I see a lot of letters concerning subaru engines.
Those of you in the USA I would caution you to talk to your insurance carrier
about
insuring a experimental aircraft with the subaru engine.
I have a friend who has a GlaStar with a subaru engine, and he went through
about
6 or
7 agencies before he could find anyone who would write the policy. This was in
February of this year.
Jim Brown
A094
Fred Fillinger wrote:
> > Following up on the thread of a few days ago, I offered up the Stratus
> > Subaru
> > and Able VW as options. Doing a little more research along the VW lines I
spoke
> > with Great Planes, who have 17 years of VW conversion experience - and
> > everything
> > to gain from recommending a conversion.
> >
> > In addition to wondering why Europas use 3 blade less efficient (than two
> > blade
> > wood) carbon fibre props, he offered the best advice yet (which has been
> > rattling
> > in the back of my mind) on engine selection: The Europa is an expensive
> > aircraft
> > (from his VW aircraft perspective) and installing anything other than the
> > factory
> > recommended engine will severely deteriorate the resale value of the
> > aircraft.
> >
> > Cleve
> > A198 Mono XS
> > Detroit, MI
>
> He wasn't saying that wood is more efficient than carbon fiber, was
> he? Whatever.
>
> "Worth a bit less" is a safe statement, but I don't see how he can
> predict "severely." In the homebuilt market, there's a few
> less-than-eager buyers chasing a wide, incomparable assortment, or
> very few planes, if he/she has an eye toward, say, either a Europa or
> a Pulsar. Prospective buyers largely know homebuilts and thus know
> that a VW is rugged, cheaper to maintain engine. If it were to
> perform equivalent to a Rotax, and the plane had enough time on it to
> imply dependability, it should make little difference to a buyer.
>
> Where he says "expensive" aircraft, the phenomenon is that resale is
> thus in competition with used production aircraft. That even argues
> that his VW is a better choice, to keep the cost down and reduce
> inevitable loss on resale. The Sport Airplane proposal here (with the
> Europa only a notch or two above its preformance/utility specs, but
> with the amatuer-built negatives) could also impact the resale market
> in a major way, making such distinctions minor.
>
> I think the more important consideration is the builder's confidence
> and expertise and/or access thereto, to effect a safe installation.
> NTSB accident reports strongly suggest that failures of auto engines
> are due to installation issues.
>
> Regards,
> Fred F., A063 (914 - not enough expertise)
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