In addition to building a Rebel - #259R - I also have a kitfox with an NSI
EA81 turbo charged Subaru - it came off the dyno @ 156 horse power. Today
it is performing very nicely but it was a real struggle to get it so -
If you were considering an EA81 I wouldn't add turbo charging - the cooling
is critical and it adds quite a bit of weight. But - there is a guy in Ohio
that builds EA81 engines and does a very nice job of modifying it for
aircraft use. It is a normally aspirated version that will develop ~ 140
HP.
Here is a link to his web site.
http://www.ramengines.com/
The EA81's benefit is cost. However it is an old - out of production
-engine. The EJ is new and still in production - so you'd probably be
buying a '0' time engine vs a hi-time, rebuilt engine.
In '98 I flew my kitfox to Alaska - a great adventure - but learned a
lesson. All the folks that looked at the airplane & engine smiled, were
quite polite, even raved about how nice it was. But - walked away if I
needed help, tools, etc. After all I had an automobile engine on an
airport. Aircraft mechanics won't work on it, don't have spare parts, and
because it's metric - didn't have the tools.
Although I still love my Kitfox - I'm putting a Lycoming O320E2D on my
Rebel.
Tom Anderson
-----Original Message-----
From:
mike.davis@dcsol.com [mailto:
mike.davis@dcsol.com] On Behalf Of Bob
Patterson
Sent: Friday, January 20, 2006 1:24 PM
To:
rebel-builders@dcsol.com
Subject: Re: Rebel engine choices
Hi Ben !
Here we go again !! The EA-81 is a great little engine -
about 80 hp. in the car. These guys claim 140 hp - that makes
them about 75 % smarter than the Japanese automotive engineers !
If you believe that, you might also believe their claim that
the whole engine installation will weigh less than about 240++ lb...
Don't know the company, and not knocking them specifically,
but several people have tried to squeeze more out of EA-81's.
I think Frank is still flying happily with his <STOCK> EA-81 Rebel,
but total weights would make LSA a real stretch !
Generally, for just a few pounds more, you are better off
with an EJ-22 or EJ-25 - a lot more power --- but not LSA !
.....bobp
-------------------------------orig.-------------------------
On Friday 20 January 2006 12:30 pm,
bransom@dcsol.com wrote:
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