ULPower 350is

[UrsusB]

Greetings, new to the forum, just ordered the Kitfox SS, now looking for an engine/prop combo.

Anybody here have any experience with the ULPower offerings? Went to look over a 260i installation in a Zenith CH650 yesterday and liked the concept of a direct drive injected engine. Not sure about the return fuel line that would be required in the kitfox with an injected engine however.

Personally looking at the 130hp 350is due to the altitude of the field here, 6550', won't speak to size of the pilot . Never did really like the idea of the Rotax 614 due to the complexity and never did like the idea of geared props anyway.


http://www.ulpower.com/engines/ul350iS/

Thx!

[Av8r3400]

At your altitude, a 912ULS or even a 914 will be hard to beat...

[1SeventyZ]

ULpowers are catching on-- quite a few of them coming into the US lately. As far as I know there is only one importer, Fly with Gus in Florida.

Direct drive, electronic fuel injection and ignition, and 130hp all sound great. Water cooled heads on Rotaxes are actually really nice and improve eveness of cooling. Uneven cooling is something that has proven to be hard on cylinders over time.

Only downside I can see is that you're 100% dependent on your alternator for ignition. Can you identify a charging problem before your battery dies and your engine with it?

I'm hoping that by the time I'm ready for an engine, the numbers and available empirical data in the US will have increased, and the engine mounts and cowlings are available from the kit manufacturers.

[UrsusB]

1Seventy, you put your finger on the two items that were of some concern to me, power to the ignition and lack of track record in the US.

When I was looking over the 260i installed in the Zenith I saw that the starter was located on the top rear of the engine and the alternator was integral 'internal' to the accessory gear/flywheel which is also located on the rear of the engine, that was interesting to me and I've not heard of any failures in that area with the exception that someone forgot to turn on the alternator and flew with battery only, about 15-30 minutes until dead silence 'not sure what kind of battery they had'. Since the accessory wheel is exposed and turning at the rear of the engine I was wondering about a secondary charging system that could be gear driven from that and run a parallel electrical system, or perhaps even a second battery that is out of the loop except for charging like we used to do on the boats in Alaska. Dual batteries and a secondary electrical system. A bit much perhaps for a lightweight STOL aircraft.

The dual ignition was nice and someone mentioned on a forum about being sure they were cooled by ram air as they run warm and not to bury them somewhere that they did not have some cooling airflow. Having flown behinds mags for 30+ years having that peace of mind that when all else goes dark that that big fan up front is still turning is very nice. Not having a mixture/carb heat/turbo etc is very enticing however.

I did hear that Dynon was working on the engine monitoring harness for these however, since I'm leaning that way for a single glass box in the panel that was also enticing.

Overall having 130hp for about $1500 more than the 912S and $8k less than the 914 was and is also a plus.

Jeff

[N714SM]

I'm thinking I like the engine or at least the concept enough to take the plunge. Talked to Robert at UL Power (North American) today about some of my concerns, namely the BIG one -- a firewall-forward package. It's no longer a concern.

I also like the Skyview after flying with Stick and Rudder Aviation in their most excellent SS-7 last month. Further, I have in my possession a list of the Dynon part numbers (thank you Steve @ Dynon) for engine monitoring probes for UL (350) to Skyview.

I'm giving myself six weeks to talk myself out of it.

[rjkulesa]

It appears the first ULPower 350is has been delivered with a Kitfox manufactured firewall forward kit.


I'm excited to hear more about it...
Anyone know who's building it?

[UrsusB]

Good morning group, RJ's question on who is building the UL powered Kitox would be me. John at Kitfox was kind enough to take my engine last year and produce a FWF kit from it, just received it yesterday and was doing inventory last evening.

I don't know when John and Debra will officially offer the engine FWF kit but since I appear to be first out of the gate John has asked that I work with him on anything that may come up during the install, I assume to help fine tune the kit.

Robert at UL also contributed assistance during Kitfox's engineering with pictures, advice from Belgium and things like oil coolers and prop flanges.

Currently leaning towards a 72" two blade Cato but not sure yet, since I'm going trike to start it may be that a slightly smaller diameter may be called for.

I'll be posting pics and rant's along the way but have no date for first run up except a general late summer, early fall. Can report that my enthusiasm level has increased however!

[rjkulesa]

I think it's freakin awesome you are doing this, a true Pioneer! Keep us periodically apprised, I'll be keenly following as I look to start a SS7 in a year or so and have been also eyeing the 350iS with a Skyview panel...

Do you have an online builders log or site where you are tracking progress?

[Esser]

I'm excited you are on here Jeff as regardless of what engine I choose it will be a UL for a number of reasons so I will be following your install with enthusiasm. I called Debra about 6 months back and she said they didn't have a price for the FWF kit for the UL but it sounds like they are planning on making it an option. Keep us in the loop!

[sdidier]

even though this engine is new to Kitfox there are some flying. The Highlander has a least several flying that I am aware of. One of them is Steve Henry's of deadstick takeoff fame out of Caldwell. From all reports it is a great engine! Zenith has two accumulating time in the 750 and 650 factory planes.
Steve