Earthstar Forums

One engine I have been following for years is the OPOC
Opposed piston opposed cylinder.( 2 cylinders ,4 pistons) It has one horse power/ pound ,runs on diesel, is fuel injected ,electric turbo-charged ,direct drive and is 2 cycle.Torque is double the horse power.
Small displacement ,low parts count and phenomenal efficiency
What more could you want ?
Oh , I forgot.Even though it is backed by Bill Gates, American Venture capitalist,The two main generator companies ... It is being produced in China .
We will see a 5x battery before the opoc is in the US.
Elon Musk was quoted as saying that he expected battery performance to increase 8% a year
but has observed 10% a year for the last 4 years.
Looks like light aviation has great prospects.
I just wish it wasn't always around the corner.
Carl

This Pinnacle engine comes with a sleeve valve to reduce friction even further; Opposed free expander. 200,000,000 are a lot of engines made every year...

Some military aircraft these days have an additional waste heat recovery strategy, they use the fuel which'll be used soon enough anyway; can't make out if it's only the evaporator just prior to combustion or the fuel in the tank too (or in a smaller safer carbon fibre tank for the next half hr or so)... Gasoline boils at ~125C, guess the five gallon eGull tank could easily recover some 10s of kilowatts, feels risky though; wonder what kind of mishap proofing techniques go with something like that

rc

Oh, probably and old bomb shelter! I’m more on board with better batteries. Right now I’m enjoying Mark’s little plane with a 503 as it’s paid for and makes his plane go like stink, except that it is fuel hoggy and noisy. I was up today, cruising around at 100 mph and the engine was loafing, and the steering was two fingers. Right now I have about 1 1/2 hours of flight with a 1/2 hour reserve, and that’s about all my old butt will take. I added about 10 mph more to the airplane by aero-dynamic clean-ups, and that is free fuel, gas or electric. Now a clean and slicked-up e-Gull with the 28’ wing would be even more efficient.

am sure the V tail would add another 5mph to your record :) wonder the custom V gull build had the boom up top too like the mini imp

did see a big jet engine fuel vaporizer that takes up heat from the engine oil, a Rolls Royce from some decades ago; fuel cells have it too with pretty nifty micro channel heat exchangers; they even cool avionics electronics with it; but then autos only come with an atomizer...

rc

Hi Kess
There is one more speed mod you are missing!
The top of your rudder and stabilizer need the stream lining treatment like your elevator caps. Should be good for at least another 5 mph.
Fred

Yes, your right, I was hoping that you would have made an extra set after you made yours. I’ve been sketching a shape to include and led tail-light and strobe and now that I’m getting into the fiberglass mode again,I will build it after I repair my hosed up fuselage extensions (another story). I will have to admit that fine tuning maximum speed also includes fine tuning the in-flight prop adjust to get the best rpm’s. Up here we are having new RV’s and Glassaire Sportmans rolling out often, and we still get the head nod with our little planes as we taxi by. Thanks Mark for so much fun!

Kess, if this mod is good for an additionally 5mph, the V tail maybe good for an additional 15mph at least!

Wonder what secret mission is the V tail Gull on, even the V tail X-37B landing pictures are everywhere now... wonder if it's also insulated underneath :)

rc

Thought you might like to see what Mark has said about these potential speed mods.

cool; where's the elusive V tail, maybe it's named lanthanein or something

Oh well, HeÆs seen them at the Arlington Fly-In and never mentioned that. I suppose that the two of them might weigh 1#, but I never noticed a pitch change before and after, and the Titan gang installs them with-out any counter weight change or nose weight on their planes. Now I have to worry about a rudder tip weight effect, ( IÆd better keep it super light). Oh, and 5 mph more? Not really, but maybe a mile or two.