engines

[flymadmike]

can you guys suggest which are good 4 stroke engines for standard mk 3 kitfox , cheers

[jrthomas]

Without a doubt the Rotax 912. Super reliable and light weight, great performance and low fuel burn, there's no better choice.

[DesertFox4]

Your welcome Mike. If more cruise is very important then the Model 4 is the better choice. The Model 3 is a great aircraft but is 20 mph or more slower in cruise. I flew my Model 3 a couple times from Arizona to Idaho but usually took 1.5 days.
My 4 would do the same trip easily in one day but my my Model 4 was also 100 hp. and easily cruised 115 to 120 mph.

[flymadmike]

ok well I guess its a long wait for a 4 as there are only a few in the uk and they rarely come up for sale so it will be a slow cruise with a 582 for now going along waiting for it to stop lol

[DesertFox4]

I concur with James. I had a model 3 with 80 hp. Rotax. Really performed great. Very short take offs. Cruises easily 85 mph. plus if you need to.
Back it down to 65mph or so and burn 1.8 to 2.3 gals. per hour. I put 900 hours on mine in 3 years. Loved it,

[avidflyer]

I've had good success with a Jabiru 4 cylinder in my Avid Flyer MK IV, which is very similar to a Kitfox 3, although with a higher gross weigh. I've put about 600 hrs on it. That being said, the 912 is probably better suited for our planes. Jabiru is actually a bit lighter and quite a bit simpler. Not quite the reliability overall compared to the 912 though. JImChuk

[flymadmike]

ok thanks for your input, was also wondering about vw or any other such as 3 cylinder light auto engines

[DesertFox4]

Neither the Jabiru or the V.W. engine will be nearly as exciting performance wise as the 912. The 2200 Jabiru is closest to the Rotax
582 two stroke in power output. The V.W. is direct drive and heavy.

The 912 and an Ivo 3 blade adjustable prop will put you into a whole other performance level. Do a Big Bore conversion to 105 hp and go again into a whole other performance level.

[flymadmike]

thanks for that , my only other concern is once I have this nice smooth power what sort of cruise will the airframe put up with as here we are given a vne of 100mph and a max cont cruise of 80mph so what is the truth because I know that in the UK things are always under rated.

[DesertFox4]

80 mph cruise is no problem. The 80 hp with the Ivo prop can cruise faster but the model 3 likes 75 to 80 mph cruise. With in-flight adjustable prop ( which may not be legal in the UK, not sure) I could red line the airspeed in level flight but trimming at that speed is difficult.