If you don't have an engine yet for your project, consider this:
At Sun 'n Fun, I talked with Gunter Rund, an Auto Gyro owner, using
Jason Parker's fuel injected Rotax 914 with intercooler. He is
enthusiastic about it's smooth operation over the entire range and
throttle response. He has nearly 100 hours of trouble free operation so
far. These 914s use military technology from the Predator Drone
program, and Jason converts them to fit the experimental market. The
engine footprint is virtually the same as a stock 914 for tractor
operations (turbo underneath) and pusher operations (turbo on the top
for bed mounting). In the past, Jason's engines required some skill and
attention to detail that limited me from being comfortable with the
setup for just anyone to install. Now that the engine is in its fourth
generation and is set up for user friendly installation, it looks like a
winner.
My involvement, to be honest, has been to give advice on engine mounting
and footprint. I insisted the engine must fit as close as possible to a
stock 914 setup. I spent a number of hours with Jason over the last two
years making the engine fit the Europa and finally it is as close to
plug and play as you can get.
He has gone to a fuel system similar to a Lycoming or Continental
engine. It has a fuel block on the top side of the engine with both the
supply and return lines flared for AN6 fittings. Just install an AN
fitting on an Aeroequip hose with fire sleeve and the firewall forward
is as safe as you can make it. Of course you must follow the
instructions as your fuel filters and fittings must hold up to 40 psi,
so, no cheap fittings or hardware shortcuts South of the pumps can be
tolerated. He's moved the engine wiring to the bottom side of the
manifolds and fuel rails, and properly secured them to make the engine
very easy to inspect and very neat looking. The computer (or computers
for redundancy) for the electronic fuel injection should be protected,
although they are set up for cowl installation (the SDS Fuel injection
system is normally used under the hood in racing) and all the sensor
wiring is plug and play. Each engine is run by him and the fuel map
setup programmed. The SDS programming is a breeze also, plus you can
adjust mixture ratios on the fly based on your fuel octane by a knob on
the panel. (Although this knob should have a resistance lock on it to
prevent inadvertent actuation by a grandson with fast hands.)
He says he is wiling to sell the 914 turbocharged and intercooled
engines for $21000. That's a bargain.
Although I have spent time and money to help develop the idea, I do not
make sales commissions from his engine sales, I just want to see the
idea become a reality because of the great success of the military
version of the 914, and selfishly, I plan to use one on my next project
to give me some better options for efficient operations at altitude. I
just introduced him to the right people and added my inputs, as other
manufacturers and dealers have, in an effort to make his product ideal
for the experimental market. Besides, tuning carbs and needing DOS
computer programs to maintain an engine today seems archaic.
See his new website at:
http://www.extremeaircraftengines.com<http://www.extremeaircraftengines.c
om/>
Bud Yerly
Custom Flight Creations.
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