UL Power aero Engines general description

[Bundu]

General description

4 stroke, horizontally opposed
Dual (redundant) electronic spark ignition (variable timing)
Electronic multipoint fuel injection (pressure and temperature compensated)
Electronic RPM limiter
Direct propeller drive
5 bearing crankshaft with surface hardening treatment and additional large thrust bearing (ball bearing type) on 4 cylinder engines
Single central camshaft
Push rods, tappets and OHV (hydraulic compensators have not been used)
Wet sump forced lubrication with integrated pressure regulator
Ram air cooled cylinders and cylinder heads
Integrated permanent magnet AC generator, external rectifier-regulator
Electric starter
Electric fuel pump and pressure regulator to eliminate vapor lock and facilitate starting even under adverse conditions

Included with each engine as part of the engine
Basic UL engine (including: starter motor, alternator, standard air and oil filter, standard prop flange with drive lugs ø14, flexible oil pressure sender line)
Electronic ignition and fuel injection system (including: ECU and standard wiring loom, standard electric fuel pump, 2 fuel filters, double ignition coils, ignition leads)
Breather with Oil/Air separator (including: temperature resistant hoses and banjo connections)
Standard Stainless Steel Exhaust System (including: gaskets, springs, screws and washers)
Rubber Mounts
Rectifier/regulator and connectors
Aluminium Ram Air Boxes
24 months Standard Limited Engine Warranty

[Swampdonkey]

Price? TBO? Cost of o/haul? Power output? fuel type required? etc etc?

[Flooi]

Price? TBO? Cost of o/haul? Power output? fuel type required? etc etc?

Philip at Bundu Aviation will be able to give price. I am a happy owner of UL260i powered LSA
TBO is 1500 hrs and service from Bundu Aviation is excellent.

More info on the following website:

http://www.ulpower.com/engines

[Bundu]

UL Power has quite a few engines. We have "i" engines with low compression and use Mogas 95 and "is" engines with higher compression and use Mogas 98 or Avgas100LL
Here we go.
UL260i - 97Hp ( 72kg) ( E 14700)
UL260iSF - 100Hp ( french market only
UL260is - 107H[ ( E 15800)
UL350i - 118 Hp (82 Kg) ( E 18800)
UL350iS -130 Hp ( E 19600)
UL390i - 140HP (98 Kg) (E 21250)
UL390is - 160 Hp ( E 22250)
UL520i - 180 Hp ( 108Kg) ( E 26250 )
UL520is - 200 Hp ( E 27250)

All engines are also available with inverted oil systems for aerobatics operations and them become iA - isA engines.
We also have Helicopter engines with different cams and running different RPMS. They are designated iH - isH engines
All engines use the same conical mount pattern or can be installed as a Flat Bed mount. As pusher or tractor application. Standard setup is tractor. To change to pusher, unbolt the exhaust system and reinstall facing the other way. Unbolt the inlet manifold, undue the injectors and turn 180 degrees. bolt manifold on and reconnect injectors to the harness again. Connect to the most convenient injector connector to each injector ( engine is Common Rail, Multipoint injection) and wasted spark system for the 2 sets of coils for the dual plug on each head.
Engines are crossflow design with intakes coming in to the top of the heads and exhaust out the bottom of the heads.
Every engine has 3 exhaust systems available. There is a standard exhaust that the engine is supplied with, a bigger muffler option for Euro Noise Abatement and then 4-1 on the 4 cylinder engines and 3-1x2 for the 6's.
Also have many drive flanges available for different prop patterns and prop flange lengths.

Prices listed are in Euro Landed SA ex vat in JHB

We may shortly have reverse rotation engines as well. ( 1 particular customer is dropping the turbine engine from their helicopter and installing the UL520isH engine with reverse rotation. Alot less fuel burn than the turbine they currently have installed so less fuel on board in total so weight stays the same and Useful load is the same.

The 260 and 350 series are 4 cylinder and the 390 and 520 are 6 cylinder. Installed weights are VERY good and listed typical installed wight of the engine with oil and ready to run. Does not include battery weight, engine mount weight as these can vary considerably.. Listed Wet ready to fly listed after HP rating

TBO listed as 1500 hrs at present but we are working on dropping the TBO completely and moving to On Condition. We are specifying the requirements at the moment and building the online databases.

