-15. For your $600 registration fee, you get a complete set of Lycoming engine service instructions and an one-year subscription to all Lycoming service bulletins, letters and instructions.

The disassembly/reassembly course will be held from September 14-18 and November 16, 19-20. According to Doebler, this course can be useful, since it is very easy to damage the engines while they are being disassembled. While the disassembly/reassembly course might be useful to hobbyists who want to overhaul their engines, the full overhaul course takes seven weeks.

To get there from out of state, most people take a US Airways Express flight from Philadelphia, which is the only commercial flight into Williamsport. Of course others fly their own planes right up to the school. Doebler recommends that those who fly in stay at the Holiday Inn, which gives a discount rate. Someone from the school will ferry you to and from the school every day. Located in North Central Pennsylvania, Williamsport is a fairly long, but scenic drive from hub cities like Philadelphia or Pittsburgh or even from Harrisburg. If you drive, don’t be shocked when you see the sign that you are entering Lycoming county. While Lycoming Engines is an important employer, the company was named after the county.

The Web site for the Lycoming Piston Engine School is www.://lycoming.textron.com/support/training/piston-engine-service-school.jsp. To register, you can call 570-327-4775 or fax 570-321-5546.