How about a Yamaha engine.

[rrnixonjr]

This Yamaha engine is about 110 cubic inches, weighs 270 lbs and makes 250 horsepower at 7500 rpm. It is a very small package for the power it makes and has interesting features like the oil scavenger pump and an engine driven supercharger that is very neatly packaged. It could probably make 180 hp at a lower rpm, say around 5500. But that is not my point.

I don't think Yamaha would design such a small displacement engine for an aircraft but if they did design an engine it would surely be packaged very neatly and incorporate some of the features this engine has. What gets me is you can buy an entire jetski with supercharged EFI Yamaha engine for $13,000 or so while we pay $25,000 for a 180 hp Lycoming engine. Too bad an engine company like Yamaha or Honda won't step up to the plate. Guess the market is too small.

[cujet]

Originally Posted by rrnixonjr

while we pay $25,000 for a 180 hp Lycoming engine. Too bad an engine company like Yamaha or Honda won't step up to the plate. Guess the market is too small.

Having just overhauled my Lycoming, I can say that it really is a complex engine. Just not it the way you might at first think. Rather than have parts manufactured to accurate dimensions shapes and sizes, there are shims, clips, washers, spacers, parts of differing weights, different length pushrods and this means there are all sorts of issues to watch out for and correct. This takes time, a large part of the cost of a Lycoming is labor! Simply putting the case halves together properly takes time. Unlike more modern engines. Also, the parts are huge by comparison to automotive parts, therefore more expensive.

Air cooling and direct drive are the main advantages.

[pierre smith]

......insurance adds a bunch as well. When Cessna quit producing Ag planes they cost around $100,000 in the eighties and we (as a Cessna dealer) were told that product liability was $30,000 per airplane!

An experimental Lyco is $5000 cheaper than a certified one probably for the same reasons IMO.

Regards,