cjensen
Well Known Member
I've been talking to Maciej in Poland for several months about putting a 220 Franklin on my 7, and they have agreed to meet with me at Oshkosh about doing firewall forward stuff for RV's.
No need to refer me to David Brand...I've been talking with him the same amount of time as well (he still LOVES his engine). He has put me in touch with Gary Stofer with an 8, who loves his as well.
The main reason for this post is to go over the numbers that were put up by Van's with their RV-8. I've been reading thru the 24 years of the RVator (currently sitting on my lap for reference), and the articles that were written actually show the engine to be very favorable, even by Van himself...
The name Franklinstine came from the lengthy installation, and has nothing to do with how the airplane performed.
First, engine weight...330 lbs for the Franklin...333 for the Lycoming IO-360-A1D6. The empty weight of the RV-8 was 1130...Their estimates were that the Franklin installed was 30lbs heavier on average.
Second, mods...there were a few, mainly cowl mods, but the original cowl was able to be used with one inch of length added.
Third, performance...the solo sea level weight climb rate was an ear popping 2850fpm (150fpm MORE than the IO-360!). Cruise at 8,000ft was 217mph (5mph higher than the 360).
Fourth, smoothness...Van himself said it is noticably smoother than the 360, particularly in certain "sweet spots".
All this adds up to what appears to be a really neat engine combo for the RV-7/8, and they pulled it. Now, I know being a distributor for Lycoming, and the fact that they designed the airplanes around the Lycoming engines, makes for an easy pass on the Franklin.
I'm not posting this for argument sake, and I've read all the past postings about the 220 Franklin. I'm just interested to see if there is any significant amount of interest in it, and to gather thoughts and more info.
No need to refer me to David Brand...I've been talking with him the same amount of time as well (he still LOVES his engine). He has put me in touch with Gary Stofer with an 8, who loves his as well.
The main reason for this post is to go over the numbers that were put up by Van's with their RV-8. I've been reading thru the 24 years of the RVator (currently sitting on my lap for reference), and the articles that were written actually show the engine to be very favorable, even by Van himself...
The name Franklinstine came from the lengthy installation, and has nothing to do with how the airplane performed.
First, engine weight...330 lbs for the Franklin...333 for the Lycoming IO-360-A1D6. The empty weight of the RV-8 was 1130...Their estimates were that the Franklin installed was 30lbs heavier on average.
Second, mods...there were a few, mainly cowl mods, but the original cowl was able to be used with one inch of length added.
Third, performance...the solo sea level weight climb rate was an ear popping 2850fpm (150fpm MORE than the IO-360!). Cruise at 8,000ft was 217mph (5mph higher than the 360).
Fourth, smoothness...Van himself said it is noticably smoother than the 360, particularly in certain "sweet spots".
All this adds up to what appears to be a really neat engine combo for the RV-7/8, and they pulled it. Now, I know being a distributor for Lycoming, and the fact that they designed the airplanes around the Lycoming engines, makes for an easy pass on the Franklin.
I'm not posting this for argument sake, and I've read all the past postings about the 220 Franklin. I'm just interested to see if there is any significant amount of interest in it, and to gather thoughts and more info.
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