Eggenfellner engines

[David-aviator]

Originally Posted by TOAD

I want to be very careful here. I think that the automotive engines have a future. They are very reliable. I bought a Subaru car based on the reliability of the engine. That said I want to see how Jan is treating his existing customers. I have a friend with a flying a Subaru powered RV. Ok, It is now grounded at the moment waiting the new gen III gearbox. If he gets it, and it is good I will think about recommending the Subi package. If the plane sits on the ground with the priority going to new customers I would have to question the wisdom of buying from Jan. Hey this is the obvious right? Customer support is a key element in the decision process.

Hope to be able to give a thumbs up report soon. I would very much like to see true experimental work pay off. You builders really rock. I was a bit timid myself and have the old Lyconasaurus in there. Next time I will try experimenting myself. I am impressed with what you can do if you try.

With regard to customer support, my experience has been good and it goes back to 2003. I started with a 2.5 engine and switched to the H6 after a SC failure. Jan and I each have crawled out through a broken windscreen after an engine out landing and flip and are brothers in a sense of having shared that experience.

That's not to say there have not been problems with the product and disappointments and disagreements along the way. GEN1 and GEN2 did not work (with the H6 in particular) and it cost down time and money. Shortly after installing GEN3, it was recalled for a thrust washer upgrade and seal replacement and since then I reported the front seal was still leaking and Jan offered to swap it out immediately. As it turns out, the seal is not leaking but a recently overhauled MT prop is swinging a minor bit of surplus grease. The point being, while I was not happy with all the problems with the PSRU's, factory support has not been lacking whenever possible. I've been to the factory by car and air 4 or 5 times and they have always dropped whatever they were doing to visit with a customer, one time we swapped out GEN1 for GEN2 and they arranged for MT to come over to balance the prop.

That being said, this an on going experimental effort. The H6 is a solid engine and if treated with a bit of care, is as reliable as any Lycoming. It is easier to check compression and mine is holding just fine burning everything from 87 mogas to 100LL. Lately I've settled on 97 mogas from Walmart because it gives a good balance of power and is a fuel the engine was designed to burn.

It is no secret, I do not like blowing these engines but to each his own. Normal aspiration is just fine for my type of flying.

[Tandem46]

Originally Posted by janeggenfellner

What happened to the first RV-10 was not engine related. No more info until the NTSB report.

How do you know that? Pls share.

[LifeofReiley]

[quote=janeggenfellner;186439] What happened to the first RV-10 was not engine related.

1st

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...06X01741&key=1


2nd RV10

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...20X01821&key=1

[rv6ejguy]

The first instance is not an RV10. Neither report draws any conclusions about power loss. Fuel, ignition, mechanical failure can all cause power loss.

We saw several power loss incidents in 2007 on RVs with Lycoming power as well. Most were not core engine failures to my knowledge. EI failures, blocked induction systems etc. caused a couple I can remember here. These all result in forced landings irregardless.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...11X01782&key=1. This one is also undetermined at this point.

Let's wait for the full reports.

[janeggenfellner]

Originally Posted by tobinbasford

How do you know that? Pls share.

I have a promise to uphold to the NTSB. The specific information is not publically available until the report is complete. We met to look at the airplane in December.

Jan

[janeggenfellner]

[quote=LifeofReiley;186603]

Originally Posted by janeggenfellner

What happened to the first RV-10 was not engine related.

1st

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...06X01741&key=1




2nd RV10

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...20X01821&key=1

The results are also pending on this report but it was very clear what happened from viewing the airplane / engine. Again, the information belong to the NTSB until public. Eggenfellner Aircraft has been against a dual alternator system on any installations. NTSB reports are valuable and we can learn from them.

Jan Eggenfellner

[janeggenfellner]

Originally Posted by rv72004

No offence to subbie users, but better stick to a known lycasaurus quantity if your engine skills are as limited as mine. It still baffles me why so many people go with a product which has no price ,quality ,consumption or performance advantage over a Lycasaurus.
Maybe one day I will see the light.

It is true that you might want to stay convensional if you are not that much into the workings of engines. However, for those that are, they have a hard time rationalizing the older designs over that of the more up to date. As far as the advantages, well, you would have to fly behind one to know. The light usually come on very quickly when we give rides
Jan

[DanH]

Jan, are you interested in technical discussion regarding your gearboxes and other rotating parts?

[LifeofReiley]

Originally Posted by DanH

Jan, are you interested in technical discussion regarding your gearboxes and other rotating parts?

I don't think Jan will want to go there. Gen1, Gen2 are grounded per the website and a statement from Jan. Gen3's have been promised, delayed for about a year now and probably need to be redesigned too.

[RickWoodall]

Just a question for the engine folks. There are a pile of auto engines out there that seem to be working. The p51 mustangs replicas, the spitfire replicas etc are using suzuki, and gm/isuzu engines in them. They too are spinning in the 5-6000 rpm range. Since i think most can agree that the technology in auto engines is more advanced than lyco's, why is making a bullet proof gear box such a big deal. (there are a lot of moving things out there that have much heavier duty gearboxes that dont **** out) There are lots of planes all over the world flying on higher rpm engines. Not my thing, i will go lyco but its interesting to me. Have you ever watched some of those 24 and 48 hour endurance races where they beat the stuffing out of subaru's amount others and they are pretty tough. 48 hours full throttle up mountains, through mud...that says alot about an engine imho.
I love those spitfire kits, but they package it with a gm engine. Hmm oh ya and the kit is SEVERAL hundred thousand. Just asking.