The lack of responses should tell you something. You can find one Mini-max I believe on youtube using one of these engines. My thoughts on this. These engines are everywhere. If they made good aircraft engines one would see them everywhere at ever airfield. That just is not the case. I would say that speaks volumes.
The 4A084 is a military surplus generator engine made by Continental that looks like a miniature aircraft engine. Rated 20HP at 10,000', it supposedly makes around 40HP at sea level, but at 130# it's heavier than other options with similar power.
Okay, I feel like a doofus!!! As soon as I posted my question I remembered what it was. Especially goofy since I own one. It is new and in my shed. I bought it at a DRMO Government auction when I was station in Okinawa. