Jan Eggenfellner's four-cylinder, in-line 1.5-liter
engine core is familiar to millions of drivers as the
Honda Fit engine, but only its automotive core remains
in the Viking. Running 2.33-to-1 helical-cut gears and
making its peak 110 hp at 5500 rpm (2360 prop rpm),
the 178-pound (dry) OHC, dual FADEC-equipped aluminum engine sports a stainless muffler (supplied) and
numerous proprietary components that make it very
much an aero engine. With starter, 40A alternator, and
dual engine controls, the Viking is available now for
$12,995. www.VikingAircraftEngines.com
Price Induction DGEN 380/390 Turbine
This small turbofan incorporates several patents, most
notable among them a geared induction and coaxial
starter-generator. This arrangement allows electric
pumps to eliminate gearbox-driven pumps and allows
a large intake. (The intake rotates at a slow 14,000
rpm, while the exhaust spins at 45,000 rpm.) In this
design, 80 percent of the thrust comes from the cold
side, reducing the expense of making large and multiple heat-resistant components. How cold is the cold
side? Well, the intake fan is made of aluminum! Four
feet long and weighing just 175 pounds including the
FADEC unit and fuel and oil pumps, and with six years
of testing, more than 2,500 ignitions, and 1,000-plus
hours of dyno running at some 570 pounds of thrust,
the (twin-engine) test bed for the French-made DGEN
is expected to fly next year.
Continental Motors' recent weight-saving O-200D
is catching on, and Continental's Chinese owner,
AVIC, announced it purchased Thielert (Centurion)
the week before Oshkosh. Continental will offer the
Centurion 2.0-liter in-line four (and the possibly revived 4.0-liter V-8) to experimenters, as well as to the
original equipment manufacturer (OEM) market, in a
departure from the Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH
policy of dealing with only OEMs. CEO Rhett Ross
also announced support for the French air racers,
Team Big Frog, for a future Reno bid.
Superior Air Parts, another now Chinese company,
has cloned its Texas factory in China and plans to
keep its Texas facility open, as well.
The French diesel-maker, Safran subsidiary SMA,
brought its full contingent, including the well-known
four (now in its SR305-230E iteration), and multiple design improvements over its "A" version, from which the
"Continental" opposed four diesel was birthed.
And Many More…
Traditional powerhouses are constantly improving
their products. Rotax's evolution continued last year,
with the introduction of the fuel-injected 912iS. Lycoming's 233-inch four is available for experimentals and
light-sport aircraft (LSA) with fuel injection and CDI,
and its iE2 series of bigger engines features dual electronics and thermal engine control.
Japan's HKS has talked about its turbocharged HKS
700T for many years; now it's a flying reality.
Rotec Aerosport's 2800 (seven-cylinder) and 3600
(nine-cylinder) radials continue to gain fans, with the
2800 appearing in a Spirit of St. Louis lookalike from
Airdrome Aeroplanes at Oshkosh.
ECi's 340-inch, 180-plus-hp Titan "stroker" motor
has an ardent following in LSA Cub designs and RVs, as
do its other fours, in 320- , 360- , 370- , and 409-inch sizes.
Photography by Tim Kern
Turbine Solutions Group in Deland, Florida, showed
applications for the little 247-pound-thrust SubSonex
one-man jet and its sister, a 241-hp TP 100 turboprop;
with bigger turbines, they provide dedicated
firewall-forward kits for the RV-10 and Lancair
IV/P, among others.
The Mazda converters, the Suzuki fans, and those
who develop their own auto conversions of many
types were all over the field. Engines not much larger
than a cell phone power PPGs; two-strokes, fourstrokes, rotaries, and converted APUs…There's so
much to see at Oshkosh!
Tim Kern is a private pilot and has written for more
than 40 different aviation magazines. He was a key
builder on two aircraft projects and has earned the
title of certified aviation manager from the NBAA.
EAA Experimenter
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