REFLECTOR: A question about engines

[Ron Brown]

I am a big fan of auto engines in airplanes.  The durability in general is not an issue - these same engines run hard all day in boats - although boats do have a much better cooling supply.

When I started my Velocity studies, I considered the Chevy V6 and V8's.  They are tough, low cost, very proven engines and I live in the middle of NASCAR country - there's a bunch of expertise, parts, etc. here.

In my mind, the availability of reliable reduction drives is the biggest problem followed by cooling systems.  Solve those two problems, the rest gets pretty easy.  But those are tough nuts to crack - ask Tim England.  He says he spent more time developing his Chevy V6 engine than he spent building his Velocity.  Another consideration - we are already building an experimental aircraft. With the Velocity, the quality of the kit and support makes this easier.  But when you get to the engine, lots of questions and not many solid solutions.  

So I wimped out and bought a Lycosaurus - dependable, simple, and it didn't take long to install.  About 3-4 months out of my 3.5 years to build my Velocity.  I now have 160 hours on my plane and have had one bad plug on start up, a loose intake tube, and a mag that advanced itself mysteriously from 25 to 32 degrees all by it self - that is about it.  NO cooling problems, no redrive problems, and a simple Catto prop.  And I'm flying and loving it.  But a Chevy sure would sound GREAT!!!

Ronnie Brown
173 Elite RG
http://home.sprintmail.com/~romott/page10.html
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Randy Wharton 
  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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