Stan wrote: > If you where making a KR1 would you use a hopped up VW or the 110 hp > Corvair?
I would have to go with the Corvair, but it would have a 4340 steel crank in it (which I've bought for the next plane), and they're not cheap. The VW is a fine engine, but there are two big differentiators...more power and two extra cylinders for the Corvair. And if you're starting from scratch, the Corvair requires no machine work at all, as opposed to lots for the VW. I should also mention that the Corvair is about 60 pounds heavier, but the extra power forgives that sin and plenty more. On the Corvair you could blow a spark plug out on takeoff and it wouldn't be much of an issue. Ask Bill Clapp, who's done that twice. Steve Makish took off from SNF headed home and noticed a little miss, but it wasn't concerning enough to land....he continued to fly all the way home. One of his cylinders wasn't working because the pushrod had come loose due to geometry issues. I've always expected that losing a plug on takeoff in a four cylinder was going to put you in the weeds, and I may be right. Fortunately this is not usually a problem, and we do know how to prevent it. Having said that, I just finished up rebuilding a 2180cc for N891JF, with a lot of GPASC parts in it, and I'm looking forward to flying it. I don't intend to swap it for a Corvair, although I will build another Corvair powered plane when I'm done fooling around with the KR2. Mark Langford ML at N56ML.com website at http://www.N56ML.com --------------------------------------------------------
