Orenda OE600
| Orenda Engines | |
|---|---|
| Image does not exist |
|
| OE600 | |
| Production period: | unknown |
| Manufacturer: | Orenda Engines |
| Developing country: |
 Canada
|
| First run: | 1990s |
| Working principle: | Otto |
| Motor design: | V engine |
| Cylinder: | eight |
| Drilling: | 112.6 mm |
| Hub: | 101 mm |
| Displacement: | 8111 cm 3 |
| Compression: | 8.1: 1 |
| Mixture preparation: | Naturally aspirated engine |
| Engine charging: | Double turbocharger |
| Cooling system: | Water cooling |
| Power: | 447 kW |
| Dimensions: | 335.6 kg |
| Previous model: | none |
| Successor: | none |
The Orenda OE600 was a water-cooled eight-cylinder - V engine of the Canadian manufacturer Orenda Engines. It was supposed to open up the possibility of equipping airplanes that were serially powered by the popular Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop engine with a piston engine , since piston engines are much more economical in terms of fuel consumption. Orenda Engines anticipated a market in older aircraft whose engines had reached the end of their life. However, due to market changes after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 , the project was discontinued.
development and construction
The roots of the construction go back to the "Generation 2" of the big block engines from Chevrolet from the 1960s. In 1969 General Motors took over the design of these engines, using aluminum for the engine block and cylinders for the ZL1 model. Originally only fifty copies of the engine were built to get approval for the Can-Am racing series . Twenty-one more units were produced for the high-end version of the Corvette .
In the late 1970s, aviation entrepreneur Richard MacCoon and his brother Grant, owners of the Southern California Automotive Aftermarket Products Company, approached racing engine designer Lee Muir with the idea of modifying the ZL1 for use in aviation. Finally, a completely new engine based on the Reynolds 390 busheless technology, which Chevrolet used for the Can-Am series, was developed in the form of a few prototypes . In addition to the engine, Richard Lyndhurst constructed a propeller gearbox and an auxiliary device drive . The engine had a twin turbocharger and an aftercooler.
Development and initial testing took place at the Shadow Racing Cars motorsport team's factory in Marina near Monterey , California . The resulting engine, the "Thunder Engine", was shown several times to general aviation during the 1980s . Around 1986 BKM - an R&D and consulting company from San Diego , California - took over the further development. There the engine was further developed for several years. After investing five to ten million US dollars , the project was abandoned because adapting the engine to the high reliability requirements of aviation proved difficult.
Orenda took over the development of the engine in 1994. There the engineers discovered that the machine was unable to run for long periods of time at travel power and further developments were necessary. In 1998 the engine was approved as OE600A . The sales of the OE600 should target the very popular turbo-prop engine PT6. Although turboprop engines have a very good power-to-weight ratio, they have a very high fuel consumption and lose power in proportion to the flight altitude. The OE600 offered more economical fuel consumption as well as higher climb rates and cruising speeds, which resulted in lower operating costs. The disadvantage of the OE600 was the greater complexity of a piston engine compared to a turbine. The OE600 initially required a TBO of 1500 hours while the PT6 only needs to be overhauled every 2000 to 6000 hours. Orenda hoped to increase the TBO of the OE600 to 2500 hours by collecting empirical values during operation.
use
Orenda and other companies were working on supplemental type-certificates for various popular aircraft. The engine was used as a possible engine replacement for a number of aircraft, including the Air Tractor 300 and 400 , the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 and DHC-3 Otter , the Beechcraft C90 King Air , the Aero Commander 500 and the AEA Explorer 500R , tested. In principle, every frequently used aircraft with an engine power of around 600 hp was considered as a target for the engine. Orenda reckoned with around 30,000 aircraft powered by a PT6, a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 , a Wright R-1820, or various engines from the Eastern Bloc with similar rated power . In addition, various new aircraft such as the TAI ZIU , the Hongdu N-5 , the LZ-400 Rhino and the Lancair Tigress were designed for the OE600.
Orenda opened a new branch called "Orenda Recip" on the former Royal Canadian Air Force base in Debert , Nova Scotia , to equip and maintain aircraft with the OE600. At that time, the company was already offering supplementary type approvals for the DHC-3 Otter. A supplementary type certification for the King Air was also planned. There was also interest in a smaller and a larger version of the engine. After Orenda evaluated the market for a 750 PS (552 kW) version - the OE750 - the company decided to instead develop a smaller 500 PS (368 kW) version.
The events of September 11, 2001 forced Orenda to focus exclusively on military projects and to discontinue the OE600 project. The design was later taken over by a group of investors who wanted to sell the engine under the "Texas Recip" brand. On August 29, 2006, Texas Recip executive director Paul Thorpe was sentenced to three years and five months in prison for fraud. Thorpe had fooled investors into using their funds to develop the engine, but used the money to pay off investors who had previously invested in his project.
Most recently, the engine was further developed by TRACE Engines from Midland , Texas and received a type certification from the Federal Aviation Administration in 2009 . Yorktown Aircraft installs the engine in agricultural aircraft in Canada . For example, a Canadian de Havilland Canada DHC-2 received temporary approval for operation with the OE600 after a complicated approval process in 2012.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Sam Longo: We Could Have Had A V8 . In: AirMaintenance Update . Alpha Publishing Group Inc, Richmond, British Columbia January 2012, p. 42 (English, amumagazine.com [PDF]).
- ↑ TYPE CERTIFICATE DATA SHEET E00060EN. (pdf) Federal Aviation Administration , July 15, 2009, accessed March 22, 2020 .
- ↑ Why Isn't It Flying? The TRACE Engine Saga Continues. Sealand Aviation, accessed March 22, 2020 .
- ↑ TRACE Update: C-GGBF Is Now N600AX. Sealand Aviation, accessed March 22, 2020 .