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I had also thought of using a turbo 360 but decided
against it. Several reasons:
1) There is a crossover point at which the
turbo 360 produces more horsepower than a normally aspirated 550, but it is
fairly high up and I thought I wouldn't be flying that high all that
often.
2) Getting to that altitude would take more
time - could make for overall slower trip even though speed at altitude is
greater.
3) Non-standard Legacy RG - probably worth
less on resale
4) Turbo engine is intrinsically less fuel
efficient for same horsepower
5) More problems with a non-standard
installation
6) Potential weight and balance issues
I also thought about using a turbo 550, but again
decided against it. It would be a real screamer, particularly at
altitude, however it is a lot of effort to "shoehorn" a turbo 550 into
a Legacy. If you are interested in going this route, you should take a
look at Andy Chiavetta's website: http://www.aerochia.com/kits_Legacy_turbo.html
He has developed a complete kit to allow the
installation of a turbo 550 - and keep it cool. But it is not cheap when
you include parts, labor, additional cost of TSIO-550, additional maintenance
and fuel costs.
The Legacy RG with an IO-550 is a pretty nice blend
of speed, and fuel efficiency - especially if you fly it high and lean of
peak.
D. Brunner
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 2:47
PM
Subject: [LML] Re: Legacy Questions
"Why cant one put a 210HP on
a Legacy RG?"
Assuming an appropriate engine mount is
available, or can be fabricated, yes, you can use an IO-360 in a Legacy
RG. It will accelerate slower, climb slower, and cruise slower than an
RG with an IO-540 or IO-550. (By the way, a few people are using
the Lycoming IO-580). I haven't heard of a customer RG using
the smaller engine but if you do you might have to move some things
around for balance reasons. I think the factory prototype Legacy
originally flew with a turbo-normalized Lycoming IO-360. It had
good performance at altitude (i.e. up near 18,000 ft) but was a bit
disappointing in takeoff and climb.
Of course the bottom line is the Legacy is
experimental so you can use whatever you want.
Tom Gourley
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