Alternate Engines

[Eccentric]

Of course there are. Do Mazda rotary engined cars have engine failures less often than piston powered cars?

 

 

I can comment on this one, having owned 5 RX-7s. The 86 to 88 NA 2nd Gen RX-7s with the EFI 13B, same vintage that is in my plane, tend to fail the same way: after about 15 years the coolant o-rings get old and brittle and start leaking. Combustion pressure slowly blows the coolant past the pressure cap, overflowing the catch bottle. You will know this is happening when you see the coolant temp slowly rising. Tear down of these 150k to 250kmile engines show very little wear.

For aircraft use teflon o-rings are used instead of the Mazda rings.

 

 

I'm building with a 20B NA as my target power plant.

 

 

Good choice. I have a turbo 13B in a real engine mount bolted to a mockup LEZ firewall, a project that I started in 2001. I decided there is just no room in a LEZ for the turbo and the heat that it generates. Not to mention the potential reliability issues, and detonation will crack apex seals. A PPort NA 20B will be quite a performer.

[xanman31]

Too late to preach the Mazda gospel...I bought an EJ25 Subaru today...

[Eccentric]

Too late to preach the Mazda gospel...I bought an EJ25 Subaru today...

There is no religion in my posts, only facts. Best of luck to you!

 

Do as much testing as you can on the ground. Read the recent issue of Contact magazine to avoid the limp home mode that caused some grief to others.

[xanman31]

Thanks for reminding me..I need to subscribe...

[xanman31]

Hard to believe the inside of the engine looks next to new with 82,000 miles on it. I could not believe how good it looked. As sood as I get the timing belt and idlers changed I'm going to do a leak-down and see what happens. I went to a flyin at Louise Texas today and checked out a Glasstar with a NSI 2.5....gives me encouragment. The owner advised I may want to check out Maxwell about a redrive. I'll tackle going throught the factory wire harness tommorrow hopefully..

 

Curry

[chasingmars]

I've always addressed this in 10,000 words (or less.)

To be fair, in that pic, the recip engine is stripped to the last pin, while your rotor is sitting there all pretty and assembled, tip, corner seals, backing springs and all...

[TMann]

The picture was a depiction of moving parts only.

It's not a complete tear down.

[DemonFrog]

When i someday have money to start an open ez i plan on using a deltahawk 200 horse diesel engine in it

[Steve Innova]

While we're on the subject... did anyone see the "Vesta V8" display at Oshkosh? http://www.vestav8.com

 

Very tight firewall forward conversion packages. Uses Corvette and Honda VTEC engines with his own PSRU.

 

He also produces a line of constant speed props with very competative prices: http://www.vestav8.com/products2.htm

[dpaton]

Uses Corvette and Honda VTEC engines

Is there any info on the Honda PSRUs online? I couldn't find it, but since I have a couple of VTEC motors kicking around....

[wildhorsesracing]

When i someday have money to start an open ez i plan on using a deltahawk 200 horse diesel engine in it

Are there any other diesel options?

[DemonFrog]

of course http://www.aopa.org/pilot/features/future0008.html

[Marc Zeitlin]

of course http://www.aopa.org/pilot/features/future0008.html

You realize, of course, that that article was written in August, 2000, and is over 7 years old. Let's take a look at which of the engines mentioned in that article currently exist, are for sale, and are certificated:

 

Continental: no, no, no

Morane Renault: no, no, no

Deltahawk: yes, no, no

Lycoming: no, no, no

Zoche: don't make me laugh

Williams EJ22: no, no, no

Agilis TF-800: no, no, no

 

I feel like Amy Winehouse singing "Rehab". We're one for 21 in "yes"'s.

 

Two not mentioned were the Thielert and the SMA (was a collaboration with Continental), and they're the only ones that are yes, yes, yes to both.

 

So call it 7 for 28, if you want to be generous.

