Gap enigne update
 

Well it looks like the gov did it to us again... cont engine did the following.. put the enigne in a skymaster.. did taxi testing and then a high speed run... and then quit... yep.. put the thing back on the shelf for the time being... according to NASA... so it looks like they are not really going into production with the thing after all the money the goverment put into it...

another shot of their skymaster
 

here is their skymaster... that was we belive used at the airport at mobile

GAP engine fills engine compartment
 

And you thought your engine takes up all the room in the compartment... look carefuly at the GAP engine and how much room it took.... I still think that LYC once it gets over its metal problems has a better engine in the 540... but, we are looking for a better engine still...

What we are thinking of is a liquid cooled 6 cyc engine because they are smoother... that doesn't weight like a brick... has oil cooler built into the water cooling... thermostat controled... auto fan on the radiator so that when your on the ground and runing the air conditioner.. it not only keeps the engine cool but, also provides air for the condenser....

simple and effective cyc's that are broken down into cyc barrels and heads and are bolted through the complete assembly... so that seperation is not a problem... and manufacturing is cheeper and less complex.

Addition of turbo charging or supercharging is modular and a add on to the basic design... actually supercharging would be prefered because it does away with the hot section that is more costly to build and maintain....

We also think that the injector should be controlled by the cam or some mechanical means.. instead of electronics.. that way the engine would contenue to run if the electrical went out... even though the cont pump is reliable it has problems with control of fuel through out the range...of operation.

Larger flat surpintine belt driven alternator with a/c adapter from the rear of the engine.

Engine should have cam shells for cam bearings... like the main bearings.. and should not run in the case directly... cases should have access to the top and bottom of the crankcase.. with gaskets.. to make assembly and inspection easier as well as production...

Ignition system should be of the modular design... I.e. each cyc should have its own coil on the spark plug and the timing wireing should be of the low voltage type.. getting rid of the ignition wires... crossfiring will be elimated as well as the P's wouldn't suffer from sim problems... low voltage is produced by the old mag location... and the spark should be of the capactor discharge type to give the plugs unlimited life as well as automatic advance as the engine pramaters change.

I know that it is a pipe dream but, if a new engine manufacture were to emerge I would like to see this type of engine developed... looking at the franklin engine one can see how the other guys thought about how to make it cheeper and better...

by the way franklin has a 220 hp engine now... smile wanta see it... guess how much.. new.. less than 15K... no exchange..

tcm
 

it's just like them, ya know. No vision, except to spend other peoples money (could be a catchy title for a film).
Franklin, with a super charger, now that would be a really neat thing. What kind of plane was that picture on. I read the article in EAA about those guys in LasVegas that put a supercharger on the cont 540. Belt drive for the supercharger and the alternator. Gets rid of lots of problems for the alternator. Supercharger does less heat for the intake, and makes exhaust much simpler than the turbo exhaust.

Here is the link with photos of the GAP engined Skymaster:

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/AST/GAP/GAPnews.htm

J.L. Ichaso