When the body goes on your Fit build a Aircraft
#1
11-14-2013, 10:05 AM
When the body goes on your Fit build a Aircraft
Found these articles on planes built using a Honda Fit engine even have a turbo (USDM not JDM).
Do Car Engines Make Good Airplane Engines?
By Stephen Pope / Published: Apr 09, 2012
Related Tags: Aircraft
Enlarge Photo
You can find the question posed on just about every well-trodden aviation message board on the Internet: Why can’t we just use fuel-efficient and cheap car engines in our airplanes? The answer, in a nutshell, is that the best automobile engine in the world is usually still a poor aircraft engine. Here are the reasons why:
Car engines are designed to provide quick bursts of relatively high power output for acceleration, and then only modest power output for steady-state cruising. It’s unusual for an auto engine to operate anywhere near its redline rpm or max-rated power output. Airplanes, on the other hand, usually take off and climb near 100 percent power output, followed by steady-state cruise often at 75 percent power. Aircraft engines are designed to sustain this punishment reliably over a typical 2,000-hour service life. Try running your car’s engine at or near redline rpm all the time and see what happens. Of course, we don’t know what will happen, and in an airplane we can’t pull over to the side of the road when it does.
Why couldn’t your car engine run at, say, 2,700 rpm all the time, about the same as that of many piston aircraft engines producing full power? Reciprocating aircraft engines generally spin a propeller via direct drive, with the prop essentially bolted to the crankshaft. Typically, piston aircraft engines produce peak power output at a redline near 2,700 rpm. But compared with car engines, aircraft engines produce gobs of torque at relatively low rpm. Auto engines, on the other hand, usually produce very little torque at those settings, while also relying on liquid cooling. They’re generally designed to produce their peak power at settings above 6,000 rpm, and so to work they need a reduction gear box.
Still, that hasn’t stopped some manufacturers from adapting automotive engines for aviation duty, and often with impressive results. Austro Engine did it with its super-efficient AE300 turbodiesel based on a Mercedes-Benz engine. Viking Aircraft Engines of Edgewater, Florida, meanwhile, has adapted the engine from the tiny Honda Fit for use in LSAs. Its liquid-cooled gasoline engine (pictured) produces 110 hp
at 5,800 rpm and burns just 3.5 gph at its economy cruise setting.
Honda Fit Aircraft Engine - Owners
Group Description
This Group is dedicated to supporting owners and intending owners of salvaged Honda Fit/Jazz F15A7, converted for aircraft use and to assisting the manufacturer in the continued product improvement of this engine, by providing for the free discussion of information.
This group is not affiliated with any Parts Supplier or Manufacturer, but is a location where Honda Fit Aircraft Engine Builders/Owners, can acquire information, exchange information, designs, construction ideas, sharing tips, construction photos, helpful hints, and yes frustrations and problems associated with building their Experimental Aircraft Engine!
This group is not intended to replace the Suppliers and/or Manufacturer's guidelines and building instructions if you are building from their parts and/or engine kits!
If you have an interest or desire in acquiring and/or building a Honda Fit Aircraft Engine for your Experimental Homebuilt Aircraft... then come join Honda Fit/Jazz Builders group and share your building experience, information, designs, construction ideas, photos and yes frustrations etc...
At the present time, there are 3 Honda Fit converted engine suppliers, so do your due diligence before making the most important decision that you will have to make... for your Experimental Aircraft Engine!
The suppliers are:
Air Trikes - Air Trikes: Engines and Conversion Kits.
Raven RotorCraft/ReDrives Inc. - Raven Rotorcraft Redrives: Geo-Suzuki Engine Conversion for Gyroplanes and Ultralights
VIKING AIRCRAFT ENGINES - Viking Aircraft Engines Honda Based Aircraft Engine Welcome
Oh yeh... The use of information from this Honda Fit Aircraft Engine Owners Group is experimental in nature, for information and educational purposes only and is USED AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Group Description
Dedicated to supporting owners and intending owners of the Viking Aircraft Engine, and to assisting the manufacturer in the continued product improvement of this engine, by providing for the free discussion of information.
