|
|
bob mackey wrote:
Jeff asked if I have taken my Toyota to FL260...
No, I have never taken my Toyota to FL260, nor to -60F.
My expectation is that it will work fine at -60F
On what basis do you have that expectation? I can not think of any basis other than wishful thinking. In aviation, wishful thinking devoid of actual facts only gets you as far as the site of your fatal crash.
The fuel itself changes seasonally. The temperature
has ranged from -40F to 120F.
The mechanical engineers will have something to say about it from the mechanical point of view, but from an electronics side, going from -40C to -55C is a HUGE, no make that a REALLY HUGE step. And upper limit has to be more than 50F higher than that, because things get a lot warmer under the hood than the "temperature in the shade" And that is before you start the engine.
I would say the Toyota fuel injection system is better
engineered to meet its expected operating conditions than the system in the Continental.
And how many million engines does Toyota produce? That has a lot to do with amortizing the cost of the development. More importantly, that provides Toyota and other automotive companies the ability to field test their equipment and improve its reliability. Would you buy a continental engine if it cost a couple of million dollars, if it came with Toyota style engine controller and Toyota level reliability? This is a hypothetical question. I am not implying that it is actually possible to achieve that for a few million dollars a copy or for any amount of money when you take into account the longevity and weight requirements for the aircraft engine. And before you start screaming about the longevity of your Toyota engine, try running it at 80% power all day long instead of the 8% or less that you currently use and see how long it lasts. It is called a racing engine and it has a TBO of less than 20 hours (yes, that is twenty hours).
Regards,
Hamid
|
|