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Aviation requires a different level of safety than most other sports. This
requirement has led to many advancements in technology and equipment.
The biggest problem for these companies is that the aviation community
compared to say snowmobiles, atv's, or motorcycles is relatively small,
making it economically unfeasible to build only for our market. A
company that decided a number of years ago that they could carve a
profitable niche market out of our sport was HKS. They entered the
market with a purpose built twin cylinder, 4 stroke aircraft engine of
60 HP to directly compete with the Rotax 503 and 582 two stroke aircraft
engines.
They have been able to compete very well, and in fact are the choice
of a great many pilots, who are looking for economical fuel and
operating costs and long reliable engine life. How reliable? A school
that I was involved in was able to put over 1,000 hours on a two place
Flightstar, with only some minor exhaust problems.
Other owners of Challenger, Kitfox, Quicksilver, Chinook, Beaver, and
Kolb aircraft have also found it to be a reliable and cost efficient
alternative.
But when put to work powering heavier aircraft, or aircraft equipped
with floats the HKS 700 E was like powering a 1 ton dual wheel pickup
truck with a little V6 engine!
Well HKS must have been listening to all those "1 ton dually owners"
because they have come out with the HKS 700 T, turbo charged 80
horsepower twin cylinder 4 stroke. According to the factory the engine
still retains the long life and reliability of the 700E. This is
accomplished by re-engineering of the oil galleries, and other internal
parts, as well as the addition of a dual electronic fuel injection
system.
When looking at the engine from the gearbox end one might mistake it
for the standard HKS 700E, but as soon as you move to the rear of the
engine, you are presented with a set of exhaust pipes feeding into a
very small but powerful turbocharger, attached to a compressor that
feeds into the intake manifold.
Looking at the cylinder heads you can see the electronic injection
fuel nozzles, two per side that feed the engine.
The engine is approximately 13 lbs. heavier than the 700 E making it
the lightest 4 stroke engine of 80 HP that I am aware of. Overall the
engine is a couple of engines higher.
The HKS 700T has been undergoing extensive testing at the HKS factory
for over a year and has been flying on the factory test plane for
several hundred hours. Because of the modern technologies used the
factory indicates that the fuel consumption on the 700T is 2 to 2.5
gallons per hour the same as the 700E but with an additional 20 HP!
The factory is expecting a 1,000 to 1,200 hour TBO on the engine. Two
reduction boxes are available for the engine.
The engine is scheduled to enter production in early 2009, with
deliveries expected in the spring of 2009. |
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