I fly a STOL 56 straight tailed jump bird with an O-470 (not enough power
plant) they are worked to death, would love to hang a turbo'd 3-
rotor on it
and see how it handles the work load.   Glider towing and jumpers seem to be
the perfect environment for a rotary.   Had a 208 for a couple of years here
in Wichita for jumpers it handled like a 182 on steroids.   Cessna makes a
hard working selection of aircraft.    But the power plants weren't designed
for the torture.  skydoc


I hear a lot of stores from around the world particularly Australia
about glider tow and jump aircraft being refitted with auto engines.

What I am not sure about is the legality. As I understand it
if the AC is owned by the private club you can do anything
you want. If you hire it out it must be FAA certified.
Am I right or wrong on this. If I am wrong what ARE the rules.

I always thought a duster aircraft with a 1800 pound, over the
highway, 300 HP, six cylinder in line diesel engine, partially
mounted in the hopper would make a good glider tow airplane
engine.

Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.

I can't speak for down in the US, but up here in Canada it's not allowed.
They want to see a certified engine in the airframe [Unfortunately] there
are several experimental designs out there that would work great for
flying jumpers. The Murphy Moose comes to mind.

I know that the old lyc and continental engines have much to be desired
compared to modern engine designs and material's, but I'm curious
as to why the power plants aren't 'designed' for the torture?
It would seem as though, if they are treated the way they should be they'd
end up lasting a long long time in day to day use.

I'm by no means an old hand at flying divers, I've only got about 700hr's flying
them over 1 summer, but I never blew a jug or had any mechanical problems
while flying that whole summer... other than the time the jumper's parachute
deployed while he was IAD'in student's and he hit the horz. stab... [another story]
but that old' 470 kept a'turnin.. :-)   I can see where a liquid cooled engine [or turbine] in this
app would be a good improvement, just haven't seen all the mechanical
problem's that other jumper drivers have w/ their 470's.

Jarrett

There is nothing old about Cont. and Lyc. AC engines. They are
state of the art in materials and manufacturing. They are optimized
for the light aircraft job.  Maybe not for jump aircraft or tow
but there is nothing you could do about that except add a bit
of weight to the cranks, rods, cases and heads. Unless you go to
four valves per cylinders there is nothing that can be done
about exhaust valve cooling that has not been done already.

The current air cooled aircraft piston engine's overall power
to weight ratio will be very very difficult to improve upon based
on its hundred year detail development.

See  http://www.rotaryeng.net/how-to-cool12.html

The Wankel rotary on the other hand is an intrinsically more robust
mechanism.

Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.

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