Morgans wrote:


"D.W. Taylor" wrote

I drove a harvesting machine that used hydrostatic drive and a VW engine
for power. We ran it on a governer at 3950rpm 24x7 all summer. \\\

The fact that it ran with a governor means that it was not at full HP. It
is admirable for it to run that many RPM's for that many hours, but still,
there is no indication of how long it would run at true Wide Open
Throttle, making all the HP it could.

I suspect its life would have not been as long, if it were loaded to it's
maximum output.

Jim
What airplane POH tells you to run your reciprocating engine at max/wot
throttle?
Most small airplanes run max hp for about 10 to 30 minutes for takeoff and
climb then throttle back to 75% for cruise. So expecting a VW/corvair to go
max for hours on end and not break is unrealistic. I personally think
either engine is viable in the proper application and treated properly. One
of the first things in your testing phase is to make sure your not
overheating the thing. It's quite well known a VW is not capable of
continuous operation at much more than 40 or 45 hp (let's see 75% of 65 (65
being about the highest you'll want to run a VW) is 49 hp) so your probably
only going to cruise at about 65% power which is not bad because you still
have that extra reserve for takeoff and go arounds!
I don't know what the max continuous of a corvair is but the same applies,
run it at the right level and you'll probably have a sweet little smooth
engine! This is homebuilt/experimental right? ;-)
John