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 Mon, Sep 06 2010 @ 14:48 in Switzerland

New engine on order

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Engines
Finally, I've ordered the new engine. It has been a long time since I've done anything with the project - about 5 years.

I ordered a Mattituck TMXIO-360 with roller tappets, a forward facing sump, Airflow Performance Fuel Injection System, dual p-mags, and an alternator. The engines come

Here is how Mattituck describes it:

Your TMXIO-360 engine will include New Lycoming cylinder assemblies, the new roller tappet technology, our full Red Gold Performance Package, 2 New P Mags, harness, and aviation spark plugs, a 12V Sky Tec lightweight starter, new fuel pump, a new Airflow Performance Fuel Injection System, inner-cylinder baffles, dipstick tube and dipstick, oil filter adapter and oil filter, new dynamically balanced VAR crankshaft, static bay balance to within 2 grams, vacuum pump drive adapter and drive, starter gear support and ring gear, engine logbook and operators manual.

Delivery will be about 14 weeks. Considering I've taken 5 years to get to this point, not a problem.

Now, just need to get myself a prop and the firewall forward kit from Van's, and I'll be just about set.

 
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Eggenfellner Subaru STI for sale

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EnginesI've decided to sell my Eggenfellner Subaru STI engine. It is a FWF package including an electric 3-blade MT prop with prop controller, RV8 engine mount, supercharger, intercooler, engine computer, dual fuel pumps, exhaust system, mufflers, and all accessories.

The reason I am selling it is because the package is not yet complete, and I would like to get my aircraft flying.

There are some people still doing development of the engine. The systems that will need work to make this FWF kit complete are:

  1. New Gen III PSRU. The current Gen II supercharger that was shipped with the engine has been grounded due to several in-flight failures. I might be able to source one of these from another builder that has decided not to use his. A new Gen III is about USD 6000 from the Eggenfellner Aircraft.
  2. Change out the supercharger for a turbocharger. The Gen III PSRU has a lower gear ratio, which allows the engine to rev higher, producing more power. A side effect is that the supercharger will spin faster than it was designed to. This can be resolved with a new supercharger pully, but I believe the best solution is to install a turbocharger.
  3. Replace the Engine Computer. The ECU that is installed should be reliable, and many have found it works well. Some have had problems, and are switching to an SDS engine computer. I would recommend this change.

I really regret having to change this engine out for a traditional aircraft engine. I feel that the Subaru engine is an outstanding fit for aircraft, but I just don't have the time and resources to finish the development work on this package. The original supplier, Eggenfellner Aircraft, is no longer developing this package, having moved on to a 6 cylinder engine.

There is a yahoo list of about 25 other owners of the STI engine that are working together to finish the development of this engine, so I'm confident at some time in the future it will become a very viable powerplant for aircraft use. This list is called EggenfellnerSubaruSTI and is open to all STI owners. This is a good place to discuss this engine, and the development work being done from Australia to the US to Lithuania.

Please contact me if you have interest in this package (mick at rv8.ch, please include "eggenfellner" in the subject). If I don't sell it, I will pickle it, put it in the corner of the workshop, and when the development work is complete, I'll either put it on this RV8 or my next one! :)

 
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Oil Pickup Screen

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EnginesThe Oil Pickup screen in the engine must be checked and cleaned regularly.
Your Lycoming O-360 Operators Manual tells you to clean the screen every 100 hrs in Section 8.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?p=222246

http://www.avweb.com/news/savvyaviator/savvy_aviator_57_making_metal_197700-1.html

Here are the critical bits of info:

Screen, P/N 70484
Gasket, STD-111 or AN900-16
Torque, 135 degrees rotation after full contact
 
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Aircraft silencers and mufflers

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EnginesThere is a lot of discussion about aircraft silencers and mufflers. Many feel that they don't need them, since they just wear noise cancelling headsets to reduce the sound level in the cockpit. These are very effective. However, the bigger problem is the noise that the aircraft generates that annoys people on the ground. Not everyone likes the sound of aircraft, believe it or not!

I've spoken to residents of the area around a nearby airport, and the only complaint they have about aircraft is the noise. If we eliminate this issue, we'll also eliminate most of the reasons the general population wants airports closed. Of course, the people behind airport closure usually want to buy the land cheap and develop it, so money is their motivation, and they will use whatever issues they can muster to get people to support closing the airport. Making our aircraft quiet will go a long way towards ensuring that we will always have an airport to use. I wish AOPA would wake up to this issue.

