i've been wondering... what's to prevent me from using heli or car engines in a airplane?
the obvious difference to me is that the heli and car engines have more/larger cooling fins. That makes sense as the airflow over heli and car engines tends to be more hit 'n miss than an airplane.
rocannon
rocannon,
Another difference is that the aircraft engine is designed to hold a propeller. The heli or car engine may not have a prop drive washer, and may not have a long enough threaded stub on the crank to mount a propeller and spinner. If you are going to buy an engine for use in an aircraft buy the aircraft engine. If on the other hand you want to try and use an engine that you already have, make sure that you can bolt a propellor to it before you install it in the model.
Ken
It can be done... I have two Super Tigre G34 Heli engines on my Hobbico TwinStar. Other than having a slightly different drive washer and having the cylinder heads turned 180 degrees, these engines are almost identical to the airplance version.
Good flying, desmobob
... missed the obvious didn't i? ;-)
only problem with car engines apart from no prop driver is they are usually tuned for max power around 30,000rpm ok for a ducted fan but not very good for a normal prop driven plane
The problem is if you try it the heli engine has a little more power.
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required