I am looking at buying a BME 116 for a extreme flight 110" yak. Can someone who has used this engine give me some feedback on it? Any information would be appreciated.

I have 3 BME 116's in my fleet. they are a great engine.

Pro's
A lot of power and great spoolup.
Very light
Very good quality

Cons
Attention must be paid to baffling cooling airflow over them (as we should do with all of our engines)
Tuning needles point forward so you need to shut the engine down to make adjustments
Exhaust flanges are not "DA" pattern so you need to source the header flanges (They are readily available in the USA)


They prefer slightly higher RPM's than some of the competition but they outpul most of the competition when allowed to run. I am experimenting with props on a 3D plane (108" Yak that weighs 10.75Kg / 23.5lbs all up) at the moment and am finding that 27/10's work well in the higher load props (Biela, Fuchs etc) and 28/10's in the lighter loading props (Xoar etc) I do have to be cautious about prop ripping when using those though.

Thanks for the response, I have really been leaning towards the BME because of the power and weight. Just wanted to hear from people actually using this engine. What brand of prop would you say is best for this engine?

I am currently doing some experimenting with props. If you had asked me that question a couple of months ago, I would have said either a Mejzlik 28/10 or 29/10 thin or a Xoar Laminated of the same size. I am currently awaiting the arrival of a Fuchs that someone whom I respect a lot suggested I try and will know more when I have tested it.

Sunny7775,

I have BME115 with the updated reed block. The BME is a great engine! I'm using MTW 75 h cans with solid header pipes. I needed to keep the set up quite and this setup did that. For props I started to with Pt modles 28x10 and was very happy,the engiine spooled up nicely. Next tired afew TBM beech wood props and did not have good luck I broke two on by basement banister. Next I tried a Xoar 28x10 laminated I found this worked well and the nose was low. But im now using a Xaor 28x10 3DA i like the very quick spool up and over all proformenc. The plane is a Wild Hare Sukhoi 102 inch that is 25 pounds and i use it for 3D and sport flying.

Hope this helps.
Mike

Is it better to run pipes on these motors or are the stock mufflers ok to run?

Stock exhaust work great.

The stock exhaust works great and is light but is on the loud side. One of the fields I flew at had noise rules that the stock set would not come close passing. But even with canisters keeping the exhaust noise low the prop can bark plenty loud.
I find that it is not nessary to use WOT much as for the BME lots of power!