Are Brumby's still offered with Lycoming engines? If not, why?

[NT5224]

As it says in the thread title, 'are Brumby's still offered with Lycoming engines? If not why?'

 

I believe Brumbys were originally offered with a choice of Lycoming or Rotax. An all metal Brumby with a Lycoming sounds like a pretty serious combination to me . They have good interior space, and are rugged like a 152.

 

Does any body on here have a Brumby with the Lycoming motor? If so, can you tell us how you find it?

 

Cheers

 

Alan

[Flightrite]

I guess you find it like any other A/C of its yours you should know where it is anyway??? I have a friend with the Rotax Brumby, it's been a lemon from day one!

[marshallarts]

it's been a lemon from day one!

 

 

The aircraft or the Rotax engine??

[poteroo]

As it says in the thread title, 'are Brumby's still offered with Lycoming engines? If not why?

 

NO. Lots of problems fitting them as, amongst other mods, new exhausts needed. Also, the 0-233 version had a problem ignition system which resulted in a lot of grief. Brumby have settled on the 912ULS for the time being. You can get the 912iS version with better fuel economy, but with PULP falling back towards $1.00-1.20/L, paying another $8k isn't sensible.

 

I flew both versions back in 2013/14 and although the Lycoming was a bit faster, it ran 'rougher' than the Rotax, and was noisier inside.

 

I guess you find it like any other A/C of its yours you should know where it is anyway??? I have a friend with the Rotax Brumby, it's been a lemon from day one!

 

Care to share? Apart from the early enthusiasm for promoting the Brumby as a 110KTAS touring aircraft, it fits into the training market very well. 110 is super optimistic btw - 100KTAS at 75% and 5000ft is closer, but we flight plan students at 90KTAS so they can easily do the maths mentally. I've flown mine 900TT without problems - and that's in a flying school. The R610 high wing model isn't a speedy tourer - it really fits into the market as a very quiet, no vices, spacious/comfortable pilot trainer.

 

happy days,

[APenNameAndThatA]

The high-wing brumby does not have great payload even with a Rotax, IIRC. There is no way that I would get a Lyco when I could get a Rotax. Disclaimer: low hrs pilot. Why would you prefer a Lyco?

[poteroo]

On 19/06/2020 at 1:48 PM, APenNameAndThatA said:

The high-wing brumby does not have great payload even with a Rotax, IIRC. There is no way that I would get a Lyco when I could get a Rotax. Disclaimer: low hrs pilot. Why would you prefer a Lyco?

Looking through various threads, I found this query from nearly 12 months ago. No responses, so thought it worth describing our experiences with over 1000 hrs of flying a Rotax 912ULS version of the Brumby R610 high wing:

 

1. the engine has pro's and con's in that it's smooth, quiet, fit-for-purpose....... but not cheap to maintain in a flying school environment. I mentioned the problems that Brumby struck with the 0-233 Lycoming some years back. It was an ambitious effort, but at least they have now settled on a more standardised model. 

2. the airframe is vg for training - spacious, comfy, cool,well ventilated,good ergonomics,good vis, relatively stable in flight, ...... but fast our aircraft is not, and that's fine for training.

3. however, we have a spanking new R610 here for a private owner, and this aircraft is around 5-8 kts faster than our 2016 model. I think you could plan on 105KTAS comfortably.  It seems to be all in the Whirlwind GA propellor, (which has replaced the previous Sensenich).  

4. IMHO, a bit of tweaking in the airframe might just add another 5 kts to it.  This wouldn't be weighty, or expensive.  More anon.

5. In terms of BEW, MTOW and load availability - the R610 suffers in comparison to most other makes in this market.  It's fine for myself at 73kgs, and my students of varying weights - because we only need to carry fuel for each mission, and no baggage either. So, easy to stay under MTOW.  But, it's comforting to know that the extra weight is in the structural area, and the aircraft is strong.  Would it be possible to lift the MTOW above 600kgs? : well, possibly, but why bother?   It's always going to be a compromise with weight limited aircraft, and I think that we just have to match the aircraft to the purpose. 

 

If anyone wants to discuss specifics, you can always PM me on this forum.    cheers,

[marshallarts]

There's a Brumby low-wing with a Lycoming for sale in Oz at the moment - it's an amateur-built one, looks very nice in the pics.  The ad says its an O-235 but when I enquired about it (just curious, not because I'm a potential purchaser), I'm pretty sure the agent said it's actually an O-233.  Don't know why he hasn't corrected the ad, but there you go.  Anyway, I was interested in the empty weight, which I believe was (is) 360kg.  So not a lot to play with there.  The aircraft is virtually brand new - completed in 2020, only 40hrs TTIS.  The agent said it was built by a "serial builder", who is onto his next project already.  Obviously a builder, not a flyer.  It has been on planesales.com.au for quite a while so it doesn't look like people are lining up to buy it.

[poteroo]

Sorry, no knowledge re this aircraft. You are really talking apples-to-oranges here: low wing + Lycoming  v  high wing + Rotax. Quite different aircraft. 

[spacesailor]

" Brumby 610 is also available with a Lycoming O-233 116hp (87kW) . ". LSA 600.

Just a quick Google ! a pic from lots of Brumby.s.

spacesailor

[poteroo]

12 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

rumby 610 is also available with a Lycoming O-233 116hp (87kW) . ". LSA 600

Pretty sure they are NOT.  In fact, I'm unsure of whether the factory has completed any for sale in recent times?