PA-28R Cherokee Arrow All Series
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Commercial
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100; Flight Crew Total 700; Flight Crew Type 15
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Inflight Shutdown; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
At the time I was practicing maneuvers in preparation for my Initial Flight Instructor practical test. I was flying a Piper Arrow PA-28R-200 operated by the flying club. When I applied power to climb out of eights on pylons; the engine started running very rough. I picked a field and set up to land. Engine quit when power was reduced to idle. I landed without putting a scratch on the airplane. The Mechanic went out the next day and determined that the #3 cylinder had failed. Upon further investigation; it turned out that the valve stem broke from the valve head; destroyed the piston; and the cylinder head got stuck in the piston. The valve stem was separated from the valve head and part of the stem was still in the valve guide. Debris had then gotten from the #3 cylinder into the #4 cylinder; causing damage to the #4 cylinder as well. The Mechanic came out to the field for a few weeks and replaced the cylinders and parts that had failed and were damaged. Three weeks later; it was flown out of the field and returned back to its home.I was advised that you might be interested in this for the records. It was not a reportable incident or accident so it would normally not show up in any statistics; etc. P.S. - I passed my CFI check ride 2 months later after the airplane was repaired
The valve stem of a PA-28 broke which destroyed the number three cylinder and piston; subsequently damaging cylinder four. The engine then quit but the pilot made a successful off airport approach and landing.