Just thinking out loud guys I am a little confused here, it seems I have got my wires crossed or some previous posters have got there’s crossed in regards to detonation.
it has been explained in this thread as basically a huge force pushing down on the rising piston …I always believed this to be a result of pre-ignition and results in instant destruction ? pre-ignition is caused by a red hot carbon ember or other hot spot igniting the charge as the piston is rising.
And detonation as I understood it was the spontaneous detonation of the remaining unburnt fuel/air charge or “end gas “as it’s referred, under high engine load.
As I understand it depending on the size of the engine detonation in itself isn’t necessarily instantly destructive as it happens after ignition as the piston is on its way down and the “pinging” you hear is actual structure of the engine resonating and vibrating as a result of the sharp pressure increase of the end gas detonating , basically the larger the engine the more resistant it is to detonation, to a point.
That being said , in the relatively quiet confines of a car its easy to hear an engine detonating in an aircraft it’s a different story pretty much the only way to tell if you have a cylinder detonating or about to is close monitoring of cht and egt on each cylinder.
My question.............is this scenario plausible
Given that some Jabirus may have cooling issues (a factor for detonation) and Jabiru have acknowledged engines are detonating , say an aircraft has been flying lands refuels , changes students whatever the engine is sitting there heat soaking in the cowl, restarts either taxis to the end of the strip or run up bay all the while temps are getting a little warmer ….line up temps are high but in the green open throttle engine is now drawing hotter than normal air from the cowl increasing the fuel/air charge temperature (another factor for detonation )
Halfway down the takeoff roll a cylinder starts detonating the pilot is unaware, aircraft rotates and begins climb out , temp in cylinder is reaching critical stage the spark plugs heat range is beyond capacity and starts to glow red hot, pre-ignition occurs with the resulting catastrophic failure of the engine .
Like I said I am just thinking out loud I just find it strange a through bolt can fail so quickly without any indication .
Jason