I moved my engine forward on my MB339 to save some on the nose weight needed to balance ... Right now the forward part of the engine sits right between the two saddle tanks, which are lined with thick heat blanket. Will this be ok ? i dont believe the forward end of the can gets super super hot ... can i get away with this or is it too close ?

~V~

I'm not going to say yes or no, the tank does seem to be at the very beginning of the hot section.

What I do see, unless you have a plan for it, is the engine clamp's 'glow slot' is not capturing the plug... would this eventually allow the engine to slip/creep forward in time??

Thats allot of power for that bird...

They fly exelent on a 160. You might see some heat problems and i dont think the standard 160 pipe will hold up to a 200.
Also at full power it may move in the mount.

Also make sure the gap from the cone to the bellmouth is 3/4 to 1" or it will run hot.

If you want to run the 200 i would contact Tam and have a shorter pipe made to support the engine and push the engine back.

Take care Wojtek

I'm using a pitot speed limiter and also using it for "cruise control" mode, yea, i know thats quite a bit for this plane ! , but i dont intend to use all of it (cant believe im saying that ! , haha ) ... The pipe is the P200 pipe that SM makes for this plane, and is wider than the standard 160 class piep.., and also I actually had to get the pipe extended with the engine pushed forward like that, .. having a spot welder definately came in handy . The mounts of course have been doubled up. I have the P200, and I want to use it on this project as a 36lbs engine i have is in another plane (that the p200 can't fit in, lol ) .. the gap to the rear or the pipe is 1.5" so im also good there .. my issue is if i should be concerned with the forward part of the engine right next to the fuel tanks like that with only a heat blanket separating ??

as to the engine not being "mechanically" locked mount wise around a bolt of the plug hole area, i thought about this many engines do not rely on a mechanical retention, especially if using strap mounts .. I have never had an engine shift before, but i will definately keep an eye out on this area ...

all good points guys ... [8D] .. thx ..




~V~

The engine balance point is such that the aluminum mounts may not keep the engine completely aligned on a bump landing, it may allow the engine to verical movement, weekening the mount or causeing the hot exhaust to not align with your pipe. The engine needs to be better balanced on its supports.

that's an interesting point .. I' will have to consider this ... I guess 2" back could not hurt all that much with more weight in this nose ... .hmm ..

~V~

That´s not good.. you need to change something there.

And are you sure you want a 200 on this plane? I flown it with a Rhino and it has plenty of power, for doing a lot of non scale stuff..


keep that 200 for a bigger or a sport plane, or for that speed project of yours.

If i were to drop a 36lbs engine in, I'm guessing i would have to change the pipe back out for the standard sized one ??

I figured i have a P200, so just go with it .. running around 55oz of smoke, tip tanks, and dual sets of under wing tanks, i figured the bit of extra power would be ok , especially to get off in a reasonable distance on grass ...

~V~

Don´t need to change, you can use a bigger pipe than needed without loss of power. The only drawback is a bit of extra weight in the tail area but you will need some lead in the nose anyway.

About using a P200 for shorter takeoffs is questionable in my opinion in this plane: The P200 needs more fuel onboard for the same flight duration of a P160 or a Rhino and this extra mass and higher wing loading make the takeoff run not much shorter, and makes the airplane feel heavier for the rest of the flight.

However, if you want to hear the sound of rushed air of the P200, forget everything I said.