Who has the best outboard? This might answer it.

[kozman01]

I'm new to the boating world and have learned alot form this site. I have an old Mercury 800 and I love it. It seems that the things we had first, we like the best and that's how I feel about Mercury in general. Now, I was doing some research on an ultalight helicopter that I want to buy and found one prominent company that makes the Skylark hellicopter. I was going through the specs and I saw that they use the Evinrude "Starlite" engine exclusively as the powerplant on this thing. I think it was the 115hp engine. Any other engine on any other chopper I saw was an aviation engine or some specialized engine made to perform on the ultralight. Someone somewhere has to have alot of respect for these Evinrudes if they decided to put them on a device that weights 300 lbs that can lift your rearend up to 8K feet. Just my two cents. I think I might start to look at those Evinrudes when I'm doing my shopping for a new motor.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: Who has the best outboard? This might answer it.

Hello<br /> wow and to think I am afriad to go out of sight of land on the horizon with an outboard I cannot imagine me at 8k feet UP with an outboard. <br /> after repairing them for almost 30 years the one thing I know about them is that when they break its rapid and extensive. <br />OMC also made some air cooled motors for cushman years ago. post some websites. I would like to see this

 

[Forktail]

Re: Who has the best outboard? This might answer it.

Well, that would make Bombardier (Rotax) the "best". They are well known for producing the finest, and most reliable engines for ultralight aircraft.<br /><br />Not sure, but I highly doubt that helicopter with the Evinrude is FAA certified.<br /><br />Evinrude in the air?...Hope your life insurance policy is paid up!

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Who has the best outboard? This might answer it.

Experimental aircraft such as this, the common Lancaire, the RV series, unlimited areobatic aircraft, scorpion helicopters, and many others that some people would recognize, do not require FAA-PMA certification......Only factory built, production aircraft fall under those regs.<br /> The aircraft industry is 10-15 years behind in technology because of the time frame and cost in which it takes to certify every new product. That's why production aircraft-even new ones-still use magneto ignition...........

 

[kozman01]

Re: Who has the best outboard? This might answer it.

Correct on the FAA issue. Experimental aircraft are leaps and bounds ahead of the commercial industry. Ultralights are just as reliable as any other aircraft, as usual, it's the operators that are the problem. Rotax is top of the line as well when it comes to those small engines on ultralights. In fact, they are the most widely used. I just thought it was interesting that Evinrude was used exclusively by one of the companies. You don't have to worry if it craps out on you, auto-rotation will get you back, maybe

 

[kozman01]

Re: Who has the best outboard? This might answer it.

Try www.innovatortech.ca That's probably the best one for the money out right now. It's a true ultralight. No license needed!

 

[kozman01]

Re: Who has the best outboard? This might answer it.

Just imagine, a helipad on the boat. Hell, that thing could fit ont he sunpad of a 24' boat. That is just too perfect! Hmmmm. I can just hear the wife screaming at me for just thinking about it!

 

[BillP]

Re: Who has the best outboard? This might answer it.

Visit Sun N Fun and you seen all types of weird motors in ultralights and exp planes but this is the first I've heard of an outboard in one!<br /><br />Anyway, anyone who flys without a license (or without all the training and testing for one)is asking for trouble. Ultralight or not. People do it all the time and they are the ones who crash most often. Like the saying goes..."there are no old bold pilots." <br /><br />If you study the exp copter cult there are maybe a handfull that have more than a few hundred flying hrs. Reliability hasn't been one of their highlights.

 

[DJ]

Re: Who has the best outboard? This might answer it.

kozman01,<br /><br />I have heard of outboard powerheads being used in aircraft before. It makes sense for a copter, the shaft is pointing in the right direction-up. I believe the engine you are referring to is called a "Starflite". That was OMC name given to the higher hp Evinrudes.<br /><br />I believe that would be a "crossflow" design.<br /><br />Outboard engines can be fun to convert. When I was a kid, I worked in a marina. The owner had a couple of Go Karts with twin cylinder outboard engines in them, complete with cooling systems. They were as fast as all get out and very reliable.

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: Who has the best outboard? This might answer it.

I would rather have my aircraft powered by something called a starflite than something called a MudDevil, lol<br /><br />think about it!!!<br /><br />