VW Aircraft Engine: The 7 Advantages and 4 Drawbacks

Introduction of Volkswagen Aircraft Engine

The Volkswagen aircraft engine is a reliable engine conversion among the other amateur aircraft. Moreover, light aircraft builders use a variety of machines as power plants for their airplanes. Out of those, the VW engine outshines. The automotive conversion engine earlier used in an experimental aircraft is now operating as an alternative engine in a standard airplane engine. However, the Volkswagen aircraft engine is a favorite choice for building private aircraft among vast experimental engines. In addition, among the other engines, it is the closest to the main engine of regular aircraft. Thus, it went through the automotive conversion process.

Besides the Volkswagen aircraft engine has a four horizontal cylinder body with an air-cooled boxer engine. The engine body has aluminum cylinder heads and pistons. Furthermore, it consists of a magnesium crankcase with steel connecting rods and crankshaft. The Volkswagen aircraft engine also gave high-performance experience to air racing aircraft or personal aircraft.

Volkswagen Aircraft Engine Specification Table

Pros & Cons of Volkswagen Aircraft Engine

Pros

Talking about the advantages and benefits of using the Volkswagen aircraft engine, the experts consider it the top contender to be the popular automotive engine. Moreover, being the most reliable aircraft engine, it has a long list of pros:

• Air-cool engine: The primary cooling system is the main advantage of the Volkswagen Aircraft Engine. It is due to the presence of an air-cool engine. Moreover,  the air-cool engine causes the engine to be a light body. Thus, light body aircraft use these engines due to their lightweight. Furthermore, since the air-cool engine does not require any water pump or radiator, it eradicates leakage. Moreover, Volkswagen Aircraft Engine does not rely on coolant. Thus, they are damage-resistant and more straightforward with fewer structures.
• Radial engines: Volkswagen Aircraft Engine is radial Boxer 4 engines which consist of shorter crankshafts. Thus, they need fewer crankshaft bearing, reducing the complexity.
• The Volkswagen aircraft engine is low maintenance and inexpensive.
• Great plains and Revmaster model of this engine has reliable front bearing eliminating the chances of crank failure.
• The additional thrust bearing at the front of Revmaster enhances the reliability of the engine.
• The Volkswagen aircraft engine gives an energetic performance with efficient horsepower.
• You may effortlessly find its parts from various places at a low cost.

Cons

The Volkswagen Aircraft Engine bears some drawbacks, although they are reliable and appropriate. Since the cooling system makes it better than others, sometimes temperature may become its significant drawbacks. With that said, its cons are:

• The rear cylinder experiences heat soak as the front cylinder blocks the air cooling in the aircraft. As a result, there is an elevation in the temperature of the rear cylinder. Thus, Volkswagen Aircraft Engine generally suffers overheating engine problems due to low cooling air. However, the manufacturers recommend keeping velocity above 92mph to maintain the temperature.
• The engine faces overheating problems during climbing, although the engine is for short take-off and landing.
• Due to uneven cooling, there is the risk of cranking the head. It is the fact that only one thing that kills the VW engine is overheating.
• Some people face issues such as occasional cracking issues. It blocks the crank-bearing journal, oil galley, and web braces.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we get that, Volkswagen Aircraft Engine is usually suitable for light-sport,personal aircraft. Moreover, this engine is best for their flying machine, including motor gliders, powered parachutes, gyroplanes, and plans-built aircraft. However, the Volkswagen aircraft engine is the most reliable. And it is also the best choice as an alternative engine for a standard aircraft. Furthermore, its engine has a four-cylinder engine with air-cool boxers giving an efficient performance. Finally, talking about the engine pros part, we get that it has an advanced cooling system. While testing the engine, experts found that the suitable VW power is between 60-85 hp for the aircraft.

List of light aircraft using Volkswagen aircraft engine