wrote:
: Actually, the Continental TSIO-360 is a 6 cyl engine. Otherwise, I think
: Jay's comments are accurate. The Turbo Dakota is really much more a fixed
: gear version of the Turbo Arrow. (Same engine, airframe, similar useful
: load, but quite a bit slower due to the fixed gear.)

My mechanic owns a Turbo Arrow with the TSIO-360 in it. He loves it, but I
wouldn't consider an aircraft with that engine in it for anything I would own. It's
not really all that high-strung, it's just abused in its implementation. It's
essentially a beefed up C-172 O-300 engine. IIRC, 210hp at 7:1 CR. It needs the
turbo to make marginally more HP than a Lycoming IO-360 on the same displacement.
Stock "wastegate" blows goats (and cylinders)... throttled compressed intake gasses is
a horribly stupid idea. It was extremely twitchy and easy to overboost with the stock
system, and only marginally better with the aftermarket wastegate controller he added.

In almost all situations (except for all-out automotive performance and
aircraft useage), turbochargers on gasoline engines are a dumb idea. I'm not opposed
to owning an aircraft with one, but it would be turbo-normalized at most... no
full-time turbo since you have to throw away HP with CR just to gain it back (and
burn more fuel, require more octane, and cook your jugs).

Maybe something with an aftermarket turbo-normalizer? Comanche-260?

My opinion... YMMV

-Cory

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* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
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