Seeks To Jumpstart GA By Reducing Cost And Emissions

Corsair Aircraft Engines in Colorado Springs, Colorado, wants to bring a replacement aircraft engine to market that may reinvigorate general aviation by reducing cost, noise, and emissions.

The engine has some interesting features that are attractive. First off, the engine is a modified aluminum V8 engine block with significantly modified components. These include a redundant fuel injection (REFI) system, essentially a FADEC, that monitors ambient temperatures and pressures to deliver optimum engine efficiency.

A digital smart engine display(SED) replaces all analog gauges and displays fuel flow, fuel consumed, and fuel quantity along with alerts. A system-matched. electronic prop gear drive (PGD) matches prop speed with engine output to optimize performance, efficiency, and noise. It is tested to BSHP and torque more than three times the engine limits.

The engine is certified for several fuels including mogas (minimum 85 octane with or without ethanol), leaded avgas, and most likely, although the company doesn’t specifically mention it, unleaded avgas such as the 100UL or 94UL from GAMI and Swift.

The engine has been flight tested more than 400 hours in the C172 with all fuel types and hundreds of induced engine failures. It has also been used by several pilots to earn their private and commercial certificates. Corsair is seeking an FAA Supplemental Type Certificate as a certified replacement on certified aircraft. However its initial focus is on foreign approvals.

Corsair’s initial production engine, the ALPHA 1, will be available as an experimental crate engine fully assembled as a bolt-on firewall forward conversion kit initially for the Cessna 172. The ALPHA 2 crate engine will be a completely system-matched powerplant for experimental amateur and kit built airframes.

The company initially received plenty of help from the FAA but after the engine started flying, the FAA has not been heard from. It seems the agency wants to focus on developing new fuels for existing engines rather than giving owners the option to replace the engine with one that uses fuels that are readily available almost anywhere.

FMI:  corsairpower.com/