ck this out for an alternative engine

[avee8tor]

http://www.franklinengines.com/rv8.cfm

[djvdb63]

Originally Posted by avee8tor

http://www.franklinengines.com/rv8.cfm

Any thread regarding this engine probably belongs under the "Traditional Aircraft Engines" heading. This is a certified aircraft engine with a well known history. Van's put one on an 8 with somewhat lukewarm reactions. "Franklinstein" they called it. I don't recall if they still fly it.

Dan
Chicago
RV-9A Empennage

[cjensen]

This is another one that has been discussed at length here. Bottom line on that company, is that they don't answer phones, don't return messages, and don't answer email. I've tried...many, many, many times...

The only thing that changes year to year on that site, is the date at the bottom. It's too bad too, because I was really interested at one time in the Franklin 220 for my 7.

[RichB]

Originally Posted by cjensen

This is another one that has been discussed at length here. Bottom line on that company, is that they don't answer phones, don't return messages, and don't answer email. I've tried...many, many, many times...

The only thing that changes year to year on that site, is the date at the bottom. It's too bad too, because I was really interested at one time in the Franklin 220 for my 7.

That's too bad, because they claim to have a -7 installation kit "coming soon" too ( http://www.franklinengines.com/rv7.cfm ). I like the idea of a flat-6 rather than a flat-4, mostly for the better balance and smoothness of delivery... and it's in the right weight and HP range. Is the factory in Poland any more useful for customers who want a Franklin?

[cjensen]

That 7 kit has been "Coming soon" for two years.

I have talked to the factory in Poland at length, and met them at Oshkosh in '07. They are very nice people, and do want to do business! They are working on a FWF installation on an RV they were supposed to purchase toward the end of '07. Once that is done and tested, they will be offering a FWF package for RV's.

Maciej is the guy I've been talking to in Poland, and is very helpful.

The place in Ft. Collins, CO, has nothing to do with the factory in Poland...

The main reason Van's stopped development of this engine with their kits was more to do with engineering the installation than weight. Performance was BETTER than any Lyc they put up front. Climb was better, and cruise speed was a mile per hour or two better. It was just diffucult to get it to fit easily.

There are at least two RV-8 builders now flying with the 220 Franklin...David Brand and Gary Stofer are the two I've talked to. Both love the engine.

[MacNab]

Originally Posted by RichB

That's too bad, because they claim to have a -7 installation kit "coming soon" too ( http://www.franklinengines.com/rv7.cfm ). I like the idea of a flat-6 rather than a flat-4, mostly for the better balance and smoothness of delivery... and it's in the right weight and HP range. Is the factory in Poland any more useful for customers who want a Franklin?

That's the other problem, the Franklin production line is currently shut down and no one really knows when or if it will ever start up again. When Pratt & Whitney bought PZL a couple of years ago they shut the line down (or rather, their lawyers did). The original Polish Franklin factory operators supposedly organized and bought back the production rights and facilities. They talked of restarting the line last year, but nothing has happened yet. Not much activity on their website http://www.franklin-engines.com/ and it's basically a mess...not a confidence builder, if you ask me.

I've got about a thousand hours behind the 220 Frank, and love it, but parts availability is becoming a problem. When PZL was running the Frank line they produced complete engines but didn't seem to produce much in the way of replacement parts for the existing fleet. There are also parts compatibility problems between the Syracuse Franks and the PZL Franks because of metric tooling conversion issues and changes in alloys to some of the parts that PZL made.

I hope someone finds a way to start producing Franklin engines and parts again because it is a great engine, but it is likely just not economically feasible.