Microlighters

I hope that some of the clever people out there can tell me whether this has been done successfully. Seems the direct drive 80HP Aerovee, weighing about 161lbs (73kg's) would be a suitable engine for a trike, but can't seem to find any information on successful conversions. Seems they have been used on 3 axis aircraft a lot, as well as Whisper Gliders etc, but no mention of a trike.
The engine seems to be simplicity itself, it's air-cooled, horizontally opposed (like conventional aircraft engines) and can run a big prop off a direct drive....so why has nobody tried it on a trike? Or have they?
Weight seems to be within the limits, and certainly lighter than the BMW 1200's, as well as the 4 cylinder Yaris motor with gearbox, radiator etc. Also relatively cheap.....

Any feedback would be much appreciated....

Cooling!!!

If you approach the cooling issue with some insight , then there is no reason it cannot work. Take a look at the cooling system used on the Streak shadow with the Jabbi 4 cyl engine, this was a pusher with an aircooled engine.

I also don't see big cooling issues...there are a lot of guys flying trikes with VW motors of some sorts in Brazil. If necessary, one could put some sort of ducting system on to funnel air over the cylinders, but the engines are pretty wide, and I suspect will have a lot of airflow over them. They are also partly oil-cooled too. The Rotax 503 has no overheating issues, and the cooling fins are smaller than on the VW..

CraigL , yes correct BUT.....the 503 has a cooling fan that pushes air through the baffel plates.

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I have only one problem with putting those motors on a trike.


WEIGHT

Tailspin wrote:I have only one problem with putting those motors on a trike.


WEIGHT

I wouldn't say that weight is a major issue. Installed weight of a AeroVee is pretty much the same as a 912, once you include all the Rotax life support equipment + plumbing + fluids. In fact, the AeroVee would work out a few kg lighter if you took the Nikasil option.

Major issues are:
1) cooling
2) poor prop efficiency (tiny prop spinning in the dirty air behind the seat)

Some day I would love to try an AeroVee on a Thuderbird/Bantam, where the high-mounted prop position would make the small AeroVee prop almost as efficient as the big Rotax prop...

Many moons ago when La Mercy was still a Microlight airfield, I saw a trike in in a hanger there that had a VW engine mounted on it but do not know whom the owner was. Maybe Dave Daniel, 082comefly will still know who's trike it was.

Would an HKS not be a better option, if do do insist on deviation from Rotax?

HKS engine is THE engine for a trike. Light, powerfull enough and very economical, we will see lots more trikes flying!!