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Continental

Could it be done— sure. But you’d have to roll your own FWF package including the engine mount and you’d have to modify the cowl. That’s a lot of effort and expense.
 
Should have had my engine in February. There is no end in sight. At this point I have no idea when I can have any engine.
 
Several Rockets have been fitted with 550s. Engine mount would be vastly different with the nose gear support needed as the Conti mounts from underneath rather than the rear.

The 550 is quite a bit heavier than a PV 540. Would probably have to move it aft a few inches.
 
my memory may be wrong on this one, and im sure greg will jump in and correct me if I am, but I do recall that early on in the RV-10 history the factory did put a continental in one as an evaluation platform.

bob burns
RV-4
 
n82rb said:
my memory may be wrong on this one, and im sure greg will jump in and correct me if I am, but I do recall that early on in the RV-10 history the factory did put a continental in one as an evaluation platform.

bob burns
RV-4
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You are correct. The second factory demo RV-10 had a Continental IO-360. IIRC, performance was anemic compared to its 260hp IO-540 powered sibling. It the end no wanted it so Bans dropped it as an option.
 
How would a -470 fit as a suitable engine? They come in 230 and 260hp versions, nearly identical power options to the PV 540. I flew behind a 260hp version in a Cessma 180 and thought it was a great engine.

Maybe it's too heavy. Most are carburetors, but not all. Being experimental, can mod to FI or EFI.
 
David Z said:
How would a -470 fit as a suitable engine? They come in 230 and 260hp versions, nearly identical power options to the PV 540. I flew behind a 260hp version in a Cessma 180 and thought it was a great engine.

Maybe it's too heavy. Most are carburetors, but not all. Being experimental, can mod to FI or EFI.
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It’s not really a question of suitability— a 470 and a 550 would both work. The issue is there’s no FWF package for either. So you have to roll your own engine mount and the rest of a FWF package. Probably have to mod the cowl too—for sure with a 550, not sure with a 470 but I’d count on it. So the question is do you want to spend the time, effort and experience to go off the beaten path?
 
Aside from having to roll-your-own FWF (with the mount and cowl being the hardest parts), the weight difference between a Cont 550 vs Lyc 540 is significant. Depending on accessories, the 550 could be 50-80 pounds more, albeit with more horsepower.

If you're into doing the engine yourself, which it sounds like, you might just consider gathering parts and building it yourself. If you go with aftermarket and overhauled parts - sticking with stock parts and not getting too custom, you can get it built fairly quickly. And this will allow you to stick with the Van's design for FWF.

Just FYI, the wait time on Lycoming cylinders by themselves is pretty long right now, but JJ Air Parts actually had Superior cylinders in stock when I talked with them a couple weeks ago.
 
Did I hear some mention the 550?

I happen to make 550 engine mounts for the F1. Very smooth engines - which actually put out 325HP in stock configuration. Weight is the same as the 540 if equipped with a lightweight starter and alternator - but the engine mount is about 8lbs heavier.

I would think that a close copy of the Cirrus mount and cowling would be easy enough to produce - but I’m not gonna do it.

My 550 pulls my F1 Evo at 215KTAS/17500/12GPH - or at 8500/200KTAS/11GPH. I am working on a supercharged version of a low compression 550 - gonna have to build the fuselage on this version of the Evo with a few extra parts to make sure this one stays together in the descent….
 
I did my transition training in the factory 10 here in PA. It’s the only RV10 with a continental 200HP engine, if i recall correctly
 
another option

For the OP-have you considered researching the high end custom engine shops such as Barrett and determine their lead time for a custom engine as well as availability of cores.
 
Another big problem is the supply of parts from all the engine vendors to build an engine. Many parts are 12-18 months out now.

If ever there was a good time for a new player to step into the EXP clone engine market, it seems like now, especially given the prices being charged these days and the commonality of parts between 360s and 540s.
 
rv6ejguy said:
Another big problem is the supply of parts from all the engine vendors to build an engine. Many parts are 12-18 months out now.

If ever there was a good time for a new player to step into the EXP clone engine market, it seems like now, especially given the prices being charged these days and the commonality of parts between 360s and 540s.
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Superior does that already?
 
howardtlcc said:
Superior does that already?
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Superior, Lycoming, and Continental (who now makes Titan “Lycoming-type” engines) are all struggling with their own suppliers of components, and all three have parts that are back-ordered for very long periods of time. No one is immune - I was visiting the engine shops in Tulsa a little over a week ago, and there are parts right now that are simply unobtainable. They are figuratively sweeping the corners to find parts to assemble engines.

Paul
 
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