"GeorgeB" wrote

I'd bet that if an auto engine would out perform Lycontental, we'd see
them certified and in use; the only water cooled engine I know of in
certified applications is the water cooled HEAD engine by Rotax. They
get 80 HP @ 5500 rpm from 74 cu-in ... and a 1500 hr TBO. They are
not cheap to build, either; even the uncertified ones are in the
$15,000 range.

Business wants to make money; if you can build a 230 HP engine that
will reliably give 2000 hours in an airplane and sell it for $10,000,
I'd bet that getting it certified and insured will be a piece of cake
... certified, it is probalby over a $30,000 sale.

But my own opinion ... if it were that easy, it would have been done.

It has been, by many people. Many V-8's and V-6's are well past 2,000
hours, with no rebuilding necessary.

Orenda did it, and certified it, but designed their own V-8, but it is not
much different than GM V-8's.

It might be time to trot out the blog on how GM torture tests it's engines,
before a design goes into
production. I don't have the file handy, but perhaps someone else does.

Without the file handy, it is an easy jump to say that their duty cycles and
punishment make a certification test run look like child's play.

The problem with auto engine conversions is seldom the engine. It is
usually in the accessories, or the prop speed reducers. There are good
products out there for those, too. One has to only put them together.
--
Jim in NC