I was in a single engined cessna that flew in to a kite line and the nylon got wrapped around the propellor?

Question

This was years and years ago but I was wondering if that could have been dangerous

I was with a flying instructor and we flew to a beach and buzed it and then flew the thirty minutes back to the flight school

When we landed he looked at the propellor and there was a lot nylon string wrapped around the cylinder holding the propellor

He said we must have 'caught' the nylon string when we buzzed the beack of perhaps when we descended into the aerodrome at the end of the flight

Could this have caused the propellor/engine to fail?

Answer 1

The prop of a C172 is a solid piece of milled aluminum that weighs over 60 pounds.  It's connected to a 320 cubic inch engine.  I don't think a small nylon cord is any match for that kind of momentum.

Better look out for parasailers down in Jamaica too... that tow rope would be a different story.

Answer 2

I don't know the size of the nylon string they use for kite flying but I can't imagine it can do any harm to the propeller or the engine. Direct drive air-cooled engines like the Continental or Lycoming are quite sensitive to propeller strike but it shouldn't be any concern here.

Of course, you were flying in the US because that shouldn't happen in Europe since here we are restricted to minima 500 feet AGL anywhere, even over open sea!

Answer 3

No chance of engine or propeller failure, the kid that lost his kite will probably want a piece of you.....

Answer 4

Probably not dangerous but buzzing the beach was both dangerous and illegal. Your flying instructor should have known that he could have had his license suspended for that. If he knew (which he should have) and just didn't care I don't think I'd care to fly with him.

Answer 5

Apparently these answerers don't know what a lot of string wound around the end of the crankshaft can do to the crankshaft seal.

If not discovered and removed, it could cause the failure of the seal, and loss of engine oil.

Answer 6

it wasnt a good thing

Answer 7

No.

Answer 8

It would be very unlikely that anything bad would happen other than maybe some damage to the plastic cowl if the string got snagged.  It would never stop the engine.

eferrell01:  It would take an extremely smart kite string to wrap itself around the propeller, work its way into the cowl, up and over the ring gear (without breaking while going past the starter), then down to the crankcase, forward into the ring gear, and then down to the crankshaft, to eat its way through a solid inch of rubber enough to cause an oil leak.