Mike,

Just a few questions and thoughts, mainly because I'm curious.

I'd be interested to know the HP rating of the GO480 installed in the Helio.
I've been watching a few people that are building Bearhawks and one article
mentions that the GO480 isn't favored for that application for the relative
high weight to HP ratio compared to the 540.

I "believe" that the Beech Queen Air originally used a version of the 480
and I "know" a lot of them have been retrofitted with either 720's or
turbines. Whether this was due to high rebuild or maintenance costs or lack
of power, I have no idea.

Would the desirability of the 480 in the Helio be due to a desire to keep
them "original"?

Jim


"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Margy" wrote in message
...
Mike Rapoport wrote:
When I read about Lycoming engines the terms "wide deck", "narrow
deck",
"straight valve" and angle valve are used to describe different
cylinder/case configurations. What is the GO480 in my Helio Courier?
Narrow deck? Wide deck? Angle valve? Straight valve?

The deck refers to the flange where the cylinder meets the case.
The valves straight/angle indicate whether the two rockers are
parallel to each other or form a sort of V). I don't know about
the deck, but I think the Gopher's were all angle-valve. The
wide deck engine serial numbers end in "A".

Intresting information about all this can be obtained at
www.sacskyranch.com.

My condolences on having the gopher80. Getting rid of mine
was a big improvement on the Navion.

-Ron

What was the problem with the GO480? In the Helio, it is considered much
better than the TIO540 or the IO720.

Mike
MU-2