Re: What's going to happen in the future
This is getting old. It's been solved! Go read the website I posted - EPI Inc. Then come back here and we'll talk.
I think I'm beginning to know how it feels to be a crew-member-in-the-know, who has what he says shot down by armchair mechanics who think they know everything already and refuse to let new or different ides into their heads!
Seriously, I'm trying to have a beneficial, worthwhile conversation here. I finally post something that has some merit, that can move the discussion along, only to smack right into a brick wall of ignorance and laziness. I've posted the address three times. If you can't be bothered to go read it, why do you bother at all to post?
Please tell me, are you so jaded by automotive conversion failures when one that is successful actually comes along you don't even bother? Here's some choice quotes:
"The MARK-9 gearbox is a two-mesh, geared reduction unit. It was used by EngineAir Power Systems on their firewall-forward, liquid-cooled 440HP turbocharged V8 engine package. That powerplant is currently flying on several Lancair 4-P aircraft, some with over 1000 flight hours, and installed on a variety of others still under construction."
"The prototype of this design has accumulated over 800 hours of in-flight time in Lancair-4P aircraft, including several races, countless full-power demonstration flights, and extended instances of being flown in hard-IFR (by a very brave pilot).
As of late 2005, several production versions have accumulated well over 500 hours of problem-free flight time."
"
- EPI Propeller Gearbox Products -
The EPI PSRU products evolved from the EPI Engine Development Program (see Aircraft V8 Development). All EPI Propeller Reduction Gearboxes are designed with special attention paid to reliability and to the isolation of the gearbox and propeller from the engine torsional excitation. They incorporate proprietary coupling system technology between the engine and the gearbox which attenuates to near-zero the amplitude of the torsional vibration forces generated by the engine.
We do that by designing the engine-gearbox-propeller system so that the transmissibility between the engine crankshaft and the PSRU input gear is less than 1%. That means the gears, propshaft and propeller feel less than 1% of the engine torque pulsing.
For a clear presentation on this vibration technology, follow these four links, in order:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
All our gearbox designs are based on a severe-service aircraft load model, which includes loads from the following sources:
(a) the gear loads from mean engine torque ("STATIC loads");
(b) the gear loads from the system dynamics
( which can be many times larger than the static loads);
(c) the bearing, shaft and housing loads produced by:
torque, thrust, gear separation forces, and gyroscopic moments;
(d) the cooling load imposed by the power transmitted;
(e) the lubrication requirements;
(f) the propeller control system (governor) requirements.
That aircraft load model, along with our vibration-isolation technology, are described in considerable detail in the Propeller Gearbox Technology section."
There, I've done some of the work for you, you can continue to be lazy.
Go there; EPI Inc. Read up, come back here, then post.
Originally posted by Bill Marsh
I think I'm beginning to know how it feels to be a crew-member-in-the-know, who has what he says shot down by armchair mechanics who think they know everything already and refuse to let new or different ides into their heads!
Seriously, I'm trying to have a beneficial, worthwhile conversation here. I finally post something that has some merit, that can move the discussion along, only to smack right into a brick wall of ignorance and laziness. I've posted the address three times. If you can't be bothered to go read it, why do you bother at all to post?
Please tell me, are you so jaded by automotive conversion failures when one that is successful actually comes along you don't even bother? Here's some choice quotes:
"The MARK-9 gearbox is a two-mesh, geared reduction unit. It was used by EngineAir Power Systems on their firewall-forward, liquid-cooled 440HP turbocharged V8 engine package. That powerplant is currently flying on several Lancair 4-P aircraft, some with over 1000 flight hours, and installed on a variety of others still under construction."
"The prototype of this design has accumulated over 800 hours of in-flight time in Lancair-4P aircraft, including several races, countless full-power demonstration flights, and extended instances of being flown in hard-IFR (by a very brave pilot).
As of late 2005, several production versions have accumulated well over 500 hours of problem-free flight time."
"
- EPI Propeller Gearbox Products -
The EPI PSRU products evolved from the EPI Engine Development Program (see Aircraft V8 Development). All EPI Propeller Reduction Gearboxes are designed with special attention paid to reliability and to the isolation of the gearbox and propeller from the engine torsional excitation. They incorporate proprietary coupling system technology between the engine and the gearbox which attenuates to near-zero the amplitude of the torsional vibration forces generated by the engine.
We do that by designing the engine-gearbox-propeller system so that the transmissibility between the engine crankshaft and the PSRU input gear is less than 1%. That means the gears, propshaft and propeller feel less than 1% of the engine torque pulsing.
For a clear presentation on this vibration technology, follow these four links, in order:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
All our gearbox designs are based on a severe-service aircraft load model, which includes loads from the following sources:
(a) the gear loads from mean engine torque ("STATIC loads");
(b) the gear loads from the system dynamics
( which can be many times larger than the static loads);
(c) the bearing, shaft and housing loads produced by:
torque, thrust, gear separation forces, and gyroscopic moments;
(d) the cooling load imposed by the power transmitted;
(e) the lubrication requirements;
(f) the propeller control system (governor) requirements.
That aircraft load model, along with our vibration-isolation technology, are described in considerable detail in the Propeller Gearbox Technology section."
There, I've done some of the work for you, you can continue to be lazy.
Go there; EPI Inc. Read up, come back here, then post.
But in all honesty the Thunder/Orenda and Falconer are so heavily re-engineered that they aren't really "car" engines anymore. Note that they retained pushrods, though. 
I did find that article interesting in that the first major modification they had to do to the Chevy big-block for long-term durability was turn it into a Mopar/big Olds/Ford FE type block by making it a deep-skirt design to better support the crankshaft. I've always thought the big Chevy had a bit of a glass jaw because of that unsupported crank and the awkward pushrod geometry. I've never found them nearly as reliable as the small Chevy or the big Mopar and Olds v8s.
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