[DemonFrog]

i tried, besides, you never know what a company like lycoming or continental have hidden away

[Marc Zeitlin]

i tried, besides, you never know what a company like lycoming or continental have hidden away

That's true - look at all the exciting new engines they've developed over the past 60 years... :-).

[DemonFrog]

OUCH i guess that's why they are called lycosaurus though

[gianmarko]

i will gove this thread new life :-)

 

 

i have the chance to buy at a very good price a LE with a IO-360 engine. a friend flew it and said it feels very tail heavy, and rather twitchy. he didnt like it a bit, which is a little surprising.

 

i believe in light, sleek aircrafts rather than in heavy, powerful ones.

 

so i was wondering if there is any history of rotax 912 or 914 installed on LE.

 

the original LE, the one i was building, was supposed to be powered by a 100-118hp engine, therefore i reckon a 115hp 914 could be an option, considering the lower weight and lower fuel consumption of this powerplant.

 

i currently own a rotax 100hp powered airplane and i love this little, quiet, economic powerplant.

 

i am under 200lbs, and my wife would be my passenger. id gladly trade 20kts of speed for better range.

[TMann]

..... said it feels very tail heavy, and rather twitchy. he didnt like it a bit, ....

I would start by doing a W/B before I did anything. See the POH and treat it as though you were gettig it ready for it's first flight.

[Lynn Erickson]

i will gove this thread new life :-)

 

 

i have the chance to buy at a very good price a LE with a IO-360 engine. a friend flew it and said it feels very tail heavy, and rather twitchy. he didnt like it a bit, which is a little surprising.

 

i believe in light, sleek aircrafts rather than in heavy, powerful ones.

 

so i was wondering if there is any history of rotax 912 or 914 installed on LE.

 

the original LE, the one i was building, was supposed to be powered by a 100-118hp engine, therefore i reckon a 115hp 914 could be an option, considering the lower weight and lower fuel consumption of this powerplant.

 

i currently own a rotax 100hp powered airplane and i love this little, quiet, economic powerplant.

 

i am under 200lbs, and my wife would be my passenger. id gladly trade 20kts of speed for better range.

all the canards, no matter which engine, will feel that way if you are flying with the CG in the rear of the envelope. the rotax is a bit under powered for a long eze. the difference between a rotax and a IO 360 thats like the difference between a VW and Vette. I'll take the Vette

[gianmarko]

is it possible to reestablish a correct CG with a IO360 with hydraulic constant speed prop and without using a lot of ballast?

 

i remember Rutan recommending not to up the engine, which was adequate, and around which the airframe was designed...

 

 

 

 

 

all the canards, no matter which engine, will feel that way if you are flying with the CG in the rear of the envelope. the rotax is a bit under powered for a long eze. the difference between a rotax and a IO 360 thats like the difference between a VW and Vette. I'll take the Vette

[Lynn Erickson]

is it possible to reestablish a correct CG with a IO360 with hydraulic constant speed prop and without using a lot of ballast?

 

i remember Rutan recommending not to up the engine, which was adequate, and around which the airframe was designed...

as far as weight and balance goes the type of engine does not matter. the plane has to be balanced somehow, add ballast, heavier pilot, or move some thing in the plane like the battery. take off the CS prop. you don't need it with that big engine. it only hurts the top speed anyway. the 0235 was just adequate thats why you see so many 0-320 on long ezes and both Mike Melville and Dick Rutan have been flying a 360 for many years. i have over 400 hours on my IO 360 and would never go smaller. with the IO 360 I can cruse at 200MPH over the ground at 8500 feet and burn 6.5 GPH. go higher and its down to 5.5 at 11000 feet

[gianmarko]

re the re-establishment of CG with heavier engine using ballast and such. wont that change the resonnance frequencies of the airplane in the pitch axis? to be honest the only experience i have in this matter is airplane models, and ballast will always negatively impact this type of characteristics. just a rhetorical question, my canard flight experience is very small and plenty people seem to be happily flying 320 or 360 powered ez'es. even though i clearly remember RAF discouraging this practice.

