Latest Work Completed Mantua, New Jersey
Original Site:
September 2004
E-mail: usav8or@yahoo.com
Choosing which radial
It's not a matter of what type of engine
I'll be hanging on the front of this beast, it's a matter
of which radial it will be..
I'm not sure if choosing which radial engine will be fueled
more by what I can find rather than which one is best. Not
sure if any of them, at this point, is better than the other.
BUT.... that's what I'll be reporting in this section.
The pre-buy, pre-decision process is on. Everything is gray
right now. I've already done several searches on the internet
for information on radial engines. I've found that I have
a better chance of finding solid information on radial engines
by doing searches for the planes that had them hung on the
front of them. You get reports from the owners on problems,
concerns, etc.
Ed, who owns Southern Cross Airport, in South
Jersey, has a duster operation. They fly the Grumman Ag Cat.
Good ol' P&W hanging on the front of them. I'll have to
have a talk with Ed about that engine. I'll let you know what
I've found out.
June 17, 2008
The Search....
is still on.
...and I haven't done much talking to anyone about radial engines. All this research has been on the internet and through
various books I've purchased and have browsed through.
The Pratt is out of the question. Way too heavy. I'll never get a decent weight and balance... not to mention the useful weight will drop considerably.
I've emailed, Dale, one of the guys on the biplane forum, and he's kinda pointed me towards a Jake. Says that they can easily pump out 320 horses. Says that there are plenty of them lying around too. aka... good parts supply.
The Russian Ven is in good supply and that puppy is set up for inverted flight from the get go. You can cruise along sipping 10 gallons/hour.
Off to do more research...
September 22, 2008
The Search....
is over.
At least for the engine.
It came down to power and money. I can get close to 300 hp with the Jacobs and still have money left over in the bank account to put gas in it.
At full throttle it gulps down 15 gph, but who fire-walls it all day long ? .... not me. I'll pull it back to a nice cruise setting it get more like 9 or 10 gph.
If you haven't read about finding it and getting it home, you can read about it here.