Henry Ilnicki is building a Durand Mk V. This is a metal biplane with tricycle gear and negative stagger.

Henry tells us he is presently getting the (2.7L 6-cylinder Subaru XT-6) engine ready for mounting to the airframe. Henry gave us the following update at the end of 2004:

The photos of my engine show the front (left) and back (right) of the 2.7 litre 6-cylinder out of an XT-6. The engine as seen in the photos weighed in at 226.5 lbs. (includes the dynafocal ring and four-off rather substantial sub-mounts).

All up weight is heading for about 320 lbs. - close to the weight of the Lycoming 0-320 that my aircraft was designed with. The third photo (below) shows my Marcotte PSRU being checked out for offset.

I always assumed that the offset was 1.72 inches based on published data. This was good for cowl clearance. My check showed an offset of only 1.025 inches!!! A phone call to Ray Fiset (Marcotte's PR guy) revealed the following: the 1.72 figure is a misprint; the actual value is supposed to be 1.62; the 1.62 is applicable to only the M-400 model (I have the M-150); they couldn't tell me exactly what offset I should really have. At least my PSRU weight with gear oil agrees with the published data (33 lbs.). I have checked my gear ratio and it also agrees with what I was told my unit has, i.e. 1.88:1. In case I need to change out for a different gear ratio I have no way of knowing what to expect in terms of changes to the offset which in turn affects mounting. I think there's a lesson here for the uninitiated.

More to follow in the next few months as I tackle trying to get the engine parked in front of the firewall and marry the engine to the airframe. Also, I'll have more details concerning the PSRU.

Some additional photos since this story was first edited:

The side access door and box for the battery

Populating the instrument Panel

Mounting of the Subaru engine with a custom-built engine mount

A few more rivets to go ! ! !


November 27, 2010: With a helping hand from Jacques Genest, I finally managed to have my engine mounted on the airframe for the first time. We weighed the engine package as seen in the photos and noted "approximately" 335 lbs (the scale is calibrated to 10,000 lbs thus a bit too coarse for a precise reading). The assembly weight includes engine mount, sub-mounts (these are heavy), alternator, starter and PSRU.