KRs have been powered by VW 1600 engines. Would a Rotax 503 be much different in terms of horsepower? Certainly lighter, which could make balance more of a challenge, but on the upside you'd have dual ignition, electric start and an alternator. Yes, you could have those on a 1600 VW too, but I suspect with a 1600 you'd be trying to keep the weight down.
Not sure I'd agree reliability is any worse than a VW. Different failure modes for sure, and two strokes need to be operated differently from 4 strokes, but in the couple of thousand hours of operating Rotax two strokes I have first-hand knowledge of (my own aircraft and those of friends and acquaintances), the only failures have been things like fuel starvation (e.g. blocked filter), or faulty accessories - quite unrelated to the fact the engine is two stroke. I do agree though that 50hp is not enough for the typical use case of a KR. It'd have to be very light (wasn't the original KR about 450 lbs?), and couldn't have much in the way of useful load. If you look at the aircraft that typically have a Rotax 503, they're nearly all low and slow rag and tube types. That's not what a KR is. TK On Tue, 7 Mar 2023 at 10:24, Flesner via KRnet <krnet@list.krnet.org> wrote: > On 3/6/2023 4:01 PM, MS wrote: > > We KR people are notorious for nickel and dimeing it but this is a new > > low. > > > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > Let be polite when us old timers think someone asks a question that is > beyond reasonable. Dee David (Ms. David?) I'm sure was sincere with the > question based on little or a lack of exposure to KRs. The simple > courteous answer should have been: > > Lacks sufficient horsepower by 30% to 50% . For a KR1 with lightweight > weight pilot, MAYBE. > > Too light for proper weight and balance > > High failure rate compared to 4 cycles > > All else being equal a 503 in a KR2 would make it a very poor performing > single place airplane even with a wing extension and lightweight pilot. > > While nearly anything can be done with enough effort, (we went to the > moon didn't we?) the simple answer is no, not a good idea. > > Any question you don't already know the answer to is not a dumb question. > > Larry Flesner > > -- > KRnet mailing list > KRnet@list.krnet.org > https://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet >
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