Talk:Aircraft engine

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Contents 1 Twins vs Singles 2 Rewrite/cleanup 3 cylinder layour 4 Large displacement for better reliability? 5 Auto conversions section 6 fuel injection?

[edit] Twins vs Singles

Great article. I think two main areas need reconsideration and both relate to the single engine or twin engine issue. Firstly, I disagree that: "Another difference is that if a car engine fails, you simply pull over to the side of the road. If the same occurs in an aircraft, it will glide but there is a very high chance that it will crash at landing." When you fly a single engine aircraft you do your best to avoid a crash by avoiding hostile terrain and weather. If you are going to fly over hostile terrain or in IFR or at night then you would in general chose to fly a twin. Having done a lot of flying in Australia perhaps I am spoilt in that there is usually a paddock to land in if an engine fails.

The other point is that twin considerations are more complex than mentioned. Firstly you have to rely on the remaining engine being strong enough to allow the aircraft to climb in the event of an engine failure at maximum all up weight, on a hot day at altitude. Thus the engines in twins are rated at higher powers than they would be for single engine use. I have heard that engine failures are about five times more common in twins than in singles. I do not have a reference for this. Firstly, they are twice as common because you have two engines. Then because they are higher stressed there is a further increase in the risk of failure. However, when a forced landing is not a safe option you are better off in a twin. The rather cynical saying that, "the second engine takes you to the scene of the crash" however sums up some of the problems with twins.

Also, what about a mention of turbochargers etc., the diferences between Avgas and automotive gasoline, the reason for chosing magnetos to be independent of electrical failures, manual mixture controls and altitude, carburettor heat and icing, fires.

Let's see what this discussion creates and if there is no comment I might have a go at altering some entries with my limited knowledge. --19:49, 11 Sep 2004 (UTC)CloudSurfer

I have done some of the edits above but do not have the knowledge to discuss turbochargers, Avgas vs Mogas etc. --CloudSurfer 18:49, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Rewrite/cleanup

I'm working on a rewrite of this article (including turbo/supercharger and single/twin safety considerations). I'm not a fan of civil aviation so the part about private/airliner applications will be sparse. I'll post my version in a day or so and I would appreciate a heads-up if anyone is planning to do major revisions. - Emt147 ^Burninate! 08:20, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] cylinder layour

I think there should also be information about cylinder layouts, radial vs. horizontal. Maybe you could go into cooling because air cooled engines are unique to aircraft at large sizes.

[edit] Large displacement for better reliability?

This statement requires a reference: the requirement for high-reliability means that engines must have large engine displacement to minimize over-stressing the engine. IJB TA 07:22, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Actually I'm going to change that statement. There are plenty of small displacement automotive engine conversions that have proved to be extremely reliable and are far less expensive. Also the latest light aircraft engine from Bombardier is a small displacement engine that I'm sure will prove to be very reliable [1]. If it had been otherwise during testing it would not have entered production. IJB TA 01:50, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Large displacement is for high torque/hp at low rpms and low compression ratios, it has nothing to do with reliability. - Emt147 ^Burninate! 02:07, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Auto conversions section

This is a nice article. Perhaps a section on converted auto engines would make a good section. The Mazda Wankels would be part of the section, and Subaru conversions are popular with homebuilts. The diesels might fall into this category too. Dlodge 22:32, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] fuel injection?

"Likewise, those engines adopted fuel injection instead of carburetion quite early." I'm not sure I understand this sentence. Most piston aircraft engines do not have fuel injection. --Gbleem 20:27, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Fuel injection was quite common on 40's warplanes. For example La-5FN had one. If this isn't early adoption, I'm not sure what is. 78.84.154.176 09:20, 16 October 2007 (UTC)