SO, being a Bush Pilot, i'm always playing with airplanes, building, modifying and generally doing hot rod stuff to make it fly better, handle well, and all those super fun things that bush pilots love to do! So, my Sorta Cub is a pretty sweet flyer, but, as a hot rod junky, i'm always looking to improve things! Old core Lycoming IO-360 New ACE Performance kit AEIO- TQ-360! Still need to make an exhaust and install all the injection and ignition system, and take it to Hillsbobo to dyno it! SHould be in the 260 HP plus range! Here is the plane this is all going in! The old Rotax 130 HP has been removed in prep for the new monster build!
It's actually about 40 pounds lighter then the Rotax, Despite the prop being about 18 pounds heavier! Its also 428 Cubes now!!! Funny thing is, all this work is to Fly SLOWER, I.E. make super short and SLOW approaches, and to take off in the shortest distance possible!
What's that .. like a 15k build for 260HP? I could build a chevy 355/375 HP for like 500 bucks? seriously though, nice upgrade.
Here is a better view from a big fly in at McMinville air port ( Former Evergreen Aviation, across the highway from the Evergreen air and space museum) this last fall, was a real hit among the bush crowd! Funny, people are very polar about this plane, they ether like it or they hate it, no middle of the road! I don't care, it's my toy, and I don't care what others think!
Ha, I wish it cost that little! The engine cost more then the plane! Just the engine"Kit" cost more then $15k A new Rotax is $33000! a New Lycoming IO-360 is $25000+ and a Titan X-340 is $44000! I got them all beat for less then $30K The plane cost $34k minus the engine!
Ah, I thought you might be a FAA certified engine builder just needing the kit. Yeah, all of my cars in the yard cost less than that engine.
The current Alaska tundra Tires gotta go, I wore them out in just over a year of flying, and at $2000 EACH, that's just stupid! Just ordered up a set of the "Old" Goodyear Bush Wheels for $400 Each, and they should last years and years of abuse with out having to replace them! One Curse of the Bush life, thankfully, I don't have to play that game!
I Am a Certified A&P mechanic, those are my costs on parts! It's a scam I tell ya! It's also why there are so many Automotice conversions out there now! Several are actually quite good, especially the Honda conversions, though weight and fuel burn are a lot higher! I chose this set up to keep the fuel burn down, the weight down, and the costs of maintenance and overhauls down! Being registered as an Experimental, makes it really easy to do what ever I want with out the FAA in my grill over every single thing!
I have met him, and several of the others before, really nice folks all of them! Thats the kind of flying i really enjoy, getting out there and seeing this great big world of ours, going places others cannot!
I remember my dad pointing at his engine and talking about Charles Limburg technology. he liked Subaru engines but never did a swap.
Yikes! And, I thought I had some expensive hobbies! Geez, I can imagine what the wife would say if I told her I needed $15K for a new engine for my hobby. I would also need a new roof because she would blow it off the house by sound alone! LOL!
I remember one-time something let go in my dad's engine and he flew in trailing smoke like something from a war movie. I think he broke rings and ended up putting new custom pistons in his engine with total seal rings. (not very legal) I found his log books a while back, 8900 hours flying around in Cessnas. We did some talking about engines what the FAA wanted. My dad couldn't pass physicals anymore. Sold his 150. Funny he went to a meeting where they were talking about charging private pilots for air miles flown. Man, people work and finding a new tax to levy on you.
Ever since I found out about the "New" Light Sport licencing classification, registering as "Experimental" and having my A&P has really driven the costs way down! It was actually NASA and J.P.L who came up with all that to try and invigorate civil aviation which despite all that is still dying! Its the only reason we can ever afford to fly these days! And with THREE manufactures of brand new KIT PLANES, its really easy to get started in this hobby! My old Cessna 172 cost me about $39.00 per flying hour in maintenance, and annuals! My old Super Scout cost about $23.00 per flying hour, and my Old Super Cub was about $16.00 per flying hour, this new Super Cub costs a little More per flying hour, but it's also WAY trick and Brand New when I got it! It costs me about $16.30 Per flying hour until it's breaks the Old Cubs hours, then it's all down to fuel costs only which isn't part of the flying hours! Those costs are also significantly lower then the 172 or Super Scout, and a little under the Super Cub in fuel burn! The 172 was burning around 8 to 10 gallons per hour, the Super Scout was around 12 to 14 per hour, and the Super Cub was on a really bad day, 8 gallons per hour! This new Super Cub was down to around 4.5 gallons per hour with the tiny Rotax, and this new engine, should be in the ball park of 6.2 to 6.8 gallons per hour! It's all about total costs per hour, and why this new plane is so frickin cool! Besides it it really performs awesome! Today, A person can actually afford to take up flying, planes cost a lot less then they used to, and with a lot of those costs taken out by being able to do your own work, a hard working person who pinches a few pennies can save and buy a plane and actually afford to fly! Bonus if you can burn Auto fuel!
