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My golly it is heavy. I'll bet it takes a chunk of tail ballast or a lot
moved to the tail. Eagle brochure says engine 697 "w heat exhcanger". You
say weight is 715 without the radiator, enormous belly pod, plumbing. A
minimum of 18 lb brochure error. Continental spec detail spec sheet lists
550 with one alternator at 597 so Eagle way over 150 lbs. heavier. The
Orenda nvil in the Tigress weighted about same as Eagle, needed a tail
stretch of 2 ft, and sitll reportedly did not fly right.
You wrote that if you compare the Continental with a metal prop to the Eagle
the difference is less. Not true. The Eagle uses a 5 blade MT that weighed
98 lbs according to MT at Oshkosh. So it is heavier than the metal prop for
the Continental because it has to take more power. It weighs far more than
the 43 lb 3 blade MT for the Continenal. The Ealge is then at least 175 lbs.
heavier before you add the airconditioner, tail ballast - assuming metal prop
vs metal prop. Composite vs composite prop makes the Eagle a whopping 225
lbs. heavier. 225 lbs heavier to gain 150 hp. + all of the drag of that huge
belly pod, and the loss of 225 lbs of useful load is a terrible deal,
especially for the +$100,000 asking price.
You wrote the Eagle was not an auto conversion but scratch built. The
Oshkosh display engine had a GM2500 intake manifold like my 454 pickup, a
boat water pump on spacers, firebird ignition parts, every bolt pattern
matched BB Chevy with all bearings sizes same. A 540 is just a 502 chevy
with a 1st overbore.
You wrote that you have been waiting on the engine for years to be delivered.
This worries me as none of my messages, mail, or emails were answered by the
company. Eagle appears to be operating from a closet with a mailbox and no
real employees or ooperations. No one in the Oshkosh booth had a clue about
engines.
You wrote that the engine had only been run in a test cell without the
gearbox and prop. This is a huge concern as every autocon has had problems
if they run a gearbox instead of direct drive. Orenda was plagued with
broken crands at less than 800 hrs. and dropped vlves at less after spending
more money. To make it worse the Eagle has a 2/1 ratio for 4500 rpm that is
howling for a BBChevy to take continuous. GM540 boats can't take more than
400 hours of that before going boom.
The Oshkosh display crew said the Eagle has no warranty, no guarantee, and
idea of a TBO. For that they want over $100,000. I can buy two Continentals
for that. Seems like a huge lack of faith by Eagle in their own product.
I guess the Eagle gearbox, auto conversion no test running with a prop,
whopping weight, enormous belly pod, company in a closet, lack of warranty,
and huge price factors just concern me to much.
Carlton
[I'm not going to comment on the weight issues, you seem to have pretty
well researched that yourself. As for the company "operating out of a
closet", that's not quite true. I visited the American Engine facility
in Ontario, CA, back in early January, saw Rick Van Grouw's engine on the
engine stand waiting to be shipped later that week. The dyno run screen
captures that they showed me were done with the engine in the test cell,
but they were using a 4-blade MT hydraulic prop to soak up the power. I
have never had any problem reaching either Darrell Buehl or Curt Longo, the
engineers behind the project. Their website (http://www.americanengine.com/)
is operating, although the address and phones given there are strictly
sales numbers as far as I know. If you want to talk with Darrell his
number at the factory is 909-947-1447. This is neither an endorsement nor
a condemnation of the Eagle 540 project, just a few data points that I
can report from personal contact with the folks involved during my
recent visit. FWIW... <Marv> ]
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