Mark Henderson
Well Known Member
From time to time I hear gripes about the price of the Rotax engine. On the Van's site it is $28730. For that you get a hundred horsepower engine with a 2000 hour TBO and and the basic weight is around 125 lbs. I was at an antique book faire this week end and bought the 1928 catalog from the Nicholas Beazley Airplane Co. Inc. Beazley ran a flight school, sold new aviation parts, and war surplus engines and aircraft.
You could buy anything from a Curtis OX5 to a Wright Whirlwind. Of the 11 different engines they sold, none had the combination of horsepower and weight as the Rotax. Neither was the price any better. The Warner Scarab 110 hp weighed 270 lbs and cost $31656 adjusted to 2014 dollars.The lightest engine was the Anzani 3 cyl radial, at 115 lbs but only 35 hp. The LeBlond ninety ($17310) and the Kinner 100 hp ($25258) were both over 250 lbs and were around 350 cubic inches. At rated power the Lebond burned 8.25 gal/hour and 2.7 lbs/hr of oil. I guess some serious redesign would be require to fit one of these on an RV-12. Boy would it look cool though!
In looking through the catalog, aviation wasn't cheap then, nor is it now. But it sure is a lot of fun. Here is a link to a later version of the catalog. http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm/ref/collection/hardie/id/174 You can find anything you need to build an airplane. No avionics though.
You could buy anything from a Curtis OX5 to a Wright Whirlwind. Of the 11 different engines they sold, none had the combination of horsepower and weight as the Rotax. Neither was the price any better. The Warner Scarab 110 hp weighed 270 lbs and cost $31656 adjusted to 2014 dollars.The lightest engine was the Anzani 3 cyl radial, at 115 lbs but only 35 hp. The LeBlond ninety ($17310) and the Kinner 100 hp ($25258) were both over 250 lbs and were around 350 cubic inches. At rated power the Lebond burned 8.25 gal/hour and 2.7 lbs/hr of oil. I guess some serious redesign would be require to fit one of these on an RV-12. Boy would it look cool though!
In looking through the catalog, aviation wasn't cheap then, nor is it now. But it sure is a lot of fun. Here is a link to a later version of the catalog. http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm/ref/collection/hardie/id/174 You can find anything you need to build an airplane. No avionics though.