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Posted

I like the last line, " . . . . the four cylinder engine allows the pilot to take to the clear blue skies in total confidence."

 

 

Well, okay then! Light the tires 'n kick the fires.

 

bumper

Posted

Really interesting... it makes you feel much better if you know how simple these engines actually are...

 

Doesn't make you feel much better if you are sitting on rock trying to figure out how in the heck they could possibly cost more than about $10,000 tops.

  • Like 3
Posted

Doesn't make you feel much better if you are sitting on rock trying to figure out how in the heck they could possibly cost more than about $10,000 tops.

Yep... My 1999 Dodge Durango is 10 times more complicated than my 1980 Mooney... But that Dodge won't fly! True though- the 5.8 liter V8 under the hood is a more complicated engine, and costs a quarter of my io-360 lycoming boxer. Thanks to regualtions, lawsuits, economies of scale and the like!

Posted

Yep... My 1999 Dodge Durango is 10 times more complicated than my 1980 Mooney... But that Dodge won't fly! True though- the 5.8 liter V8 under the hood is a more complicated engine, and costs a quarter of my io-360 lycoming boxer. Thanks to regualtions, lawsuits, economies of scale and the like!

 

Exactly.  Just think about how much my iphone 5 would cost if they only sold 10,000 copies without economy of scale.  My guess would be a 50,000 iphone.  Not to mention the certification and so forth which iphones do have.  Of course an iphone 5 is more complicated than a Lycosaurus.

 

Your Dodge will fly - for a little while - just loan it to the Dukes of Hazard. Yehaw!

  • Like 1
Posted

The thing aside from the limited market, is the lack of product improvement. Now these engines, aside from roller tappets on the Lycomings, havent had an improvement in the design for 30 years. The roller tappets are a mostly off the shelf automobile part from Delphi, and the cases were redesigned to accept those tappets.  I can see massive investments in tooling requiring higher prices to offset those costs, but I dont think those are costs they are incurring.

 

Look at Continental. They are still using 1940's tech and 4 different tools to ream the valve guides, cut the valve seats, grind the valves, and then lap them. No wonder they last 800 hours before the valves burn. Automobiles have been using 1-step cutters since the 80s and CNC valve cutting for 20 years now.

Posted

Exactly.  Just think about how much my iphone 5 would cost if they only sold 10,000 copies without economy of scale.  My guess would be a 50,000 iphone.  Not to mention the certification and so forth which iphones do have.  Of course an iphone 5 is more complicated than a Lycosaurus.

 

Your Dodge will fly - for a little while - just loan it to the Dukes of Hazard. Yehaw!

 

 

Well maybe not flying but falling with style.  :D

Posted

Half way through "this video is currently unavailable" 

Posted

Video came back, that was odd? Nice video except  at 3:46 it magically gained 2 cylinders but came back to a 4 at 4:05.

Posted

Very nice...allows me to be at least a bit more intellignet when talking to my A/P about things. Although I still get all confused by push-rods and other things. My A/P has gotten very used to me talking about that "doohickey"!

Posted

I echo what's been said here, how could this seemingly simple piece of 60 year old technology cost so much after all these decades.

 

I'm glad KMYFM20J posted this because if I came across this segment while sitting with my wife she would have told me to turn this crap off.

Posted

I love that program "How it's made", I've seen a hundred of them yet I missed that one. Now with that knowledge and a visit to the Lycoming hands-on tent at Oshkosh I think I'm going to do my next overhaul. A feeler gauge a torque wrench, a socket drive set and a strong kitchen table to rest the engine, what else do I need?

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