Collaboration Seemed Natural For The Two Texas Companies

By Anthony Liberatore

Scott Hays of Superior Air Parts of Coppell, TX and Darin Hart of Legend Cubs from Sulfur Springs TX, held a joint news conference at AirVenture on Monday to elaborate on the partnership to put the Superior Airparts Gemini Diesel engine on the Legend Cub and offer it as an engine offering on their airframe.

This unique engine is a water cooled, uniflow, externally scavenged 2 stroke Diesel that utilizes 2 crankshafts and 3 cylinder configuration with two pistons utilizing the same cylinder bore. The common bore for 2 pistons allows for one fuel injector in a central location. This engine is also lubricated with a traditional lubrication system found in a 4 stroke vs the common total loss oil systems often seen in the 2 stroke arena, which will add to the engine's longevity.

As the elaboration continued, Darin mentioned that with both firms located in Texas it is easy for them to collaborate, and that Scott couldn't be more pleases to work with Darin and the Legend team. Darin also discussed how having a Diesel can expand the Legend Cubs presence in world markets where 100LL is almost impossible to find. Another discussion item was the footprint of the Gemini engine. "The space the Gemini engine takes compared to the 0-200 is less and engine fits in a normal cub type cowl with room to space spare," he said, as well as it being comparable to size of all the Rotax 912 iterations. In terms of Installation weight it was noted the Gemini comes in at the same weight as the O-200 while it is 20 pounds heavier than the Rotax 912.

When asked if the installation would utilize a standardized cooling and exhaust system, the engineering side of the team noted one size does not necessarily fit all. Every airframe is so different and unique, that customization is the way to go. The question of the Gemini engine's price point was also asked and Legend's Darin Hart noted given the current Legend Cub engine offerings are in the $20,000 to $28,000 range, he is anticipating the price-point will be very comparable with the these offerings. In terms of flight testing and certification it was noted one goal is to have the Legend Cub with the Gemini engine flying by October 2015. In terms of marketplace availability, it was discussed that the goal is to have production engines delivered to the Experimental market in 2016, while also pursuing ASTM compliance for the LSA market, and actual FAA Certification a possibly after that.

(Staff images)

FMI: http://geminiengine.aero, www.legend.aero/shop