REFLECTOR: A question about engines

[Chuck Jensen]

Ronnie, that's cutting to the quick for Randy.  I respect and admire the person that has the fortitude, aptitude and patience to go the alternate engine route.  But if flying is your thing, Lycosaurus is still the way to get there quickly.  With that said, hats off to the pioneers with arrows in their chest.
 
Chuck
 
Do Not Archive
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org]On Behalf Of Ron Brown
Sent: Friday, February 04, 2005 9:10 AM
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: A question about engines


Oh yes, let me add a bit about the Crossflow Subaru.  My hanger mate still isn't flying.  The engine is mounted on a Lancair 320/360  It is running hot on the ground and isn't making full RPM (4000 rpm or so is all he can get), even though the Crossflow guy had been down twice to tune it.  The engine was installed last summer and still not flying yet.  The owner is an A&P and did a super job building his plane and installing the engine.  This was supposed to be a firewall forward package, but the supplied radiator had plastic tanks, was too big and bulky to fit under the cowl and had no design provided to get air to the radiator.  At least Eggenfeller's package includes radiators to fit behind the air inlets of an RV.  And oh by the way, he paid as much for his engine as I did for my Lycosaurus.  I'm flying - he's parked.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Randy Wharton <mailto:rwharton at buckeye-express.com>  
To: reflector at tvbf.org 
Sent: Friday, February 04, 2005 7:23 AM
Subject: REFLECTOR: A question about engines

I bought my XL kit last summer after taking the company XL-5 for a spin and loving it. 271TC has a Continental 550 on it, and I've just kind of planned on putting the same on mine. But I'm really getting daunted by the $40-45000 price tag, especially when I hear guys talking about Chevy V8s, Subaru's etc, even though I know that water cooling adds a new level of complexity, not to mention weight to the plane.
 
I know that if I throw the question out there about what people recommend, I'm going to get a ton of different answers, because everyone probably loves the powerplant they have, but I'm not committed to any particular one at this point. I'm quite sure that the Conti 550 is the premier powerplant, assuming that a Conti 550 is in the budget, but what I haven't found is a source (pamphlet or article, or something like that) that lays out the pros and cons . As with any engineering task, there are advantages and disadvantages that have to be weighed according to how the engineer wants to play the game, and much of it comes down to a personal choice.
 
Is there a single source for information on the tradeoffs between Continentals, Lycomings, Chevy's, Subarus, Mazda's, etc? I'm guessing probably not. But in any case, I'd welcome a discussion on what the considerations are for various options. I know it's a nebulous question, so I'm ready for a massive download of information. Thanks!
 
Randy Wharton
N248RB XL-RG
http://clik.to/velocity


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