Build A Plane's Elite Testimonial

  A little more than a year ago, I had the opportunity to participate in the Two Weeks to Taxi program offered by Glasair at their factory in Arlington, WA.  Build a Plane, a non-profit organization that works in formal partnership with the FAA to promote aviation education, brought in 4 high school kids to join me build a Sportsman 2 + 2 in just two weeks.  The project was incredibly rewarding, and you can only imagine how excited these kids were for the chance to build a real airplane.

  The Build A Plane Sportsman uses the new Lycoming IO-390, a certified 210 hp engine. As the project was nearing completion, I solicited professional advice from several industry experts with respect to oil. Is all oil more or less the same?   The answer turned out to be NO. I learned that the most popular aviation oil used a decades-old formula, and that there was a much newer, more modern and consequently more effective product on the market—ExxonMobil’s Elite aviation oil.  Elite, I was told, was based on newer technology and would do a better job of protecting our engine from corrosion and overall wear. Corrosion protection was particularly import since Build A Plane’s Sportsman would live at Santa Monica Airport, just a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean. I’m not a scientist, but much of the information presented to me was compelling.  

  We put the first 8 quarts of Elite into our IO-390 as soon as the aircraft engine’s break-in period ended.  The aircraft flew nearly 200 hours in its first year, crisscrossing the country to promote Build A Plane.  It seemed like no time had passed at all when the Sportsman was ready for its first annual.

  During the annual, we were lucky enough to have a visit from a Lycoming rep.  He wanted to examine the engine thoroughly and spent a long time with his borescope inspecting every nook and cranny.  I have to admit I was a little nervous.  What if he found some real trouble?  What if the break-in wasn’t done correctly or what if we were running the airplane too lean???

  When he was finished going over the engine, the rep looked up at me and asked what type of oil we were using?  Exxon Elite, I answered.  Then he began his report to me and I took out pencil and paper to record everything he wanted to tell me.  What he said turned out to be very simple.  He said that the engine looked brand new and in fact had not seen an IO-390 that was so well taken care.  Whew.  His advice to us was simple: whatever you’re doing, keep doing it!  Needless to say, Build A Plane uses nothing but Exxon Elite!

For more information about Build A Plane, please follow this link: BuildAPlane.org.