R

RichB

Active Member
Did anyone else notice the news about Lycoming's new "iE2" 350 HP FADEC TEO-540-A? Sounds like a serious piece of kit, based on the podcast / MP3 I listened to. They're claiming 10-15% improvement in economy, and it's pretty cool even from a technological standpoint with knock detection, per-cylinder tuning, etc.

Anyway, reason for posting is because I'm wondering.... Aerosance doesn't do a kit for the Lycoming 540, so there seems to be a gap in the market if you want to run a FADEC engine in an RV-10. Has anyone heard if they'll bring a non-turbo iE2 "EO-540" to the experimental market any time soon?

Cheers,
Rich
 
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Mike S said:
Sounds like they are coping Ross's fuel injection system:D
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I don't doubt the quality of Ross' systems, especially given that he flies with them himself. However, I'm thinking he probably doesn't run knock detection on an air-cooled engine, per cylinder fuel/spark trim, nor compensation for power loss as the engine wears (although the implementation of this could be interesting... must be de-rated from the outset to still produce 350 HP after 2000 hours, and/or increase boost and mixture over this time?).

I'd like to see some pics of the new engine too...
 
I find it interesting that lycoming now thinks their IO 540 can run LOP if controlled by their computer.
 
LOP? Not any more...!

Once you have fully controlled ignition timing and air-fuel ratio, there isn't any more such a thing as LOP. It's just lean, and yes the engine should run optimally lean under all conditions where component temperatures (CHT etc) allow.

I've seen photos of the engine and it looks quite expensive! Good luck to Lycoming for raising the bar.
 
Typically the aviation FADECs today are quite sophisticated compared to what we have offered for the last 14 years- on par with something like a Motec aftermarket system with independent cylinder fuel and spark control via feedback. It is very nice kit with a price to match unfortunately.

We do the basics without the feedback control and it works very well for most clients.


Knock control on low compression atmo engines running 100LL is not very useful as it would be almost impossible to have knock with this combination. We have done knock control on Porsche 930 engines which have a specific output about 3.5 times higher than a turbocharged Lycoming. Can be made to work but for various reasons, we don't recommend knock sensing on aviation applications.

If you can afford them, FADECs are the way to go.

I just had a call from Mike Dacey today who is using our 6F system on his Sport Class Venture. In testing he has now exceeded 365 mph at a very low manifold pressure setting. He was amazed how much closer the EGTs are now at all throttle angles compared to the Continental mechanical FI setup which did not work well at high power levels. He's very stoked now that he can concentrate more on flying and less on fiddling with mixture and monitoring the engine at 150 feet and 400 mph. He'll be at Reno in September.
 
rv6ejguy said:
Typically the aviation FADECs today are quite sophisticated compared to what we have offered for the last 14 years- on par with something like a Motec aftermarket system with independent cylinder fuel and spark control via feedback. It is very nice kit with a price to match unfortunately.

We do the basics without the feedback control and it works very well for most clients.


Knock control on low compression atmo engines running 100LL is not very useful as it would be almost impossible to have knock with this combination. We have done knock control on Porsche 930 engines which have a specific output about 3.5 times higher than a turbocharged Lycoming. Can be made to work but for various reasons, we don't recommend knock sensing on aviation applications.

If you can afford them, FADECs are the way to go.

I just had a call from Mike Dacey today who is using our 6F system on his Sport Class Venture. In testing he has now exceeded 365 mph at a very low manifold pressure setting. He was amazed how much closer the EGTs are now at all throttle angles compared to the Continental mechanical FI setup which did not work well at high power levels. He's very stoked now that he can concentrate more on flying and less on fiddling with mixture and monitoring the engine at 150 feet and 400 mph. He'll be at Reno in September.
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Talk about being above and beyond the pack... 150' high? 400mph is competitive if he can actually pull that off (He'd be beating Relentless, I doubt he'd be able to get by Sharp...) But he's gotta be doing it at 50' max :D
 
If you saw the Sport Class race last year, you would have seen Mike's pass of Lynn Farnsworth's Lancair in the last lap. He went by him at about 30-40 mph closing speed at the start/ finish line after finally getting the boost control into the sweet spot. Many more mods have been done to the cooling, ADI, intercoolers and a further aerodynamic cleanup. Mike turned a few heads last year by finishing third- without the big sponsorship dollars many others have.

There is little doubt that Sharp is already exceeding 400 mph on the straights as of last year. You can bet he will be faster yet in 2008.

Mike flies a slightly different line than the others as the Venture turns a lot better than the Lancairs and a bit better than the NXTs. The Venture is a lot cleaner aerodynamically than many give it credit for. Should be interesting as always to see how it plays out.:cool:
 
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