This group is not affiliated with the manufacturer, which has its own group, Viking Aircraft Engines. Yahoo Groups
This engine is a salvaged Honda Fit/Jazz F15A7 converted for aircraft use.
In addition, this group supports all aeronautical conversions of the HondaF15 series of engines. Honda has committed to long term support of this efficient engine, which means that it should continue to provide an economical alternative base engine for decades to come.
Join Zenith Aircraft Builders and Flyers
Comment by Ron D Leclerc yesterday On Friday the Oct 25th and Saturday the 26th educational seminars by Jeron Smith of Raven ReDrives Inc. were held at CopperState EAA Airshow.
Jeron Smith comments about the educational seminars he presented! To keep up with further updates, got to - - Yahoo Groups
"Just a quick note to let folks know that I'm back from Copperstate EAA AirShow and was very pleased with the turn out and great questions at the three free Educational Seminars I did there. Now its back to work on our HondaŽ Jazz/Fit 115HP engine package which we will be installing in a ZenairŽ 601 XLB for flight testing and then upgrading it to the 140+ HP turbo version which we have incorporated into our new HondaŽ engine package design from day one. We will then have an apples to apples comparison on this HondaŽ engine of the performance benefits of the same type of turbo upgrade kit we have been successfully installing on our GeoŽ/SuzukiŽ engine packages for well over a decade now.
I really appreciated the audience feedback from the Seminars as it always helps to get confirmation that the path you have chosen as a designer with a new product speaks directly to the marketplace. As usual, with our very specific 'Super-STOL' orientation in development of this HondaŽ engine package, we expect to carve out our own unique niche with a cutting edge proven product. I will be posting more regularly now on this site to share our design goals and business philosophy over the next few months and how we plan to optimize the full potential of this new engine.
Jeron Smith
Raven ReDrives Inc.
575-737-9656 cell 303-440-6234"
Do Car Engines Make Good Airplane Engines?
By Stephen Pope / Published: Apr 09, 2012
Related Tags: Aircraft
Enlarge Photo
You can find the question posed on just about every well-trodden aviation message board on the Internet: Why can’t we just use fuel-efficient and cheap car engines in our airplanes? The answer, in a nutshell, is that the best automobile engine in the world is usually still a poor aircraft engine. Here are the reasons why:
Car engines are designed to provide quick bursts of relatively high power output for acceleration, and then only modest power output for steady-state cruising. It’s unusual for an auto engine to operate anywhere near its redline rpm or max-rated power output. Airplanes, on the other hand, usually take off and climb near 100 percent power output, followed by steady-state cruise often at 75 percent power. Aircraft engines are designed to sustain this punishment reliably over a typical 2,000-hour service life. Try running your car’s engine at or near redline rpm all the time and see what happens. Of course, we don’t know what will happen, and in an airplane we can’t pull over to the side of the road when it does.
Why couldn’t your car engine run at, say, 2,700 rpm all the time, about the same as that of many piston aircraft engines producing full power? Reciprocating aircraft engines generally spin a propeller via direct drive, with the prop essentially bolted to the crankshaft. Typically, piston aircraft engines produce peak power output at a redline near 2,700 rpm. But compared with car engines, aircraft engines produce gobs of torque at relatively low rpm. Auto engines, on the other hand, usually produce very little torque at those settings, while also relying on liquid cooling. They’re generally designed to produce their peak power at settings above 6,000 rpm, and so to work they need a reduction gear box.
