Aero engine certification

[Guest burbles1]

What is involved in the certification process for new engines? I am starting to look around and found the UL260i engine (http://www.ulpower.com/). Micro Aviation in NZ are currently having this certified for the Bantam B22, and I think South Africa already offers this. Several light aircraft types in other countries are using the engine.

 

But if I wanted to use this engine, would I need to seek certification so that it is recognised by RA-Aus for insurance and operational safety? Or does RA-Aus do the certification?

 

 

[dazza 38]

Hi Burbles, i have looked at these engines, for a while.They appear to be a great reliable engine, from the research i have done.Off the cuff, from memory, the manufacture of the airframe has to do the testing for a engine which is not currently "certified here". By that i mean, a Rotax or jabiru no worries as it is already on the approved list.That means flight testing, paper work etc.Which costs big Dollars.It could always be fitted in the experimental cat, no problem. Some times as you have mentioned, if it is already fitted a airframe like the Bantam and is approved in another country, as SA or NZ for instance.Im not sure on this, but their Data, can be used here.I think, but could be wrong.I hope this sort of helps.

 

 

[eightyknots]

Engines and Insurance in aircra

 

What is involved in the certification process for new engines? I am starting to look around and found the UL260i engine (Meet the future of light aviation: ULPower Aero Engines). Micro Aviation in NZ are currently having this certified for the Bantam B22, and I think South Africa already offers this. Several light aircraft types in other countries are using the engine.But if I wanted to use this engine, would I need to seek certification so that it is recognised by RA-Aus for insurance and operational safety? Or does RA-Aus do the certification?

That's a good question, burbles. I always wonder about the insurance angle when using non run-of-the-mill engines in an ultralight/microlight. The ULpower engines certainly look interesting but I wonder about long-term maintenance issues with the UL engine's FADEC system. I also wonder where you find out about what insurance companies are happy with.

 

This leads to another question: how do people get insurance on other non-standard, ex-automotive engines such as the VW, Suzuki, Subaru and Honda engines?