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Seeing the recent
spat of emails concerning Zehrbach engines, I thought I would take a minute to
provide my thoughts to the list.
I recently finished
a long journey in my Lancair 360 with a derivation of a Zehrbach engine.
The journey started in Charlotte, NC and took my wife and me to Kansas City,
Aspen, Boulder, Aspen, Las Vegas, San Diego, the Grand Canyon, Sante Fe,
Memphis, and back to Charlotte. When I landed the tach showed about 100
hours, which is really about 200 since I changed the Vision Micro chip after
about 100 hours and it reset the tach. I'd love to say the engine didn't
miss a beat, but it did once while descending into Kansas City (the timing was
fortunate - it was a planned stop) - read on for the detail.
This plane has been
one hell of a project, and as most of you know... the project is never really
finished. I have been flying my Lancair for almost two years now, and I am
still working out the bugs. The engine has undergone some major
changes, but overall I am close to achieving the design goals I set at the
beginning of the project. The engine isn't as much of a Zehrbach product
as when I started, but I couldn't have accomplished what I have without his
help.
What I have accomplished is this: a
reliable mode of transportation, with modern automotive type conveniences.
I develop good power and don't have to mess around with mixture settings or deal
with hard starts. I push "start",
and it starts - no matter whether hot or cold,
raining or just plane grumpy. It starts NOW. I fly with the
throttle and prop, and the electronics do the rest.
That said, I
had to remove the turbo, get rid of the oil cooling on the cylinder
heads, and I have done a tremendous amount of troubleshooting and engine
parameter reprogramming. But Darus has been available and helpful the
entire way. I tried to do a lot of stuff in one giant leap, and have had
to back off some (Darus told me upfront what I was trying to do was probably
pushing the envelope too much). Darus has not charged me $0.01 for
all his time and effort since delivering my engine to me 3 years
ago.
Is it perfect?
No - I still have some electrical glitches in the plane (fortunately not the
engine side of things), and one of the engine timing pick-ups has a habit of
failing (replaced my 4th one in Kansas City - fortunately a) I have dual units
and b) I now carry a spare). Is the failure rate any worse than what I
would have experienced with a "normal production" engine? Maybe, or maybe
not. I know of several pilots at my local airport that have had recurring
failures of certified magnetos, fuel pumps and other accessories. No it
hasn't been tested on an FAA approved vibration simulator, nor struck with
lightning. But I can tell you this - I have flown through weather that has
caused other systems in my plane to fritz, yet the electronics in my plane
didn't miss a beat.
So the person who
said that these are expiremental and pushing the limits is a good thing - you
are right. We all may benefit someday from people who are willing to try
something new. So let's keep an open mind. Let's hope that
Zehrbach's V8 delivers close to what is quoted. And if you are installing
an experimental engine, keep an open mind, and remember that you are pushing the
envelope - it will take a lot of work. Make sure you are up for it and
that you choose a supplier who will stand behind his
product.
Most off all -
start flying. That's where the fun is. Last weekend the wife and I
went to Charlottesville, VA to visit family. This weekend we are off to a
conference at the beach. I would never take these trips in a car, and it
wouldn't be as much fun in a production plane. FLY!
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