Still, that hasn’t stopped some manufacturers from adapting automotive engines for aviation duty, and often with impressive results. Austro Engine did it with its super-efficient AE300 turbodiesel based on a Mercedes-Benz engine. Viking Aircraft Engines of Edgewater, Florida, meanwhile, has adapted the engine from the tiny Honda Fit for use in LSAs. Its liquid-cooled gasoline engine (pictured) produces 110 hp
at 5,800 rpm and burns just 3.5 gph at its economy cruise setting.Honda Fit Aircraft Engine - Owners
Group Description
This Group is dedicated to supporting owners and intending owners of salvaged Honda Fit/Jazz F15A7, converted for aircraft use and to assisting the manufacturer in the continued product improvement of this engine, by providing for the free discussion of information.
This group is not affiliated with any Parts Supplier or Manufacturer, but is a location where Honda Fit Aircraft Engine Builders/Owners, can acquire information, exchange information, designs, construction ideas, sharing tips, construction photos, helpful hints, and yes frustrations and problems associated with building their Experimental Aircraft Engine!
This group is not intended to replace the Suppliers and/or Manufacturer's guidelines and building instructions if you are building from their parts and/or engine kits!
If you have an interest or desire in acquiring and/or building a Honda Fit Aircraft Engine for your Experimental Homebuilt Aircraft... then come join Honda Fit/Jazz Builders group and share your building experience, information, designs, construction ideas, photos and yes frustrations etc...
At the present time, there are 3 Honda Fit converted engine suppliers, so do your due diligence before making the most important decision that you will have to make... for your Experimental Aircraft Engine!
The suppliers are:
Air Trikes - Air Trikes: Engines and Conversion Kits.
Raven RotorCraft/ReDrives Inc. - Raven Rotorcraft Redrives: Geo-Suzuki Engine Conversion for Gyroplanes and Ultralights
VIKING AIRCRAFT ENGINES - Viking Aircraft Engines Honda Based Aircraft Engine Welcome
Oh yeh... The use of information from this Honda Fit Aircraft Engine Owners Group is experimental in nature, for information and educational purposes only and is USED AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Group Description
Dedicated to supporting owners and intending owners of the Viking Aircraft Engine, and to assisting the manufacturer in the continued product improvement of this engine, by providing for the free discussion of information.
This group is not affiliated with the manufacturer, which has its own group, Viking Aircraft Engines. Yahoo Groups
This engine is a salvaged Honda Fit/Jazz F15A7 converted for aircraft use.
In addition, this group supports all aeronautical conversions of the HondaF15 series of engines. Honda has committed to long term support of this efficient engine, which means that it should continue to provide an economical alternative base engine for decades to come.
Join Zenith Aircraft Builders and Flyers
Comment by Ron D Leclerc yesterday On Friday the Oct 25th and Saturday the 26th educational seminars by Jeron Smith of Raven ReDrives Inc. were held at CopperState EAA Airshow.
Jeron Smith comments about the educational seminars he presented! To keep up with further updates, got to - - Yahoo Groups
"Just a quick note to let folks know that I'm back from Copperstate EAA AirShow and was very pleased with the turn out and great questions at the three free Educational Seminars I did there. Now its back to work on our HondaŽ Jazz/Fit 115HP engine package which we will be installing in a ZenairŽ 601 XLB for flight testing and then upgrading it to the 140+ HP turbo version which we have incorporated into our new HondaŽ engine package design from day one. We will then have an apples to apples comparison on this HondaŽ engine of the performance benefits of the same type of turbo upgrade kit we have been successfully installing on our GeoŽ/SuzukiŽ engine packages for well over a decade now.
I really appreciated the audience feedback from the Seminars as it always helps to get confirmation that the path you have chosen as a designer with a new product speaks directly to the marketplace. As usual, with our very specific 'Super-STOL' orientation in development of this HondaŽ engine package, we expect to carve out our own unique niche with a cutting edge proven product. I will be posting more regularly now on this site to share our design goals and business philosophy over the next few months and how we plan to optimize the full potential of this new engine.
Jeron Smith
Raven ReDrives Inc.
575-737-9656 cell 303-440-6234"
Last edited by cjecpa; 11-14-2013 at 10:11 AM.
#2
11-14-2013, 11:40 AM
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