Un d e r t h e C o w l

Robert Baslee of Airdrome Aeroplanes displayed this Rotec-powered Spirit of St. Louis replica at AirVenture 2013. www.AirdromeAeroplanes.com

The Power of Oshkosh 2013

New and updated powerplants
By Tim Kern

Aircraft design starts with the available powerplant. sources, dwelling on the less known and the newer.
That axiom has held for more than a century. Some design- Here’s what is available, or will soon be, to power your
ers/builders have become so frustrated with the engine next aircraft.
options available that they have designed their own en-
gines. There is little need to do that today. We’ll cover the engines starting with the highest cylinder
count and then displacement order. Note that many of
At EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2013, options abounded. Here these engines are in various stages of development, so the
is a sampling of new, new-ish, and alternative power caution of Caveat Emptor always applies.

30 Vol.2 N o.9 / September 2013

 aluminum two-seat Spitfire Mk. 26B from Supermarine
Aircraft of Cisco, Texas. Weighing 523 pounds installed
and making 430 hp at the crank, this fuel-injected
V-8 drives a patented, dual-belt 1.82-to-1 Michael
O’Sullivan–designed reduction unit from the flywheel
end. It is managed by a custom-mapped Motec elec-
tronic control unit that gets signals from redundant
flywheel triggers. The proprietary mechanical throttle
body puts positive cable control back in the pilot’s
hand, eliminating the automotive throttle-by-wire link.
Cost is about $70,000, and it’s available now.
www.SupermarineAircraft.com

BMW V-12 Conversion by Titan Aircraft

Seen at the Titan Aircraft exhibit at AirVenture, this BMW

7-series injected engine weighs about 40 pounds more
than the current Honda engine often used by T-51 builders
and provides 326 hp. Titan has fitted its own redrive. The
engine’s separate induction and computer for each bank of
cylinders give it a measure of redundancy. It’s effectively
two straight sixes on a common crankshaft. This compact
(19 inches wide), 5.4-liter V-12 with 9.5-to-1 compression
is certainly not a Rolls-Royce product, regardless of the
stickers adorning the valve covers. There is also a 5.0-liter,
8.5-to-1, 296-hp version, with the same outside dimensions,
from an earlier BMW. It might be “boostable.”
Engineered Propulsion Systems Flat-V Vision
The V-12 BMW is about twice as expensive as Titan’s Honda 350-hp A44-POC
or Suzuki conversions—around $50,000, which is propor-
tional to the increase in torque. And yes, you can use this Running for a couple years now and nearing early
engine with Titan’s new airfoil and longer wing T-51 (that’s production, this twin-turbo diesel is a proper,
actually closer to scale of the original P-51). It should allow clean-sheet aircraft design poised to replace
cruise in the 220- to 240-mph range, with a stall in the 50s, legacy flat-six, air-cooled power. Interestingly, the
according to Titan Aircraft. www.TitanAircraft.com case is designed in compacted graphite iron (the
prototype has a solid 4130 steel billet case), which
allows an extremely compact design that needs
no cylinder liners and prevents thread failures,
as well. Engineered Propulsion Systems has also
designed its own aviation-dedicated turbocharger
rather than adapting an automotive unit. Smooth
enough through its 1.366-to-1 integrated gearbox
to run a metal Hartzell propeller (the only diesel
that can do this).

