eric_marsh
Registered
Hi folks,
It's been a while since I've been on this forum as I've been working on other things. Right now my big project is building a Van's RV-6 sport airplane.
I've discovered that airplane engines are very different from high performance car/bike motors. One guy described them as lawn mower engines - that's not too far off. Think big air cooled VW engines with heads like old style Harleys.
One of the bad things about aircraft motors is that they are obscenely expensive. A new four cylinder Lycoming O-360 can cost $25,000-$30,000 out the door. A lot of experimental aircraft guys are looking at other engine types - Suburu and Mazda rotaries are popular. Being a life long motorcycle guy I'm wondering if motorcycle tech might work.
One idea that's crossed my mind is a horizontally opposed Busa motor. I would need it to make about 180 horsepower but be able to do it full on reliably for weeks on end. The engine speed would have to come down, probably to something like 4000-5000 rpm and a lot of compression would have to come out.
In a lot of ways this sounds like a turbo motor setup without the boost. Smaller cams, low compression and all.
So it raises the question - does anyone have a dyno sheet for a turbo motor with the boost turned off?
Might not work at all, but it's an interesting idea.
ciao,
Eric
It's been a while since I've been on this forum as I've been working on other things. Right now my big project is building a Van's RV-6 sport airplane.
I've discovered that airplane engines are very different from high performance car/bike motors. One guy described them as lawn mower engines - that's not too far off. Think big air cooled VW engines with heads like old style Harleys.
One of the bad things about aircraft motors is that they are obscenely expensive. A new four cylinder Lycoming O-360 can cost $25,000-$30,000 out the door. A lot of experimental aircraft guys are looking at other engine types - Suburu and Mazda rotaries are popular. Being a life long motorcycle guy I'm wondering if motorcycle tech might work.
One idea that's crossed my mind is a horizontally opposed Busa motor. I would need it to make about 180 horsepower but be able to do it full on reliably for weeks on end. The engine speed would have to come down, probably to something like 4000-5000 rpm and a lot of compression would have to come out.
In a lot of ways this sounds like a turbo motor setup without the boost. Smaller cams, low compression and all.
So it raises the question - does anyone have a dyno sheet for a turbo motor with the boost turned off?
Might not work at all, but it's an interesting idea.
ciao,
Eric
