clare at snyder.on.ca wrote in message
news
On Wed, 18 Jan 2006 21:26:23 GMT, "Don Lewis n FTW"
wrote:


See: http://www.flycorvair.com/crankissues.html


"Ron Webb" wrote in message
...
Do you have a link for the broken cranks? I cannot find anything about
broken cranks on the "Corvair authority" site.

http://www.flycorvair.com/

I did find the following statement:

"I have never seen a cracked head, cylinder, case, crank or rod in the
hundreds of Corvair engines I have inspected. It is a very
strong engine."

The Corvair engine has been flying since the early 1960's. Seems odd
that ANY flaw would only now be being discovered.



They are only recently flying at 115HP in 200MPH planes - which is a
totally new world. Previous engines were flying at 60HP and 90MPH
without any issues.

Interesting. I had assumed they were originally flying with 80HP or less,
but had no idea it was that much less. Thanks.





Everything seemed OK until yesterday when I read the most recent
updates on their website. Seems that the "untreated" automotive
cranks have been cracking in a very short time. Nitriding seems like
the only solution. But with standard cranks cracking at
under 100 hours, what would be the expected life of a nitrided crank.
Twice as long, four times as long, eight times as long?
This would still fall short of the 1500 hour TBO stated by the Corvair
Authority.

Does anyone have any first hand experience with Corvair conversion
engines? Any info on their realistic life and reliability?

TIA,

CV