Best engine for a Piet?

[Wingless Nut]

Guys! Would those in the know please share which engines work best in a Pietenpol please. Anything except the Model a Ford engine would be of interest to me. Thanks

[t-bird]

Make Bennie an offer for his VW engine.

[Wingless Nut]

What's the status now; For sale , withdrawn or what? VW, ja-nee boet. Me thinks, if I want to look for sh1t, I'd much rather get a red-head skelmpie. That way I'll definitely survive if her rev's drop unexpectedly, or she "goois" a con-rod, snaps a crank and so on. . Thanks for the info anyway t-bird

[Tailspin]

I have tried the Red Head gilfriend thing and now she is the wife so that don't work too well either

Anything with 80 HP and over should be good enough. Depends totally on what sorta flyer you are looking to build.

[Wingless Nut]

Tailspin, all you need now is an Italian sportscar, Boet! At least then you will have an idea where to look for the problems. I basically need to get into the air and true to the Piet's design parameters; chug along low and slow. Yip that's about it for starters. Are you suggesting something like a Jabby 2200A? I'd prefer a direct drive as opposed to a redrive, for the sake of simplicity. The chap who flies ZS-VIX (?), uses a 135 horse (or thereabouts) Lycoming. I think youre spot on. With a relatively low useable load capability, a light weight engine in the 80 horse catagory would makes sense and probably work well, considering that the original Ford model A engine produced much less horses and wasn't exactly a "lightweight" in terms of it's mass. I cannot recall the specifics, but have it somewhere and will go look it up. Thanks for the input!

[Rudix]

Most Piet's today fly on some kind of car conversion. There are also many flying with Lycoming and Continentals.

The original Ford A produced less than 50hp but 80-100hp is a lot better.

You have to be careful when going for a light engine, you C of G WILL be a problem unless you lengthen the nose, and if you do that you have to increase the fin size........ The 2200A Jabiru will be too light and the small prop won't be ideal for the slow draggy plane.

Mine currently has a 2l Ford Cosworth engine with a reduction drive, somewhere in the region of 120hp.

Good luck with the project and keep us updated !
Rudi

[Duck Rogers]

Guys! Would those in the know please share which engines work best in a Pietenpol please. Anything except the Model a Ford engine would be of interest to me. Thanks

Ford 1600 Crossflow or 2L Cosworth................bulletproof :D

[Wingless Nut]

Thanks Duck! Would that include the old RS 2000 engine? Direct drive or reduction drive? Any ideas what these would weigh with radiator and water? Maybe I should have another look at the VW with the prop on the flywheel end as per Great Plains/planes catalogue, and have the valve seat mods for unleaded fuel done locally?

[weedy]

Hi, a Piet needs a big slow turning prop because of the high drag and low air speed they fly at.

[Wingless Nut]

Thanks Weedy! Makes sense!

[Wingless Nut]

So Guys, any thoughts on the perfect prop setup in terms of size, pitch and maximum rpm with a car conversion engine?

[Boet]

Stop all other nonsence, and look for a Continental 0200 engine. A match made in heaven. :D

[Duck Rogers]

Stop all other nonsence, and look for a Continental 0200 engine. A match made in heaven. :D

Wouldn't that be too heavy Boet?

[Rudix]

Stop all other nonsence, and look for a Continental 0200 engine. A match made in heaven. :D

Wouldn't that be too heavy Boet?

I know of at least one flying in GP with the O200 Continental, BUT, the performance is rather marginal with a VERY low rate of climb

I suppose it could be that that particular plane is just heavy.....

[Wingless Nut]

Eish! Now I'm disconfusalated. But yes, I think ZS-VIX has a Continental 0200 mill.