"Other" engines

[787Guy]

Seems to me there should be an "Other" engines topic header. Recently a guy in Tennessee hung a UL Power 6 cylinder engine on a Long EZ. I'm pretty excited to see how this goes for him as this engine weighs about as much as an O-235 and can put out up to 200Hp. Direct drive, electronic ignition and fuel injection - not cheap by any means but then again how much does it cost to put all that modern stuff on to a Lyconasarus ?

 

http://www.ulpower.com/news/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/6cyl-leaflet-lr.pdf

Edited October 29, 2014 by 787Guy

[Jon Matcho]

Seems to me there should be an "Other" engines topic header.

That would be the intent of this sub-forum, so good guess!  Please feel free to suggest an improvement to the catch-all sub-forum title here.

 

Speaking of ULPower, I've thought to add a section dedicated to that engine for a while now and will do just that shortly. It's a real and modern aircraft engine (designed from the ground up) that is available and being flown today, and so it deserves its own sub-forum here.

 

Recently a guy in Tennessee hung a UL Power 6 cylinder engine on a Long EZ. I'm pretty excited to see how this goes for him as this engine weighs about as much as an O-235 and can put out up to 200Hp. Direct drive, electronic ignition and fuel injection...

That would be Nate Mullins who has great things to say about that engine. From a page on the ULPower web site there is also a Quickie builder fitting an engine. From another coincidence, speaking with the original builder of my Quickie Tri-Q200 I found out that he is building a Thatcher CX4 and fitting it with a UL260iS.

 

...not cheap by any means but then again how much does it cost to put all that modern stuff on to a Lyconasarus ?

About the same for a 0-time Lycoming, but definitely less than a brand new Lycoming engine.

[Kent Ashton]

Not to discourage experimentation but they are about as pricey as a Lycoming and their biggest engine only puts out 130 hp at 3300 RPM.  That'd be OK except I suspect you'd need a custom prop for that rpm; a custom engine mount and perhaps the accessories would be different.  

http://www.ulpower.net/prices-us.html

 

I would recommend sticking with tried-and-true engines.  You can buy a first run-out Lycoming O-320 and overhaul it yourself for maybe half that.   Parts and know-how are readily available. 

[Jon Matcho]

They're based out of Europe.  Check Randy's link above for specs on their higher horsepower engines, which have not yet made it onto the US dealer's web site, but a 200hp model is being fitted in a Long-EZ.  Here's the main ULPower web site on their bigger engines.

 

I would recommend sticking with tried-and-true engines. 

 

At some point somebody had to come up with a new engine, so ULPower and Jabiru are it.  I hope they continue to be developed and tested.  Speaking of... I know a Jabiru project or two... 

 

You can buy a first run-out Lycoming O-320 and overhaul it yourself for maybe half that.   Parts and know-how are readily available.

 

This is the reality until the dealer/service network is established -- if you get stuck somewhere you could get stuck for a long time.  Until a 'used' market fully develops the primary market will always be considered cutting edge.

 

What's attractive to me (not that it matters at the moment, or even will in the future) is that a brand new top-of-the-line lightweight Continental O-200D is ~$27,000 while an equivalent, and arguably better, new ULPower engine is $6,000 less than that.  With the price of an overhauled O-200 being ~$20,000 ULPower will definitely be a consideration for some.  

 

For those that cannot buy new anyway, like me, we will follow your advice.

[Jon Matcho]

Nate has picked up this conversation in a post in the ULPower sub-forum.  Click over to there for what he has to say on the engine.