RV-10 Alternative Engine - Engine Mount
Most people in the aviation community who have met me, either in person or on-line know that I am an alternative engine nut. From day one of my RV-10 project, I have been looking for an engine that would replace the prehistoric IO-540 that Van’s designed the airframe around.
As with most builders I ran into numerous roadblocks when it came to evaluating different engine options. One of the largest problems with the alternative engine market in general is the lack of a suitable firewall forward package. There aren’t many builders that want to put on the engineering hat as well.
Being the closet engineer that I am led me to start putting together a FWF package together for one of the engine / PSRU combinations that I thought would be perfect for the RV-10. The engine mount was the first piece in the puzzle.
I figured that it would be easier to start from scratch when building a new engine mount than to hack the existing one apart to modify it. It being already welded and heat relieved. I was able to get an example of an RV-10 engine mount lent to me by a fellow builder. From this we took measurements that gave us the dimensions of the mount points as well as the design of the structure that the nose gear is mounted to.
I took this information to a local aerospace MIL-Spec welding and fabrication shop. We made a fabrication jig and 2 initial units. This sub-mount is the perfect staring point for the builder who wants to install an alternative engine without having to hack apart the mount they get from Van’s. In fact you would be able to delete the mount from the Van’s Finish Kit to reduce costs.
The new sub-mount is made from the same material as the original and has been properly welded and heat treated. I think that there is are a number of individuals out there building RV-10s that are looking into alternative engines who might be interested in this product it should save them some time.
As happens in the pursuit of alternative engines for aircraft, I ran into too many roadblocks at least on the engine that I was pursuing at the time. I am currently waiting on a very new engine technology to mature in hopes that I will be able to utilize it in a totally new aircraft engine design. It will be designed to exactly fit into the space utilized by current engines and will attach to the existing mount so I have no need for these initial units.
I have 2 of the initial units available and more can be made with some notice. Here are a few pictures of them. You can contact me at davehertner@kitaircraftmods.com if you are interested in acquiring one of these for your project.
Dave
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:32 pm
I am considering buying an almost complete RV10 aircraft, i have already a new 350 hp Chev LS1 engine coupled with a north west aeros redrive, i think this combination should work very well, burning perhaps 30 lts per hour.
Have you considered this combination for the RV10?
Like to hear your comments on this one.
October 18th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Bob,
I ended up going with the mount developed by Bud Warren at Geared Drives. He is an expert welder and I could not have come up with a mount that was as functional without getting his help anyway.
I would not advise using any type of toothed belt re-drive with the LS1. They cannot handle the horsepower and have a limited life in all aero applications. The only re-drive/PSRU that I have been able to find that is durable and built to deal with the harmonics is the one developed by Bud Warren at Geared Drives.
Save yourself a lot of headache and stay away from belts.
Dave