Automobile engines used in aircraft

[magoo]

There was a Vickers Vimy replica that was running big block Chevies. I recall they seemed to loose engines in difficult places...(India?). Checking the wesite, they were last running Orenda mills.

Bugatti's little raceplane was going to run tandem straight eights. Too bad the war intervened, it would have been interesting to see how the engine/airframe combo would have held up.

 

[Lionheart]

There was a Vickers Vimy replica that was running big block Chevies. I recall they seemed to loose engines in difficult places...(India?). Checking the wesite, they were last running Orenda mills.

Bugatti's little raceplane was going to run tandem straight eights. Too bad the war intervened, it would have been interesting to see how the engine/airframe combo would have held up.

I agree. It would have been interesting. They did enter it in one race before the war was all out global, but were denied entry stating it had too much power compared to other planes. That is what I read somewhere, but only once, and I do not know how true it is, as the plane hadnt even flown yet, being hid in an attic above a Piano factory for the interim of the war.


There are a couple of guys making an exact replica of the P-100 Bug that will be flyable. They have been mapping the 3D parameters and shapes of the plane, picking out the right woods for the airframe, etc.

Back before and during WWII, the Bug straight eight was AWESOME....! World reknown. To have 2 of those, cast in Magnesium, would have been potent. What a sound that thing would have made..


Bill

 

[OBIO]

GM had a 4.3 V-6 that was used in full sized pickups starting in the 80s. It was basically a 350 V-8 with a couple of cylinders removed from the middle. Just read the remarks. That racing block is the truck 4.3 souped up.

One big difference...the block this guy used was an aluminum racing block from GM Performance Parts. $4500 plus just for the block. 4-bolt mains instead of the standard 2-bolt mains on all production 4.3 V-6s, true 3-galley oil system as seen on V-8s instead of the 2-galley on production 4.3s. Reinforced front and rear bulk heads. A series piece of V-6 beauty.

I had an 89 GMC S-15 Jimmy 4X4 with the 4.3 in it. Loved that truck, loved that motor. 210 thousand on the odometer when I traded the Jimmy in on my Grand Am GT and that motor was still as strong as ever and would still smoke both back tires (limited slip rear differential) on dry pavement like it was nothing. Blew the doors off many a tuner and Mustang in that worn out Black and Gray sport utility.

OBIO

 

[Moparmike]

Not to mention that the 4.3L in that Velocity is the odd-fire race engine compared to the standard even-fire production "street" engine. This means they didn't re-index the crank throws to provide the even spacing between each cylinder after they chopped the two "extra" cylinders off.
It makes for a little extra vibration, but that's where that "mean" exhaust note comes from.
Not sure why he chose the odd-fire crank for that powerplant...I'm pretty sure you can use the regular even-fire internals in that alloy race block but I might be wrong.
Sure sounds like he's got his homework done on the gearing for the engine/prop. I bet that's a fun little bird!!!

(One of my old toys had the old odd-fire Buick 3.8L V6...had a very similar stutter at idle as that Velocity but also had a very annoying little pop on the two odd-spaced cylinders when fed through the turbo. I lunched that motor after less than one season at the strip and then moved up to the even-fire 4.1L V6 for the next engine.)

 

[MaddogK]

Not to mention that the 4.3L in that Velocity is the odd-fire race engine compared to the standard even-fire production "street" engine. This means they didn't re-index the crank throws to provide the even spacing between each cylinder after they chopped the two "extra" cylinders off.
It makes for a little extra vibration, but that's where that "mean" exhaust note comes from.
Not sure why he chose the odd-fire crank for that powerplant...I'm pretty sure you can use the regular even-fire internals in that alloy race block but I might be wrong.
Sure sounds like he's got his homework done on the gearing for the engine/prop. I bet that's a fun little bird!!!

(One of my old toys had the old odd-fire Buick 3.8L V6...had a very similar stutter at idle as that Velocity but also had a very annoying little pop on the two odd-spaced cylinders when fed through the turbo. I lunched that motor after less than one season at the strip and then moved up to the even-fire 4.1L V6 for the next engine.)

Bingo. The original 4.3L was of the odd-fire type before GM splayed the crank to fire the engine evenly. a 90 deg V6 is a strange animal anyway as it mathematically doesn't work out to fire evenly, thats why almost ALL v6's are 60 degrees between cylinders (6 X 60 = 360 deg)

 

[roger-wilco-66]

There are a lot of non-aircraft engines converted for that use, that come to my mind:

- 2 cylinder BMW motorcycle boxers
- VW Beetle aircooled (--> Limbach used this design for their certified engine)
- Porsche PFM motors (certified)
- Merceds Benz M160 Smart motor, gas or even as Diesel
- the rotary engines from Mazda (that is a classic!)
- Honda Civic engines
- Subaru boxers

and probably many others.


Cheers,
Mark

 

[Moparmike]

Ahh...as sweet as that 4.3L sounds, there still isn't a V6 (60°, 90°, or other) that can match the exhaust note of an inline with split-manifold duals. Just pure heaven to hear an old inline Chevy 235/250 or Dodge slant-six with split pipes.

I went through grade school and high school reading about Ken Duttweiler's and Buddy Ingersoll's turbo Buicks at the strip and got sidetracked with them for a while. I'm back to my inliner-roots though with my little Valiant beater now though.

Oops...thread drift... :d