This 320- to 420-hp 677-pound (installed weight of

the prototype), five-main, liquid-cooled, 4.4-liter
(87 x 93 millimeter) flat eight-cylinder engine has
been tested at actual density altitudes higher than
Supermarine V-8 15,000 feet, where legacy diesels usually won’t
start. An SR22 is being readied for imminent flight
This 6.2-liter LS-3, Chevrolet-based crate engine test. The videos of the Colorado tests are proof
conversion is flying in some 20 airplanes, notably the enough on the company website. www.EPS.aero

Photography by Tim Kern EAA Experimenter 31

Un d e r t h e C o w l

The 390 (3.9-liter) and 520 (5.2-liter) sixes are out-

growths of the 260- and 350-series fours and were dis-
played along with the purpose-built fours. Air-cooled,
direct-drive, two-valve, wet sump, and opposed,
these engines look like traditional aero engines, but
they incorporate modern metallurgy, fuel injection,
dual full authority digital engine control (FADEC) igni-
tions, and a lightweight, reasonable-size footprint.
ULPower engines are built in Belgium and are import-
ed through their dealer in Missouri. For U.S. customers –
www.ULPower.net

Adept Airmotive Multi-Fuel V-6

Ready-to-burn avgas, mogas, ethanol blends up to E50,

and some biofuels; the unusual 120-degree V-6 by Adept
Airmotive is a liquid-cooled oversquare (98 by 70 millime-
ter, 4.2-liter) four-valve, geared platform that produces 280
to 320 hp. An asymmetrically counterweighted crankshaft
eliminates not only rotational vibration but also the rocking
couple inherent in offset-cylinder designs. Maintenance is
aided by design: The heads can be removed with the dual
overhead cams still in place. At 340 pounds installed (with
turbo) and just 28 inches from the prop flange to the engine
mount, this compact engine features a dry sump. One of
five preproduction engines is currently flying in a Ravin
test sled in South Africa, where flight tests at 190- to 200-
knot cruise speeds show fuel consumption advantages of
greater than 40 percent, compared to a TSIO 540.
www.AdeptAirmotive.com

The Corvair Engine

The controversial Corvair automobile recently
celebrated its 50th anniversary, and Corvair aero
conversions have been around nearly as long.
Corvair engines offer smoothness, reliability, and
reasonable power to weight (typically 100 hp, with
direct drive). New parts for the opposed air-cooled
sixes are still manufactured, and there is a large con-
tingent of worthy supporters and developers who
have made these engines both affordable and bullet-
proof, and who continue to support them with a high
ULPower: Two Sixes Join the Fours level of expertise and experience. Corvair owners
are part of a tight family, encouraging seminars and
Next to the Zenith Aircraft area was a now familiar hands-on participation, reflective of the roots of EAA.
engine from ULPower, but this time it had six cylinders. www.FlyCorvair.com

32 Vol.2 N o.9 / September 2013

 ing, proper cylinder stud support, long-throw crank
clearance, and added strength. The engine is cast in
lightweight magnesium by Motorav’s Brazilian sister
company, RIMA.

The rest of the engine is also aero-focused: pistons

of 94-, 98.4-, or 101.6-millimeter diameter motivate
the engine’s forged 94-millimeter throw crankshaft
to deliver 95, 105, or 115 hp. There are proper steel
cylinders and aluminum upflow dual-plug heads with
generous fins; the sump has extended fins, too. These
Brazilian engines are starting to accumulate flight
test hours in anticipation of their general release.
DeltaHawk V-4: The Diesel of the Future? In the works: fuel injection and turbos. Stay tuned to
www.Motorav.com.
DeltaHawk’s 202-cubic-inch (3.3-liter), mechanically fu-
el-injected, direct-drive V-4 multi-fuel compression igni-
tion engine has been in test and development flying for
more than a decade and is undergoing design revisions
and further testing on its way to certification. A liquid-
cooled, staged turbo-supercharged (the supercharger
is used for starting and “rescue power”) two-stroke, the
“internal dry sump” DeltaHawk can be mounted in any
orientation—V up, V down, or with the shaft vertical.
Horsepower ratings of 160, 180, or 200 at 2650 rpm and a
compact plan view generate a lot of interest every year.
Planned follow-on engines include V-2, V-6, and V-8
configurations and are in various stages of preparation.
www.DeltaHawkEngines.com

D-Motor’s LF26: Modern L-Head

When this engine appeared at the U.S. Sport Aviation

Expo in January, the booth was constantly mobbed. How
could an “old” L-head design attract so much attention?
This 125 pounds wet (and including radiator, oil tank, and
exhaust), Belgian-made, 2.7 liter, two-valve, fuel inject-
ed, dry sump, aluminum engine has grown since Sebring,
and now displaces 2.7 liters, and is a bit less oversquare,
at 103.6 x 80mm.

