"Tom De Moor" wrote in message
.be...
In article ,


If the late Bob Hoover were with us still, he would be the first to tell
you
that any of the VW engines are only good for about 40 HP continuous. If
you
push the amount of power that someone else says it will make, the valves
will cook, and you have a paperweight.

On the other hand, if you are happy with 40 HP, then it could be the
engine
for you.




Most likely Bob is forging a super-VW ! It's either that or bullits...

God be warned!

Tom De Moor



* as to VW-engines: AeroVee
http://www.sonexaircraft.com/engines/engines.html

or indeed the Jabiru's


The truth is that I had the occasional dissagreement with Bob about that
40HP rule of his--because it is so difficult to achieve and maintain maximum
horsepower with a fixed pitch prop. OTOH, the original VW engines are so old
and heavy that you might very well beat them with a modern water cooled
engine.

Don't forget that, IIRC, the owner of Great Plains was a very long time
friend of Bob's and that the "rear drive" configuration--which was also
espoused by both Bob Hoover and Steve Wittman--has a pretty good record of
crankshaft reliability. I seem to recall that Bob did also talk years ago
about what it took to produce a reliable 75HP at the most commonly accepted
propeller speeds; so it was never really called "impossible" with heads
having enough fin area. Then again, you could start to approach the price
of the much lighter Jabiru 2200!

Peter