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Oh, I dunno, you don't win races by blowing up engines - you have to finish.

Most of what goes into race prepping an engine is beefing it up so it lasts
the whole race at extreme power output. Reduce power to a more reasonable
level and a race engines will last practically forever. The current crop of
"Sport Touring" motorcycles are just that - de-tuned racers. Having one
wear out or fail in service is almost unheard of.

The same tricks used to increase reliability of a race engine can be used to
increase reliability even further in normal use. DLC's increase reliability
not power.

Bill Daniels


"Scott" wrote in message
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Certified? Not in a "homebuilt" group!

However, that said, I think you are right...reliability is a relatively
unknown word in racing engine circles I suspect...

I'm still waiting for the space shuttles to be reitred so I's can get one
of their engines as surplus and bolt it on my Corben :O

Scott


Maxwell wrote:
"Bill Daniels" bildan@comcast-dot-net wrote in message
...

I've been following the development of Diamond-Like Coatings (DLC's) for
a decade of so. These are vapor deposited coatings of carbon in diamond
crystal form applied directly to engine parts. The motorcycle racers
have exploited this technology for about an 8% increase in HP through
reduction in internal friction.

The stuff works on any internal surface where friction and wear is a
problem. Lycoming cams and mushroom tappets seem like a natural
aplication. The costs have come down to where a few hundred dollars of
coating work is enough for an engine. However, I haven't heard of the
technology being applied to aviation piston engines.



I have always wondered why the aviation community hasn't utilized more of
lessons learned from the racing communities. Granted, we have to deal
with certified products and procedures in most cases, and reliability
should always take a back seat to overall power output. But so much has
been learned from all forms of racing that deals strictly with
reliability and efficency, that is surprises me so little of it makes it
to GA.



--
Scott
http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
Gotta Fly or Gonna Die
Building RV-4 (Super Slow Build Version)