LS1 - after beating everything on the street, it's time to kick *** in the air.

http://members.iquest.net/~aca/photos.htm

 

Mucho Carbon!!!! That thing has to be awesome~!

 

thing looks very light

 

yeah, id hurt myself.

 

wow

 

so thats why theres been a carbon fiber shortage

Somehow I think that isn't intended to be an actual flying plane.

Few problems, cooling, carbon fiber way to close to the headers, just one plug per cyl.

 

nice

 

v8's and rpm's above 8 don't mix, it's a cool thought but it won't work in a plane like that. Cool carbon fiber though.

 

Thats insane..Any vids?

 

Hell yeah. **** INTERCOOLING.

 

godddsssssdamnnnnn

 

the motor is heavier then the plane

 

riceburner: I would imagine that to be the case with any motor in a plane like that.

slo: never seen an LS1 with anything other than one plug/cylinder. Cooling and the carbon fiber being practically touching the headers does seem to be a problem though.

 

I'd still beat it with my 13b rx7!

 

Pretty nice

 

erm...v8s on a plane?

 

Actually, guys, that package will probably work just great; there's a whole industry devoted to V8 conversions for experimental and certified aircraft, particularly using the aluminum block small block Chevy's. There's very little weight penalty compared to an aircooled 6 cylinder aircraft engine such as an 0-540, which is a fairly massive (540 cubic inch) piece itself. As for the comments about V8's not liking rpm above 8000; neither do propellors. They are efficient at about 1800-2500 rpm, so most automotive conversions use a belt or gear reduction unit to be able to run the engine at it's power peak while keeping the prop in it's most efficient range. As for cooling, you can route air to rads through NACA ducts all over the place, and the rads can be much smaller than in a car because they will be doing their main work in a machine like that at over 200 mph, with the air accelerated even more by the prop. The last issue, 1 plug per cylinder, is usually circumvented by using a dual ignition system that only uses 1 plug; not total redundancy but close. Suffice it to say there are bunches of very fast composite aircraft, particularly Lancairs, flying around with these conversions and they work very well

 

Oh, and about the turbo...don't be too freaked out by the size of the pump; in aircraft installations turbos usually aren't used to boost the horsepower too much; they're primarily used to MAINTAIN power to higher altitudes. A normally aspirated engine can only maintain about 75% of it's rated power (normal cruise power) by the time it hits 8000 feet of altitude. Turbocharging, or "turbo normalizing" as its called in this use, allows 75% power to be maintained up to around 20,000 feet or so. Higher altitude = lower atmospheric resistance and friction = higher speeds on the same power and fuel burn; the difference in speed is huge, but it doesn't put any additional stress on the engine compared to running 75% power at lower altitudes.

 

well anything is possible but I'd love to see a vid of it.

 

i hope they don't paint it. just for the fact it looks cool

 

Reading the tech info on the link confirms that this engine is turbo normalized to maintain cruise power up to 29,000 feet. Hence the big turbo, but no need for an intercooler; he's not compressing the charge, just bringing it back up to normal sea level pressure levels. Factor in the cool air at the altitudes this thing will be running (temperature drops 2 degrees celsius for every 1000 ft of altitude) and you're talking COLD air: 20 degree celsius (70 degree F) day at sea level will result in air temp of -20 C or about 4 below 0 F at 20,000 ft.

This package is not only possible, it's becoming quite routine in experimental aircraft. A couple of years ago, Lancair put the fully certified Orenda V8 engine (which is derived from a GM BIG block) in an aircraft about the same size as the one featured here; a far more radical project that worked extremely well.

Rotaries are becoming more popular as well, due to their very high power/weight ratio and low frontal area, which makes them very easy to package in an aerodynamic cowling. Their drawback, surprise, surprise, is poor fuel efficiency, which results in giving back a good chunk of the weight savings by having to carry more fuel to go a given distance.

 

yeah next war zone topic will be rotary's or v8's in airplane huh I can see it coming.

 

also, carbon fiber (true carbon fiber, not the cheap carbon fiber overlayed fiberglass).. but true layered carbon fiber is a very good heat shield... so having the headers that close to the cowl will do no damage... and im sure it will have additional heat shielding as a added precaution.. planes always have precautionary parts...

 

should fly no issues, i met a guy with a SBC in his cozy MKIV, at the last big cozy rough river fly in.
automotive engines are looked down on by plane purists, but those things pull hard. nothing like going over 240mph in your home built plane.

(dad and i have been working on our cozy MKIV for a few years now)

 

that indeed pretty nuts.