Designed to fit on a Jabiru engine mount, the small-

dimensioned flat four has an integrated 20A alternator
and dual electronic ignition. Cylinders are Nikasil-lined.
The LF26 runs on avgas or high-octane mogas. A Speed
Brazilian 2.6/2.8/3.1-Liter Fours Cruiser has flown an early test engine for 1,500 hours so
far. The company expects ASTM compliance this year,
Motorav is the world’s largest producer of VW engine even as assembly is moved to Ft. Pierce, Florida.
cases for the automotive market. It has now made
a dedicated aircraft engine from that original inspi- D-Motor is actively looking for builders who want to fly
ration, based on engineering a new optimized case this 93 hp, $17,500 package. A six-cylinder “LF39” version
that incorporates improved oiling, a real nose bear- (135 hp, 174 pounds) is in the works. www.D-Motor.eu

Photography by Tim Kern EAA Experimenter 33

Un d e r t h e C o w l

are much better now. The German Hirth company

has engines in a multitude of power ratings, both
liquid and air-cooled, with proven redrives. They’re
distributed in the United States by Ohio-based Recre-
ational Power Engineering. With Nikasil cylinder
liners and 1,000-hour TBOs, Hirths are available
from 15 to more than 100 hp; with one, two, three,
or four cylinders; with carburetors or fuel injection;
and they carry a one-year warranty against any
defective part and a three-year prorated warranty
on the crankshaft. We’ll make it simple: No one offers
as many two-stroke options to the aircraft builder as
does Hirth. www.RecPower.com

MWfly Aeropower: Innovative B22R

MWfly’s compact mechanical-lifter OHC, opposed four-

cylinder engine has fuel injection, liquid cooling, and a
built-in 1.958-to-1 gear reduction that runs in its own
oil, which is shared by the prop governor. It also has a
multi-piece, counterbalanced, forged crankshaft that
rides on four ball bearing mains; an aluminum case; and
billet pistons in wet steel liners. A small starter, no fly-
wheel, and no clutch keep the 2.2-liter engine’s weight
down. These work because the compression ratio of the
engine is automatically reduced to just 5.5-to-1 at low
rpm. (It’s 10.5-to-1 at operating speeds.)

Designed for rear or bed mounting and in flight test

since 2006, the Italian-built mogas/avgas 130-hp,
185-pound MWfly B22R was seen at Oshkosh mounted
on a Bushcaddy, represented by the Canadian MWfly
distributor. First deliveries will be available in two to
three months. Price is $18,900, FOB Italy. www.MWfly.

VW Derivatives
If you want VW power in your airplane, you can
buy a kit engine from AeroConversions, a complete
engine in several configurations from Great Plains,
a straight conversion by Hummel, or a completely
new, large-capacity (built on proprietary cases)
powerplant from Revmaster. Laid out in the 1930s like
an airplane engine, this Dr. Ferdinand Porsche–de-
signed air-cooled flat four has powered more air-
planes than any other automotive derivative. With
power ratings from 60-ish to more than 100 hp, in sizes
from Hummel’s 25- to 30-hp 1/2 VW to fours of 1600 cc
Hirth: Two-Strokes of All Sizes to Revmaster’s 2.5-plus liters, the venerable VW engine
remains one of the low-cost, reliable alternatives, and
The two-stroke engine dominated ultralight and it’s available as a kit or complete, basic or all pumped
light homebuilding in the 1980s, and modern designs up. Your choice.

