James Dunn wrote: >>For the KR, it seems that removing the alternator and related pulley from my VW Type 4 has the potential of decreasing the side loading on the engine, and decreasing parasitic loads on the engine so that more power goes to the propeller. A small rip-cord 500 watt generator will run up to 8 hours on a half gallon of fuel. But with the normal loads, the motorcycle battery will support electrical loads a couple of hours at a time. So starting and stopping the small generator would provide recharging on an as-needed basis. A simple voltage alarm can be used to advise pilot of need to recharge the avionics batteries.<<
That crankshaft will never notice the slight side-loading of a factory alternator, and certainly not something like a 20A permanent magnet generator like we use on Corvairs. See http://www.n56ml.com/corvair/dynamo.html for more info, although there are lots of similar lightweight choices. Also, a 9-pound Genesis AGM battery will start just about any engine in the dead of winter after sitting for months...there's a proven weight saver for you. Also, see http://www.n56ml.com/electrical/index.html and http://www.n56ml.com/fuel/ for how to wire up a DPDT switch to swap out both your fuel pumps and ignition systems (if you have a dual system) with the flip of one finger. If it's anything else, you probably won't be restarting the engine anyway. If you continue down these kinds of rabbit holes, you're in for a long and painful airplane building experience... Mark Langford, Harvest, AL ML at N56ML.com www.N56ML.com
