By me
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While it is somewhat less exciting than the movie of the same name (even though it involves a similar amount of mechanical ingenuity 😀 ), one event at Lučko back in May certainly gave rise to a bit of optimism, pride – and, not least of all, a fair bit of relief. The occasion in question was the return to flight of our much-loved Cessna A185F 9A-BKS, signalling its eagerly-awaited return to service after five long years on the ground. Covered in part by another post on here, BKS had suffered a prop strike back in 2008 which had seen it confined to the hangar until its prop and engine could be repaired – a process that, through various financial setbacks, took almost four and half years to complete…

However, while the aircraft was airworthy and fully certified as June dawned, one important issue still remained before BKS could be given a clean bill of health and returned to active duty as a skydive platform – the engine break-in period. Like all new and overhauled engines, BKS’ IO-520 needed a 25 hour run-in period during which the piston rings would gradually wear themselves out and begin to lubricate the cylinders properly, boosting the engine’s efficiency and power and generally returning it to “its old self”. This however requires treating the engine with the utmost care, flying it gently and at relatively low power settings, all the while ensuring it is being properly cooled to compensate for the poor oil distribution – not all that easy to do if you’re flogging it at maximum continuous power for half an hour as you haul half a ton’s worth of skydivers to altitude at low speed :).

To avoid making a hash of it, AK Zagreb – the owners of the aircraft – had decided to send it out on a number of extended cross-country flights, which would also have the added benefit of providing long periods of steady cruising and allow the crew to check fuel flows, oil pressures and various temperatures against the operating manual :). Naturally enough, I’d quickly found my way onto several of these flights – and while I was relegated to being the ballast in the tail, I did at least have the time (and cabin space!) to enjoy the scenery outside…