REFLECTOR: A question about engines
Jim Sower
canarder at frontiernet.net
Fri Feb 4 23:07:52 CST 2005
Randy,
As you've experienced and I forgot to mention in my original reply,
there's an awful lot of stuff you're going to hear for and against auto
conversions, for and against LyCon that produce a lot more heat than
light. Much of the discourse is more theological than scientific. The
"True Believers" on both sides will exaggerate shamelessly to reinforce
their position. Andy's experience was a case in point: The guys saying
"... didn't want him flying over their house in an automotive conversion
... " evidently hadn't met the other 'reliable sources' who told you
"... big Continentals regularly need overhauled after 500 hrs since new
... have trouble making a 1400 hr TBO ... " etc. ... Mazda will fix your
life for $600 ... auto conversions can't be insured ... "certified"
guarantees quality ... anything "certified" is better than anything
else ... etc. etc.
Bottom line, you've got a LOT of building to do before you need an
engine and plenty of time to study up on the facts. One thing I WILL
guarantee is that when you really need an engine, the facts on the
ground around the whole controversy will be very much different from
what they are now.
So take your time and get ready to make an informed decision in 3 or 4
years ... Jim S.
Dave Dent wrote:
> I have been around the industry long enough to know that auto engines
> don't work in airplanes. No matter what those that are flying them
> say. Yes after many long months in putting one into an airplane built
> to house an airplane engine they would not emit that auto engines
> wont' work and take to long to get to work in the environment that
> aircraft fly. Let alone get insurance on the plane after it's in.
> It is not only not practical but a waste of time and money. Now if
> you want to just build and not fly go for it. But I have done them
> all. I am now working on a Glastar with a LOM/PRAHA in line inverted
> four in it. Never again. They may look cool and sound cool but the
> head aches that go with it, is not worth it. Stick to that what is
> proven and has many long hours of proof on it before looking at that
> Chevy V6 in the drive way.
> By the time you figure out how to put it into the plane and the cost
> to do it you could have gone out and bought a good mid time or even
> overhauled IO-540 and been flying a good year earlier.
> As far as the big certified engines I would go for the IO540 as being
> the best of all for the Velo XL. Yes you may climb faster with the
> 300HP plus engines but on the top end the speed difference isn't that
> much. You just burn more fuel. I fly an IO-540 with a fixed pitch
> prop and I have seen 190ks cruse and this is good enough for me. Much
> over that I am burning to much fuel and not getting the range I want.
> There is a weight penalty that goes with the larger engines as well.
> Also I have found that the Continental 520's and 550's don't make TBO
> where the 540's do with the 250/260 hp even more. If turboed, this
> cuts the TBO time down as well. Also higher maintenance and much more
> cost and unless you plan on flying over FL18 the turbo isn't worth
> it. It's just added weight. Now if you fly out of Denver at noon as
> a habit then go for it. Otherwise don't waste you money or time.
> You can get a very good IO-540 out of most aircraft salvage yards that
> come out of Piper Aztecs and others that make a very clean XL
> installation. I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Another engine
> people don't think of that is good is out of the older Bonanzas. The
> IO-470 260hp Continental. This engine was a very good engine and can
> make TBO 1500hrs, if flown right. There are number of them around.
> Check at the salvage yards. It is a very clean installation and worth
> looking into. The main thing on the Continentals you must watch for
> is the crank shafts. They seem to eat out the main bearings. The
> crank lies deep in the pan. On the Lycomings it's the cam shafts that
> have problems. That is if you are looking at a good used one.
> Also the mounting on these engine differ quite a bit. So consider this
> as well.
> I know I may get a lot of flack over this but after 45 years in the
> light aircraft business I think I have seen a lot come and go and I
> don't want to see those coming behind me make the same mistakes I
> made. Learn from others that have been there and done it.
> Dave
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Randy Wharton <mailto:rwharton at buckeye-express.com>
> *To:* reflector at tvbf.org <mailto:reflector at tvbf.org>
> *Sent:* Friday, February 04, 2005 4:23 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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