Peterbilt smoke stack? Good idea!
I gotta say that picture of Kgoods plane on take off, belching out smoke like an F-350 under full throttle, makes me smile. Awesome. Just need a big Peterbuilt smoke stack.
Kgood, question for you, is there a fab'd installation coming out for the WAM application? Particularly for the RV-7? I love the way yours looks, and it sounds like once the cooling issues are resovled sans cowl flaps it'll pick up some more speed. However I'm not talented enough (or motivated) to fab up a one-off design to make it work. I just want to bolt on and go. Any insight?
Overall, it looks like it's safe to assume the marginally more expensive engine (over a 320/360) will make up for itself quickly in fuel savings, any thoughts on that as well?
Last thing, any of these WAM setups running around here or in Europe with 1500 hours or more on them? I'm curious to see where they're TBOing at, and the cost associated.
BTW, nice job completely thread jacking this thread! 7700, ident.
I'll try to answer a few of your questions:
Best as I can tell, for the time being, there's no "plug and play" FWF package. But - with VERY little work, one could be had for the RV9 or '9A. There are now six of them flying in the UK, and one of the builder groups (the one with the most flying hours, around 350) has just developed a new cowling that utilizes the "stock" WAM cooling package that puts the intercooler and radiator in front of the engine. It's a good looking cowling, IMHO, along the same lines as the RV12, and from what I hear one of the guys is getting 140KT cruise straight and level. Not bad. And Wilksch has the mounts available; the instrumentation comes with the engine. So, really not much extra work to mount one than it would be for a LYC, as long as you're ok with using the stock cooling package.
The WAM 120 would be too small for the RV7, so I'm afraid you're out of luck for now. The WAM 160 4cyl would be perfect, but I'm pretty sure they won't be producing it for some time. When they do, I would love to have one. I was visiting with Mark Wilkch a while back, and he said that was a big regret, not doing the 160 first. I don't think he realized just how much work and time it would take to get the 120 to market. Heck, they're still working on getting it "just right", which brings me to the next subject:
To answer your question, Ross, the smoke is not a big issue for me, because it only smokes on take off. Once I back off the power, it cleans right up. But it's a concern in Europe, so that's one of the things they're working on. It has to do with the combustion chamber, and, as you say, the fuel pump set-up. I don't think aerodiesels will ever be as clean as the automobiles because of the extra weight (just like Avgas engines) required to clean them up, but there are ways to get them pretty clean. They'll get there.
As far as cooling drag goes, you've got to remember that OAT at my home airport gets to over 120 degrees in the summertime. I've designed my cooling system to work in that kind of heat. The UK WAM RV9 guys don't need cowl flaps. But as far as I'm concerned, the flaps are good, since I can close them in cruise and thereby gain speed when the cooling demand is low. I have a very simple system, and it works with a simple toggle switch.
As for cost, my engine did not cost much more than a LYC O-235 would. The prop was expensive, though. They've raised the price of the engine a little now, but depending on the exchange rate, it's not a deal-killer. At the end of the day, I'm not sure how many hours of flying it would take to offset the extra cost, as that's not why I did it. But eventually, it should pay off.
Now the Peterbilt smoke stack: there's a WAM owner in Brazil with a high wing Conquest 180, he posted a picture on another forum with smoke stack sticking out of the oil door in his upper cowling, as a joke. It was great! Of course, around my office there have been lots of the same kind of talk!
Sorry about hi-jacking the thread, but, as you can tell, I get excited when the subject of aero-diesels comes up.
Kurt