Looking for GO-480 info, who's the knowlegable person out there on these engines? For one thing, the TCDS lists only PS-5 carbs, can you use a regular float carb on one? This would be on an experimental aircraft (A SPAD XIII replica)
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Looking for GO-480 info, who's the knowlegable person out there on these engines? For one thing, the TCDS lists only PS-5 carbs, can you use a regular float carb on one? This would be on an experimental aircraft (A SPAD XIII replica)
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I used to fly behind a Gopher35. The Gopher80 is slightly better supported but not by much. You can put a Marvel MA-4/5 on the 435 I know (some Navions had them). I'm not sure that's a whole lot of a better solution. The PS-5C is an excellent unit if it's servicable (and they don't take much to keep them running if they are used, it's only when they sit around and the rubber gets all dried out that they are a problem). You can still get them overhauled.
Mine even had an altitude compensator on it that worked pretty well.
Unless this is going to be one of the goofy designs that was built around the GO (there was a homebuilt biplane out of South America that was designed for the GO called the "Senior" or something like that), I'd say you were crazy. First, that engine is going to be between expensive and impossible to overhaul. But good god I do see someone is building such a thing out in Denver with a big wooden prop. The concept of 295HP in a SPAD is bizarre.
There's a guy Chris Schuermann who used to have some papers on GO operation and such. He was an aerocommander owner (the only thing worse than one Gopher engine is TWO gopher engines).
Andrew, the secret to running a GO-480 is go easy on the throttle and never let the prop drive the engine. Some 480's have a side draft carburetor, so if you want to install an updraft float carb you'll need to come up with an appropriate intake arrangement. They sound awesome with exhaust augmentors, no doubt the aviation equivalent of a '60's muscle car.Originally Posted by Andrew King
Are you referring to the D'Apuzzo Senior Aero Sport and/or derivative, the PJ-260 or D-260?
It might have been, but I was pretty sure it was cowled like it might have had a radial in there, but the GO gear box was sticking through. I thought the owner told me it was a south american (argentine?) design.
In addition to the PJ and D 260, biplanes, lots of people used "GO" Lycoming engines on aerobatic airplanes. GO-435 converted Chipmunks, Jon Staudacher monoplanes. I believe someone competes in IAC events with a GO-480 powered Staudacher. The orphaned part is certainly true but in a low utilization airplane, I'd use one in a heartbeat.
I'm talking about the Colorado SPAD
And a GO-480 isn't bizzare at all, first of all you won't pull 295 with a fixed pitch wood prop, and also remember that the original SPAD was powered by a geared Hispano Suiza V-8 that weighed 520 pounds (not counting the radiator and coolant), was rated at 230 hp at 2300 rpm, and had 717 cubic inches of displacement. Can't beat cubic inches, so the '480 will actually probably end up putting out a similar amount of torque and thrust as the Hisso.
Re the PS-5, they do work good when you use them a lot, but this one will probably not fly that much during the year (although we do hope to bring it to Oshkosh when it's done, but it will sit all winter), and they're 70 year old technology with too many moving parts. At the least we'll put a throttle body on it, but I wouldn't mind a good old float carb, old technology, but simple.
And the engine was donated to the museum (www.vafm.org) for use on the SPAD, so the initial cost was good...
So who in the US knows these engines the best?
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Last edited by Andrew King; 12-24-2012 at 09:28 PM.
Check out some ARMY aviation resources. They had a bunch of U-8's that flew with the GSO-480. We had three of the airplanes and about two dozen engines when I was in A&P school. Since you're experimental you can use any surplus military parts or tech data you can find. And for the record all 6 cylinder continentals sound really cool.
Looks great Andrew!
They used the PSH-7BD, the non supercharged engine in the T-Bone used the -5
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