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1. 05:45 AM - Re: Re: another's concern (Kayberg@AOL.COM)
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Subject: | Re: another's concern |
Thanks for thinking about this, James. I did make a couple of assumptions.
1) That if you could build an airplane, you could build an engine....with
some help, of course. They are actually rather simple in construction. There
is a learning curve to some of the details of course.
2) That the engine would be assembled from used parts that may not meet
certified standards. For example, some crankshaft cracks are acceptable for an
experimental engine but none for a certified. Obviously some cracks are
acceptable only for airboats!! As you might expect, there is a substantial
difference in price between airboat and certified.
I have an O-290-G case bored to accept O-320 cylinders, using a O-235
crankshaft with backing plates, mechanical lifters, Bendix mags, carb, manifold,
new pistons and rings, etc. I picked it up on Barnstormers dissassembled for
$1,900. My plan is to spend about 30 hours assembling it, another $1,000
on parts and will pay an engine shop another $1,000 to coach me on
assembling. I will build it for low horsepower, 130-150, so I can feel comfortable
burning auto gas. Since most planes only fly 100 hours a year or less, I
think I can get 10 years out of it with no problem. Hence my statements about
a
less than half price engine.
You are correct about engine weight, I would not even dream of puting it in
a Lightning. I am working on a Witman Buttercup
In my opinion, for the money, the Lightning is the best combination of
engine and airframe out there today. It offers the best combination of high and
low speeds along with good handling and fuel efficiency. That is why I am a
part owner in our demo plane at Green Landings. Being a scrooge, I just
hate that it costs so much. Yes it is worth it and I am not getting any
younger, but......
Doug Koenigsberg
In a message dated 5/26/2007 7:59:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
JamesL@Lugoj.com writes:
What's a realistic amount of time needed to assemble and test such an
engine? For example, if half the price of a Jabiru is, say, $7,000,
and you take 280 hours to assemble a comparable Lycoming from $7,000
worth of parts then if you value your time at more than $25/hour then
you are better off buying an assembled engine for $14,000.
Generally the lower the engine cost, the less advantage there is in
building one from parts. In this case your construction of a heavier
engine also eats into your plane's payload capacity.
Of course if you are retired and/or enjoy the process itself then
building an engine from parts may be just the ticket. That assumes of
course that one accepts that the cost of parts adds up to less then
a factory assembled engine. I know that is not generally the case in
the automotive engine world. I'd like to see proof that one can buy
all the parts to build a Lycoming that adds up to a cost lower than a
factory assembled engine.
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