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A plate was milled and ground to match the hole pattern on the front of the engine. A temporary exhaust deflection plate is bolted to the exhaust port. |
The Engine (40cc homelite
chain saw engine) |
The first step in converting an engine like this for airplane use is to remove it from the power tool that it used to power. Next, you grind all of the unnecessary metal off of the crank-case, and other cast parts. After you have it all ground down -so it looks nice- you can start building a mount for it. The type of mount you need depends on both the shape of the engine, and the location of potentially load-bearing treaded holes. We found four such holes on the front of the crank-case on our engine, but many engines also have holes on the sides, and these would work just as well.
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A plate was milled and ground to match the hole pattern on the front of the engine. A temporary exhaust deflection plate is bolted to the exhaust port. |
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The engine mount consists of the plate mentioned above, two rods and two metal strips with holes in them for firewall attachment. The joints between the plate and the rods were counter-sunk then welded. The joints between the rods and the strips were also counter-sunk and welded. The rods were cut so that the flywheel would just barely clear the firewall.
The paint is John Deere green (out of habit). |
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The propeller is clamped between two metal plates which are screwed on
to the crankshaft.
The front plate has two extra holes drilled in it as an adapter for engine starting. The prop mount is self-tightening when the engine is running. |
Questions?
bjshowman@weedplane.com
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