REFLECTOR: A question about engines

[Randy Wharton]

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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