 

but going back to my original question: i know the advantages of more power versus less power :-) however several considerations like AVGAS availability in europe, expecially in italy, its cost, up to 12 bucks a gallon or even more, the cost of spares and labour when it comes to lycosaurii, and my love for lightness were at the origin of my question. the performance of a 115hp long-ez would be perfectly adequate for my needs, and a 914 is turbocharged, with all the relative advantages. i think the lack of power would be a problem only on take off and already at 4 or 5000 feet the turbo would be an advantage

 

thats why i was asking if anyone has ever installed a 912 or 914 in a vari-eze or long-ez.

 

 

really a constant speed prop would hurt performances? why is that?

 

at any rate, seems that the current owner is replacing the IO-360 with a O-320...

 

thanks for all the replies folks, much appreciated.

[Lynn Erickson]

re the re-establishment of CG with heavier engine using ballast and such. wont that change the resonnance frequencies of the airplane in the pitch axis? to be honest the only experience i have in this matter is airplane models, and ballast will always negatively impact this type of characteristics. just a rhetorical question, my canard flight experience is very small and plenty people seem to be happily flying 320 or 360 powered ez'es. even though i clearly remember RAF discouraging this practice.

 

but going back to my original question: i know the advantages of more power versus less power :-) however several considerations like AVGAS availability in europe, expecially in italy, its cost, up to 12 bucks a gallon or even more, the cost of spares and labour when it comes to lycosaurii, and my love for lightness were at the origin of my question. the performance of a 115hp long-ez would be perfectly adequate for my needs, and a 914 is turbocharged, with all the relative advantages. i think the lack of power would be a problem only on take off and already at 4 or 5000 feet the turbo would be an advantage

 

thats why i was asking if anyone has ever installed a 912 or 914 in a vari-eze or long-ez.

 

 

really a constant speed prop would hurt performances? why is that?

 

at any rate, seems that the current owner is replacing the IO-360 with a O-320...

 

thanks for all the replies folks, much appreciated.

has anyone install a rotax ? yes Glenn Saunders of florida had a vari ez with a 914 turbo but he had engine trouble and was killed in the crash in 2005

CS prop is not as good at top speed. they are designed for all round performance. everyone that has tried one can not get the top speed of a fixed pitch

[Drew Swenson]

Underpowered (O235) Longeze's really suck. And of course, O235 Longeze drivers don't know this until they get a taste of the bigger engine.

 

With that in mind, heavy Longez's are not as much fun to fly as light Longez's. My 0320 powered Longez was a much different airplane solo and with only an hour or two of fuel. Load up fuel, pax, bags, etc----now I have a very adequate truck----sports car comes back when I dumped everything back off. Unfortunately, you can't offload your engine and ballast---but you can at least make your ballast lighter my having a longer nose.

 

In the end, it is all a compromise---which is what engineering is all about.

 

Why do you think that you even need a CS prop? TO length too long? Cruise speed not high enough? And when you determine how much less runway that you want and how much excess cruise speed you want out of the prop-----is that worth the weight gain, complexity, cost, etc? CS metal props are about 5ish times the cost of carbon fiber composite props.

[gianmarko]

thanks for the answers. very sorry to hear about the loss of Glenn Saunders.

 

here on this side of the big lake we use a lot of rotax engines and with great success, i must say. 914's are very popular on gyrocopters, where are subjected to some hammering, and seem to work fine and reliably.

 

interesting comments on the CS issue. actually, the long i am considering has a CS prop fitted, and i agree on weight and complexity comment.

 

however here in europe rwy lenght can be an issue, so a variable pitch prop, not necessarily a CS one, would help.

 

i remember from my building time that metal props were a no-no. how is the current situation? i guess composite is the way to go.