As for TBO, we have two classes. TBO and Zero Time. At present the TBO on the 4 cylinder engines is Euro 6000 and the Zero Time rebuild is Euro8600.
When you conciser that the 4 cylinder engines range from Euro 14700 to Euro 19600 thats a good price for Overhaul!

With the engine, you get basically everything to start out the box. Its even prewired and harnessed for all the engine controls and wiring right to the "mag Switches, fuel flow, Low voltage, fuel pumps controls, ECU power, and rpm. The engine can accept steam gauges or EFIS panels so there is a lot of flexibility with instrumentation. You can use any oil temp, oil pressure, manifold pressure, fuel pressure, EGT, and CHt gauges and senders of your choice. You are not forced to use only an EFIS like other engines available.

As for service items.
Oil is either Motul 300V Competion 4 cylce or Aeoshell 15W50 ( Lycoming oil not Rotax) so is available at most airports. We stock the Motul oil for those wanting the best oil.
Spark plugs, oil filters, O rings are available locally. We use specific oil filters and plugs, but they are available. All fittings use banjo bolt type and their gaskets are also available locally. We have fuel installation kits with Aeroquip fuel and oil lines as well as various oil cooler installation kits available if the engine needs oil cooling. Some applications dont need oil coolers, others do. Whats great about the oil cooler kit is that the adapter fitting that goes between the oil filter and casing, has a built in thermostat valve to assist the oil getting hot quickly in winter. No need to idle for lengthy periods for oil temps to come up.
The engines are air cooled barrels and part of the head, and the rocker box area is oil cooled. Solid lifters all round, no hydraulic lifters. There is no need to torque the heads every service either. To check the rocker clearance, use a feeler gauge and check the clearance. If no problem, close up. if the gap must be set, set it correctly and then recheck 10 hrs later. if the gap has changed again, then its time to look at the camshaft for possible issues. That is easy though, very easy.
While the cowl is already off, drain the oil, all you now do is unbolt the sump. Not even a need to remove the exhaust system!!! the Cam shaft is at the bottom of the engine and totally visible for inspection.

The engines are built really strong with a lot of race engine technology. The engines all have I beam conrods for superior strengths, razor cut cranks, ( crank can be cut and oversize bearings installed if needed) and casing can be line bored. On the 4 cylinder engines we have 5 bearings on the crank with the nose piece bearing being a Thrust bearing for radial loads. No thru bolts issues and nut problems here. They have been using 12 point nuts and correct thru bolts since 2001!
The alternator is part of the start ring gear and is a permanent magnet type 3 phase alternator of 30Amp for 4 cylinder and 50 amp for 6 cylinder engines. The alt wires inot a rectifier regulator for the 14.5 volt output. If you go dual alt, the weight difference to the engine is the weight of the 2nd rectifier regulator and now you have 2 x 20amp alternators! We even have an option if you need 24-2 volt system for a 3rd alternator of 28volt to be connected and is then belt driven. So you can keep all the 12 volt goodies ( alot cheaper than 28 volt goodies) and run the 2 Amp alt to a 4 volt battery and Bus it to the 28 volt systems only as required.

Propellers
At the moment the list of prop suppliers is growing rapidly. We have props available from:
Whirwind, Sensenich, GT, DUC, HELIX, Airmaster, CATTO, MT. In wood, inflight adjustable ( Electrical only) and Carbon blades. Blades range from 66 inches to 76 inches depending on engine and 2 or 3 blade applications.

Service intervals are every 100 hrs but if you use AVGAS, recommend 50 hr oil changes. Typical oil consumption from aircraft flying is between 100ml to 1000ml of oil between services of 100hrs.

Longest flying engines are installed in the Silence Twister aircraft in Europe with Team Twister.

