Innodyn Turbine in a Long Eze

[Me 163]

Hello,

has anybody hung one of those turbines in a Long Eze or Varieze?

 

http://www.innodyn.com/aviation/innodyn_turbines.html

(nice video link in there for a RV-4 equipped one)

They are pricey ~$28K, but burn JetA or Diesel.

 

Thanks

[Drew Swenson]

It does not really appear to be much more expensive than a Lyc (maybe somewhere between buying a new O360 or buying a new O360 + 1 overhaul).

 

I did not see what the TBO on this engine was. My swag would be somewhere between twice a Lyc TBO to 5 times---then again, maybe even more than that.----Like I said, I did not see the data posted on the page. If my guess on TBO is somewhere within range, this may be a very good buy.

 

Pretty cool though!

[athomp58]

It's best to keep your $$ in your own pockets on this one guys. Innodyn has taken many deposits and delivered zero engines after many years of advertising and exhibiting that CNC machined chunk of aluminum at shows. You will notice that the website promises future information in January of 2005. They have yet to publish dynomometer information for this engine. With a single stage turbine and a single stage compressor, one would need to discover some new principles of physics to achieve the results they have advertised.

 

Aubrey

[rpellicciotti]

You beat me to it. I was going to say that I am pretty sure no one has hung one of these engines on anything except the prototype and 1 customer installed unit.

 

Long history of promises and taking money with nothing delivered. Reminds me of Jim Bede.

 

That said, there might be some CG issues with this engine on a stock Long-EZ. The other problem is that the hot exhaust from the turbine has to go through the prop. It takes some exotic materials, I believe, on the props of the Starship and Piaggio in order to accomplish this.

[Nathan Gifford]

There is no reason to look at the Innodyn until units are delivered and pilots report the performance. Since it is really based on the the Solar T62 turbine, it is a little hard to get excited about it.

 

Other engines show much more promise: Mistral, Delta Hawk, etc. Some of these are already delivering powerplants.

[Spodman]

That said, there might be some CG issues with this engine on a stock Long-EZ. The other problem is that the hot exhaust from the turbine has to go through the prop. It takes some exotic materials, I believe, on the props of the Starship and Piaggio in order to accomplish this.

 

I don't have any direct knowledge, but have an authoritive sounding email at home claiming turbine exhaust temperatures aren't much different to what is emitted by a 13B!

[rpellicciotti]

I supposed that could be correct especially if the exhaust is brought out well upsteam of the prop. I think Nick U. is pondering a turbine installation (Allison/Rolls Royce) on his project. It will be interesting.

 

Of course, if turbine exhaust on the prop is a problem, you could always eliminate the prop:

 

http://www.ezjetinc.com

[Barry in Wiregrass]

Of course, if turbine exhaust on the prop is a problem, you could always eliminate the prop:

 

http://www.ezjetinc.com

What a better answer! I am a helo mech and use to seeing most turbine shafts coming out of the intake side of an engine connecting to a gear box of some sort. I would think that the issue would be keeping the splines properly lubed with the heat constantly beating at the seals. Someone smarter than me could probably come up with a solution to that but...

[JCPJCP]

Here is some info on small turbine fuel consumption:

 

http://www.vtol.org/pdf/2006PSUundergrad.pdf

 

Read the section on the turbine..........

 

John