Experimenter

March 2013

Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.

Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/113663

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Hangar Debrief An EAA member checks out a Subaru auto engine conversion at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Sadly these engines did not live up to their expectations. Te supplier of this engine is now out of business. engines are bad, but it does mean that those engines are less likely to give you years of reliable service. How much less varies from a little to a lot, depending on the engine. Or at the very least, it means that other engines have less of a history of reliable service to support such a claim. Some alternative engines that are purpose-built for airplanes but do not yet have the track record of the big three include: Jabiru, Rotec, and ULPower. All of these engines have their admirers, but the track record is not yet there to place them in the same category of reliability and serviceability as the majors. Any one of them may be a reasonable choice for your project, but expect to solve more problems yourself with fewer outside resources than would normally be available for the major brands. Along with reliability and serviceability comes the consideration of support from the engine manufacturer. You can get Lycoming and TCM parts everywhere. Their respective factories offer technical support, and there are other people available who have strong expertise in dealing with these engines. This is less true of Rotax, but that is improving as more and more light-sport aircraft are equipped with Rotax engines. Parts and technical assistance for less common engines are, as you would expect, less readily available. Some parts 52 Vol.2 No.3 / March 201 3 Tis factory-new Lycoming IO-360 engine is set to be installed in an RV-8 project. Tis is an ideal engine for that particular airplane. for auto conversion engines are easy to find, but others may only be available from one small manufacturer. For example, more than one Subaru engine conversion has been left orphaned by the manufacturer going out of business. Auto engine conversions deserve their own look because as a group they are involved in a disproportionately large number of experimental airplane engine failures. In spite of this fact, auto conversion engines attract many builders with promises of better performance and lower cost. Some engines in this group, such as the AeroVee, have a very good track record and are backed up by a

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