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/142883
Un d e r t h e C o w l run about $750. Neither company offers oversized pistons or recommends overboring.) As an AeroVee builder, you already know what the parts are and what they should look like. You know how to measure them. And as most parts are off-the-shelf VW aftermarket pieces, you know how and where to get them. Of course, you can buy spares from Sonex, and you know they'll match your needs. But if you're in Timbuktu and need, say, an oil pump, you can get one there instantly, and it won't take the rest of your budget to pay for it. Jeremy said, "Anyone who comes to an AeroVee from the certified world and learns that an overhaul can cost as little as $200 in parts thinks they're hearing things." But it's not just the parts costs and availability; it's also the simplicity. In a Rotax 912, if you have an oiling problem and the camshaft grabs part of the bearing (it is supported directly by the case), you need a new case— well more than a thousand dollars. If it happens in a VW, you need a new camshaft bearing for a couple of bucks. And you can get that camshaft bearing at the auto parts store. As for doing the work, Rotax will do a good job of swapping all your parts onto the new case; or since you built your AeroVee, you can put in the new camshaft bearings yourself. Te engine's VW heritage is apparent here: lifers and bearings are standard VW; automotive valve train components complete the top end parts. 32 Vol.2 N o.7 / July 2013 Can You Do It Even Cheaper? Fifty, even 30 years ago, VW Beetle engines were plentiful in junkyards and cheap…and iffy and low-powered. Still, some hardy souls engineered their own prop hubs, designed their own intakes, and went flying. Plenty of singleplace airframes will fly with 30 hp, which is about what a direct-drive stock VW can produce. Exciting? Well, that depends on what kind of "excitement" you enjoy. Nowadays, you don't find VW engines in junkyards. That's okay. New VW components are available in quantity and quality, at low cost, in the aftermarket. Sonex knows where to get the best parts; it makes the rest, tailored to aviation. (Nobody thinks the stock distributor and high-tension wires look sexy, sticking several inches through a hole in the top of the cowl! Besides, modern solid-state systems work better.) Something else the pioneers didn't have, besides the parts and experience, was a decent manual. And AeroVee has a very decent manual. It's online and available to anyone. It won't show you how to modify your junkyard VW, but it is excellent for its purpose: assembling your AeroVee. Jeremy said, "We have been criticized for providing a complete engine kit, versus having a 'true' scratchbuilder