Went to Sun 'n Fun April 20-25 to buy my Engine and Avionics.
Also bought some nice Rosen sun visors for the airplane while I was there. The Engine was the big decision, and I went with
something different - rather than the tradional Lycoming. I placed a deposit on a Corvette LS1 V8 engine from GearedDrives
out of Conroe, Tx.
These engines are raising
a few eyebrows with the traditional builders, but I (and many others) believe that GearedDrives has solved the torsional harmonics
issue when connecting a car engine to a prop. There are two RV-10s currently flying with Corvette engines - one is from GearedDrives.
I've met the owner of that airplane and his experience with it is impressive. For comparison, The Corvette engines produces
345 hp versus the 260 hp a Lycoming produces. They both weigh virtually the same installed. In future postings I'll bore you
to death with the LS1's virtues, but for now I'll post a photo below of the prototype/demonstrator.
For Avionics, I picked my brands, but I'm working with a professional Panel Builder to actually put it together.
The company's name is Aerotronics and they will actually purchase and design my panel. It gets shipped to me ready to "snap
in"... don't kid yourself; I'll be doing many hours of work on it once it arrives.
The electronic flight instrument will be from Grand Rapids. The radio stack will have a PM9000x
audio panel, GNS430W nav/comm/gps, SL-40 comm (for #2 radio), and a GTX330 transponder. I've also chosen a VP200 from Vertical
Power - it's a solid state electrical management device that you will also see more about in later postings. Among other things,
it eliminates the need for circuit breakers.
