[oldbiggincfi]

If it was fuel, what did the other pistons look like?

"Quite"

[Bill McCarthy]

Fergie 35X - new piston liners, new pistons, valve guides, crankshaft bearings all zero houred really , done at a tractor restorer for £850 ! Starts instantly, even on a cold frosty morning.

[irishc180]

You would think selling an aeroplane with an overhauled engine would be easy. The reality is that nobody will be happy with who did the overhaul, the selection of new vs overhauled cylinders, or the price of the aeroplane with the job freshly done. It's much the same as paint, interior or avionics... I would have done that a bit different mate...

If you took the kind of aeroplane people think they want i.e. zero time engine & prop, new paint, new interior, cut metal panel, full update of new avionics. The resulting C172N is about £200k vat paid. A nice example of such:

https://www.aircraft24.com/search/searc ... results=20

If you want a fresh engine and aeroplane, and rule out on condition engines, you have to be willing to dig deeper.

[Lefty]

There is one major factor that people are generally unaware of. They opt for a “factory reconditioned” engine on the assumption that “factory reconditioned” means “as new”, or very close to. This is a fallacy!

A factory recon engine can, and often is, right at the minimum tolerance to be certified as a “serviceable” engine, and therefore can become unrepairable the first time even a very minor problem occurs.

A (real) new engine is manufactured with a lot of extra material and tolerances to allow for the normal in service maintenance and repairs, for example piston reaming or re-bores, head skimming etc. Over years of operation and repairs this may mean that much of this material and tolerance gets used up or “worn away”. The engine manufacturers will accept these (almost worn out) engine blocks - if they feel that at the end of the factory reconditioned process, the engine will still meet (their) MINIMUM spec. However this MINIMUM spec is a long long way from that of a brand new engine. For this reason, many experienced aircraft engineers recommend that if you have an engine with a known repair history, you are generally better off sending that engine to be overhauled and returned to you.

Many owners however believe that a “zero timed factory recon” engine will enhance saleability - and buying an off the shelf recon’d engine usually gets your aircraft back in the air sooner than getting your old engine overhauled. Just be aware that you will by buying something that has a nice label, but that because of its unknown history, could very easily become scrap within a short time of installation. (Usually just after the warranty expires)!

[Bill McCarthy]

Where are we going wrong on aircraft design and engine power requirements. The Routan Quickie Q1 could reach 120 mph on an 18HP Onan engine out of and ice cream van (ice cream maker), old types could nip along on an old JAP. The old V dubs churned away for decades taking us into the skies in other home built aircraft.

[Paul_Sengupta]

Size and weight of aeroplane and person or persons therein.

Anything which does more than 120 knots on less than 100hp, I'm certainly not going to fit in, let alone take a passenger.

[MichaelP]

100hp is plenty even for someone of Paul’s size.
However, 100bhp is inadequate.

Old cars had low horsepower engines, but they did not suffer from the low egos that begat the use of Brake Horsepower.

One snag I have just come across is the twelve year limit on commercially operated aeroplanes.
I have the 2013 GA8 Airvan up for sale and it has only done 279 hours. A commercial operator will need to do 425 hours a year to use up the 2,000 hour TBO (2025).

[Minimums]

There is one major factor that people are generally unaware of. They opt for a “factory reconditioned” engine on the assumption that “factory reconditioned” means “as new”, or very close to. This is a fallacy!

A factory recon engine can, and often is, right at the minimum tolerance to be certified as a “serviceable” engine, and therefore can become unrepairable the first time even a very minor problem occurs.

A (real) new engine is manufactured with a lot of extra material and tolerances to allow for the normal in service maintenance and repairs, for example piston reaming or re-bores, head skimming etc. Over years of operation and repairs this may mean that much of this material and tolerance gets used up or “worn away”. The engine manufacturers will accept these (almost worn out) engine blocks - if they feel that at the end of the factory reconditioned process, the engine will still meet (their) MINIMUM spec. However this MINIMUM spec is a long long way from that of a brand new engine. For this reason, many experienced aircraft engineers recommend that if you have an engine with a known repair history, you are generally better off sending that engine to be overhauled and returned to you.

Many owners however believe that a “zero timed factory recon” engine will enhance saleability - and buying an off the shelf recon’d engine usually gets your aircraft back in the air sooner than getting your old engine overhauled. Just be aware that you will by buying something that has a nice label, but that because of its unknown history, could very easily become scrap within a short time of installation. (Usually just after the warranty expires)!

Lefty I would love to have a more in depth conversation on your experiences regarding this subject. Can I contact you directly ?

[Lefty]

@Minimums
I’ve sent you a PM with my contact details.