Thread: Horsepower
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Old July 18th 03, 10:50 AM
Andre
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Thanx Jerry,
This sounds not too complicated. I get the general idea , but maybe you can
send me a pic to the address which is made up of my name below with a dot
and then viljoen and then the approriate AT sign ended off with ast dot co
dot za. (I hope my elaborate explanation makes sense and still fools those
spam engine email address collecters. :-)
Looking forward to your reply.
Regards
Andre

"Jerry Wass" wrote in message
...
1: Make a stand to mount the motor on similar to some of the rotating

engine
rebuilding stands, only use a small truck wheel that uses 2 timken

bearings,
and a hollow axle---mount the axle rigid to the stand.
2: Attach a big plate or framework to the wheel, using the lug bolts as

attach
points.
( I made my framework motor mount points the same as the mount points on
my fuselage, to allow testing different engines)
3: The motor mount MUST hold the engine with it's PROPELLER center line-
centered on the wheel hub.
4: extend an arm---horizontally-if you want to use a bathroom scale--with

a
single ball(from a large ball bearing) welded to the bottom of the arm at

a
precise
distance from the center of the wheel hub.You will want a smooth plate of

metal
on the scale platform to make the contact point constant & little

friction.--I
used
a little pneumatic cylinder with an accurate pressure gage, & air pressure
regulator
to hold the tork arm in the center of the travel of the cylinder.
If you have a conventional Rt. Hand prop, --the arm should project out to

the
left,
as you stand behind the engine--
which is where I mounted a panel with all the usual engine instruments.

Run the engine, measure the pressure on the scale(subtracting any tare

wt.)
Multiply by the length of the torque arm-(in feet).--This is your torque

in Ft.
Lbs.

Measure the PROPELLER RPM--which equals engine rpm divided by
the ratio of the PSRU ( if you have one)
Then your HP =
Torque X RPM X 2pi 2pi= 3.14159

X 2 =
6.28
------------------------
33,000 1 HP = 33,000

ft lbs
per minute
( the 2pi X arm length gives the distance the arm would move, if the

propeller
were held still--)
NOTE: record the temp, & actual barometric pressure----when your figures

seem
a little puny, you can correct them to sea level, std baro, & temp (68 OR

70
DEG.F) I fergit which.

Note: this makes a nice club project where everyone can test their

engines.
If you get real interested, I can send a pic of mine .

Andre wrote:




So now I'm thinking...
How do I measure the Horsepower of my Sonerai's 1835cc VW motor?
Or do I just make a couple of assumptions?
Prop 52" dia. 42" pitch motor can turn it 3000rpm static at WOT and a

ground
elevation of 5000 feet and temperature of 31 degrees Celsius or 87.8

degrees
F.
Assuming that the prop is more or less efficient (guess 80%???) where

does
that leave me?