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This section is never without it's for's or against's. I have been flying alternative for 29 years and in the beginning it was a question of writing about what would not work, but then the light shined through the clouds. Certain principals that worked in WW2 prevailed and voila all goes well. This weekend we flew with a 180HP T-18 on a round robin over the mountains and down the valleys over some of the most desolete terain with not a thought about anything except hanging on your leader. With a slight decent we followed the C/S equipped T-18 and upon return I asked him what speed did you see,as I saw 180 mph at one point, he said 190 Kts. I didn't know our Chevy powered plane would do that with throttle left. We were at 8500 msl and 9.7C. Reliable, yes, As fast as a 180HP C/S RV6 don't know. Inexpensive maybe, we have to burn 100LL due to the tanks. We burned 7.5 gallons the T-18's 10gal. I always watch the section about all these turbos, diesels, Aluminum wonders, but no one seems to be using them so I assume it's just talk not progress, If anyone can prove the difference please let me know.
Jess Meyers
 
Not just talk...

Jess,
I've been flying my WAM 120 Diesel RV9 for over two years now, 208 hours, no problems. I fly it every week, mostly for business, but also pleasure. I average 155-160 mph TAS, burning less than 5 gph. I run it on red diesel in the summer, Jet A in the winter, since I fly into Utah often. I've really enjoyed this plane, and can't say enough good about the diesel. It's nice to not even worry about mixture control, egt's, carb heat. It would be nice if it were 140 or 150 hp, but I'm happy with 120 hp, since that's what I have. I believe that it performs on par with an O235 powered RV9 in every respect, except it burns less fuel. Any time you'd like to come out to Boulder and go for a ride, just let me know.
Kurt
 
Empty Weight?

Kurt:

What did your empty weight come in at and how much is on the nose gear? What altitude do you usually cruise at with the turbo...8-12 range?

I hope to head out west someday when my 9A w/ Mazda 13B is flying!

Take care,

Doug Lomheim
RV-9A; 13B
OK City, OK
 
Empty weight

Doug,
Empty weight when I first flew the plane, no paint, no wheel pants or fairings, was 975 lb. Now, with paint, wheel pants, I'm thinking it's right around 1010 or so? When Ken Krueger and and I tested it against Van's '9A demo with 0-320, we compared weights, full fuel (remember, JetA is heavier), and my plane was still 57 lbs lighter.

My plane has no nose wheel, but I had 464 lb on each of the mains, and 45 lb on the tail wheel.

I almost always cruise between 8,500 - 10,500'.

Any questions, just let me know; and good luck getting your '9A in the air. I'm a fan of the Mazda rotary.
Kurt
 
Doug,

For comparison, my O-290-D2 powered RV-9 was 990 lbs empty with all the fairings but no paint when I first flew. It would true at 165 mph with the climb prop I had and I suspect it would have been capable of close to 175 mph with the right prop. Fuel burn was around 7 GPH or less of 100LL.

I'm not bashing alt engines, just giving you some numbers to compare Kurt's outstanding RV-9 to.

BTW, that weight did not include any interior other than nice leather seats. No carpet, sound proofing, etc. The interior was custom designed by Rustoleum.
 
I asked him what speed did you see,as I saw 180 mph at one point, he said 190 Kts.

I'm a little confused. Did you accidentally put kts instead of mph? If not 190 kts=218.5 mph. I'm sure there are installation differences that would explain some of it, but 38.5 mph?

Mark
 
Kts / Mph typo

I'm a little confused. Did you accidentally put kts instead of mph? If not 190 kts=218.5 mph. I'm sure there are installation differences that would explain some of it, but 38.5 mph?

Mark

My guess would be a simple typo...it would take a bunch more HP to go that fast (or major drag reduction techniques)...

Doug
9A, Mazda 13B
 
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