"This is an obvious attempt at humor or Mike is smoking something. An R-985 on a KR 2? Yea, right."
I didn't even think about the humor angle Larry and I hope you are right. I will never believe that my Sube will ever cause a torque issue as the vast majority of my trailing edges is made up of aileron. But I will say that anyone putting more than 130 HP into a KR should really rethink it. Blasphemy I know cause you can never have to much power! But in my opinion you are beginning to exceed the power that the airframe can effectivly use. Going to more power is only going to increase your climb and fuel burn. Your increase in speed is not going to be significant. Now as far as Subes being more efficient or economical than Vairs you need to try to compare apples to apples. If you are talking about a stock direct drive Subaru (not common) compared to a stock direct drive Corvair (common) I would say the Corvair would win out on the horse power, but much more importantly the torque value. Nothing wrong with the Sube it is just a fundamental design issue. The smaller displacement Sube was designed to create its power at a higher RPM outside the range of efficiency for aircraft propellers. This is why most but not all Subes use redrives. They allow the engine to generate its power at its rated RPM and the redrive allows the prop to operate in the range that it needs to. Now your power goes up, but so does your fuel burn but again and much more importantly your torque goes way up depending on your redrive ratio. There is also a weight penalty that must be paid for both liquid cooling and a redrive. I hope to finish the painting of my airframe in the next couple of weeks and then I will be able to concentrate on my engine installation. I have seen the weight numbers quoted for the Corvairs and I am looking forward to seeing how my installation will compare. Stephen Teate Paradise, Texas