In many European countries, landing fees are directly related to the noise classification of your aircraft. Quieter aircraft means lower landing fees. This puts an economic incentive towards installing a silencer.

There are several ways to reduce the sound level from your engine. Mufflers or silencers are the best method. Others include reducing engine RPM, and adding a turbocharger.

A silencer can be built that will reduce the noise to basically zero. There are a lot of aircraft flying with these mufflers here in Switzerland. Some are under the cowl, and others are out in the airstream.

Another option is to buy a silencer from a company like http://www.gomolzig.de/






The most fun would be a home made muffler. Here's a picture of one on a beautiful RV6:



Here is a link to the Tony Bingelis article on the "Swiss Muffler": http://www.piteraq.dk/flight/muffler.html

Here is my current muffler setup on my Subaru powered RV8: http://www.rv8.ch/article.php?story=20060626151653739

Eggenfellner is working on a muffler that will go under the cowl. That should be interesting to see.

Whatever method you chose, be aware that the noise your aircraft generates is annoying people on the ground who want to close your airport. Everything we can do to reduce this noise impact will help aviation survive and thrive.
 
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Intake air temperature sensor

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EnginesThe intake air temperature sensor was mounted in the right radiator shroud, but needed to be moved to the intake just after the intercooler. This is so that the correct intake temperature is measured.

The move required a small amount of fabrication. Here are some photos that show what needed to be done.











 
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Alternator Belt Tension

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EnginesFrom Vern Little on the Van's Air Force website:

Belt deflection is an unreliable method of tightening the belt.

Instead, use a torque wrench on the pulley nut and adjust the tension so that you get about 12 ft-lbs before the belt slips.

A loose belt can lead to under-voltage or over-voltage from the alternator. Overvoltage is caused by the regulator trying to force more output from the alternator while the belt is slipping. When the belt grabs, it puts a surge of voltage on the bus.

Please don't ask me how I found out!


Lycoming SI 1129A Accessory Drive Belt Tension

New 3/8" 11-13 ft/lbs 132-156 in/lbs
Used 3/8" 7-9 ft/lbs 84-108 in/lbs

New 1/2" 13-15 ft/lbs 156-180 in/lbs
Used 1/2" 9-11 ft/lbs 108-132in/lbs

Vern Little 9A
 
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Fuel pressure manifold

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EnginesHere's what I used to hook up the fuel pressure sender and the fuel pressure switch. I got this manifold from Aircraft Spruce. The rest is standard aviation stuff.












 
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Fuel system pressure test

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EnginesTo test the fuel system, I hooked up some fittings between the intake and return fuel lines just outside the fuselage. I put a + on there, with the "schrader" valve that comes with the Van's fuel tank leak test kit:
http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi?browse=misc&product=tank-test

Two standard hose barbs, and a pressure gauge. A bicycle pump is what I used to pressurize the system.

So, this tested the whole system, except the tanks, which I have already tested.



I tested the fuel system plumbing with air pressure, and sprayed
soapy water on the outside to look for bubbles. I found
that almost every single AN connector leaked. Once I
got those fixed, I pressurized the system to about
50-60 psi, and then took periodic measurements over
the next week or so to watch it leak down. It never
got below about 20psi, IIRC, so I claimed victory.

 
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Cooling system plumbing shots

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EnginesThese are just some random shots of the cooling system plumbing.

Looking up from the bottom center to the left. Black corrugated split loom hose cover is over the hose that returns from the cabin heater.



Looking straight up from the floor. The two blue anodized pipes are the return lines from the two radiators. Black oil pan is clearly visible, and to the right (front) is the oil cooler.



Looking from the left side of the engine.



Looking from the bottom. Black corrugated split loom hose cover is over heater return hose. All blue hose is silicon Federal hose from McMaster-Carr.



Special red anodized block that collects the coolant from the two radiators and feeds the water pump. The thermostat is in there somewhere.


 
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First engine start

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EnginesI started my engine this afternoon. It took about two seconds of pressing the start button, and it fired right up. Nice little rumble. Very smooth.

I used my wife's camera to take some video, but for some reason the file got corrupted, and is not readable. That's rather disappointing, since it was such a great first start. Oh well.

To prepare for the start, I've been turning the engine over by hand with the prop about 30 - 60 blades every day for the past couple of weeks. Not sure if that helped, but it didn't seem to hurt.

I let the engine run until I could start to feel warmth on the tops of the radiators - about 2-3 minutes. After shutdown, I figured the coolant level in the coolant tank would have gone down a bit, but it didn't seem to change at all. Perhaps I got all the air out right away. We'll see after I run the engine a bit more.

 
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