Some history on the engines.
In 1999 a Helicopter manufacturer in Belgium asked DR Tuning to get more power and reliability from a Jabiru 2200 engine for their project. DR tuning did it and the customer then asked to have 80x J2200 engines modified to the new spec. DR advised its cheaper and better to actually build a complete new engine from the ground up than to modify 80 engines! the UL260isH engine was born. The engines are complete mapped engines with all parameters mapped and fully tested on dyno installations, hyperbaric chambers and refrigerated conditions. The engines use only the following sensors in flight and loss of these sensors does not cause an engine failure. Oil Temp for " choking " in cold starts and richer mixture settings, Ambient pressure sensor for Mixture sensing with altitude and timing advancement, Manifold inlet air temp for mixture compensation, throttle position sensor, and crank position sensing ( which if it does fail, it is an engine out) If any sensors fail, a panel warning light comes on and ECU defaults to Sea Level operations. The first engine spent 1000's of hrs on the dyno for testing and programming the ECU (the ECU is an in house ECU and not a standard automotive unit that has been reprogrammed or an aftermarket ECU reprogrammed either). DR Tuning has been building high performance race and endurance engines for the world rally championships and for Dakar racing teams since the 1960's.
OK. Now They had the first 260i engine for the Helicopter guys, and they went bust. Now they have an engine and nothing to put it in. The engine was then given to an aircraft owner at the local airfield and he installed it in his fixed wing and flew it. During this time, there came more and more inquiries about this engine and it was decided to cautiously start building them again under a new company called UL Power Aero Engines. UL Power Aero Engines now also had the capacity to do all the machining work for the aluminium as well as steel parts inhouse.
In 2009 the UL Engines first appeared at Sun and Fun as a quiet stand on the field. Its now 6 years on and the engines have grown from the 260 series to the 520 series with each engine design rigorously tested on test stands and dyno stands until they were satisfied the engines were reliable and delivered the power designed for. Now in 2015, the engine is starting to be taken seriously all over the world with dealers on all continents and more than a 1000 engines having been sold. More and more it plane manufacturers re offering UL FWF packages in Europe and the USA.
All in all, the future of Experimental aircraft engines.

[Flooi]

Some feedback here. My ul260i now just over 60hrs and I luv it more and more each time we fly. Smooth.
Starts hot or cold after 4 compressions. All in green. At economy cruise 2800rpm 14.5 lit 95 mogas p/h.
No oil useage. Will have to wait and see as hours build up, but so far very nice. I see in the USA there are
many satisfied UL powered LSA.

[Bundu]

There are now 13 UL Engines in and going into aircraft in SA. Majority is the UL350i model of 118 Hp, with some 94 Hp 260i engines and a 520i engine going into a DB4 in Namibia.
Highest time engine in SA has in excess of 350 hrs now with a very happy owner. His previous 3 engines never got past 300 hrs in his application...

We now have engines in SA, Namibia an Zambia with them operating successfully even in the high temps and density alts of Northern Zambia.

[Bundu]

I was informed that there is a query floating around about crank failures on the U350 series engines. This is false with no crank failures ever having been reported on any UL engines.
They are billet machined cranks and on the 4 cylinder engines have 5 main journal bearings as well as another thrust bearing holding the whole crank securely in position.

The confusion is on Power Pulses and not the crank shaft.
The 350iS engine as all the UL engines, is direct drive and imparts power pulses or torque reversals on the propellor, as do all direct drive and gear driven engines. Thus, when a propeller is selected for the UL series engines, the prop manufacturer must approve the prop installation on that engine, due to these power pulses. Similarly most all engines and prop combinations...

On that, the following manufacturers make custom UL Power propeller and systems for us.
Whirlwind, Sensenich, GT, DUC, CATTO, HELIX, MT, and the list is growing.

On prop diameter, we generally swing a 65 inch on the 260 series, 66 to 76 inch on the 350 series, and 68 to 76 inch on the 520 series. The props used are all approved for the RPM range of the UL engines as well. Currently there are already In Flight adjustable systems available for the UL engines as well from GT and Airmaster.

[Flooi]

Now going for 80 hours on my UL260i. Only snag was a broken exhaust which was sorted out with BUNDU AVIATION assistance.
The engine itself is smooth and quite. So far, so good! As time goes on and after years of fiddling with LS1, I am leaning strongly
towards UL POWER and CAMit.