Rotax 914 Turbo
Tecnam Astore 2015, Serial # 43. Flight 4/10/20:
Flying with one passenger. Twenty miles south of destination, ATW, I started to descend from cruising altitude of 7500’ MSL. Smelled smoke in cockpit. One-two minutes later, smoke was visible. Engine gauges all in green including one cylinder head temp, oil pressure, oil temp, fuel pressure, manifold pressure.
Turned off cabin heat, turned on vents. Smoke cleared. Began to lose oil pressure, and engine power. On two mile base leg, I declared an emergency. Tower could see smoke trailing behind plane. Landed uneventfully.
Took cowlings off. The engine had an oil change about five hours previous. There were a few drops of black oil on left lower cowling aft of filter. Filter, quick release drain tight with no evidence of leak. Scorching seen forward and about turbo which sits adjacent to the metal cuff around exhaust manifold for cabin heat. Belly of plane stained a bit with what looked like a smoke origin vs liquid oil. Can not be certain drops of oil and scorching were related to the cause or an effect of the failure.
About a pint of oil was drained from the reservoir.
Comments, advice welcome. Tecnam USA has been notified.
Would like to hear about any similar experiences, problems.
