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DYI borescope inspection for aircraft engines

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Disclaimer: I am a pilot, not A&P. I want to learn how to do my own borescope inspection for prebuy of used aircraft and for inspection of my own engines. These are my research notes.

Why This Matters

There is a big fixation on compression tests to determine engine health. This is plain wrong. An engine with 40/80 compression reads could be perfectly healthy with 1000s of hours to overhaul, while one with 78 compression reads could be on the verge of catastrophic failure. Borescope inspection is the way to go.

Where to start

  1. Watch this excellent EAA video How Healthy is your Engine from expert Mike Busch.
  2. Read Mike's blog post Putting Compression In Context on the same subject.

What equipment to use

  1. Use an intraoral dentistry camera. Higher quality photos than any borescope tool, and it's a 90 degree bend so works well inside cylinders. You will need to attach a light.
  2. Barring that, get a digital borescope that can record photos.
  3. Avoid cheap $200 borescopes, spend at least $800-$1000.Where can I get reference images on example borescope images and explanations

How to get references images from good and bad borescope exams

  1. All About Cylinders EAA video has many great color photos.
  2. See Continental Service Bulletin SB03-3

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