34 Vol.2 N o.9 / September 2013

 Jan Eggenfellner’s four-cylinder, in-line 1.5-liter
engine core is familiar to millions of drivers as the
Honda Fit engine, but only its automotive core remains
in the Viking. Running 2.33-to-1 helical-cut gears and
making its peak 110 hp at 5500 rpm (2360 prop rpm),
the 178-pound (dry) OHC, dual FADEC-equipped alumi-
num engine sports a stainless muffler (supplied) and
numerous proprietary components that make it very
much an aero engine. With starter, 40A alternator, and
dual engine controls, the Viking is available now for
$12,995. www.VikingAircraftEngines.com

Continental Motors’ recent weight-saving O-200D

is catching on, and Continental’s Chinese owner,
Price Induction DGEN 380/390 Turbine AVIC, announced it purchased Thielert (Centurion)
the week before Oshkosh. Continental will offer the
This small turbofan incorporates several patents, most Centurion 2.0-liter in-line four (and the possibly re-
notable among them a geared induction and coaxial vived 4.0-liter V-8) to experimenters, as well as to the
starter-generator. This arrangement allows electric original equipment manufacturer (OEM) market, in a
pumps to eliminate gearbox-driven pumps and allows departure from the Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH
a large intake. (The intake rotates at a slow 14,000 policy of dealing with only OEMs. CEO Rhett Ross
rpm, while the exhaust spins at 45,000 rpm.) In this also announced support for the French air racers,
design, 80 percent of the thrust comes from the cold Team Big Frog, for a future Reno bid.
side, reducing the expense of making large and mul-
tiple heat-resistant components. How cold is the cold Superior Air Parts, another now Chinese company,
side? Well, the intake fan is made of aluminum! Four has cloned its Texas factory in China and plans to
feet long and weighing just 175 pounds including the keep its Texas facility open, as well.
FADEC unit and fuel and oil pumps, and with six years
of testing, more than 2,500 ignitions, and 1,000-plus The French diesel-maker, Safran subsidiary SMA,
hours of dyno running at some 570 pounds of thrust, brought its full contingent, including the well-known
the (twin-engine) test bed for the French-made DGEN four (now in its SR305-230E iteration), and multiple de-
is expected to fly next year. sign improvements over its “A” version, from which the
“Continental” opposed four diesel was birthed.
And Many More…
Turbine Solutions Group in Deland, Florida, showed
Traditional powerhouses are constantly improving applications for the little 247-pound-thrust SubSonex
their products. Rotax’s evolution continued last year, one-man jet and its sister, a 241-hp TP 100 turboprop;
with the introduction of the fuel-injected 912iS. Lycom- with bigger turbines, they provide dedicated
ing’s 233-inch four is available for experimentals and firewall-forward kits for the RV-10 and Lancair
light-sport aircraft (LSA) with fuel injection and CDI, IV/P, among others.
and its iE2 series of bigger engines features dual elec-
tronics and thermal engine control. The Mazda converters, the Suzuki fans, and those
who develop their own auto conversions of many
Japan’s HKS has talked about its turbocharged HKS types were all over the field. Engines not much larger
700T for many years; now it’s a flying reality. than a cell phone power PPGs; two-strokes, four-
strokes, rotaries, and converted APUs…There’s so
Rotec Aerosport’s 2800 (seven-cylinder) and 3600 much to see at Oshkosh!
(nine-cylinder) radials continue to gain fans, with the
2800 appearing in a Spirit of St. Louis lookalike from
Airdrome Aeroplanes at Oshkosh. Tim Kern is a private pilot and has written for more
than 40 different aviation magazines. He was a key
ECi’s 340-inch, 180-plus-hp Titan “stroker” motor builder on two aircraft projects and has earned the
has an ardent following in LSA Cub designs and RVs, as title of certified aviation manager from the NBAA.
do its other fours, in 320- , 360- , 370- , and 409-inch sizes.

Photography by Tim Kern EAA Experimenter 35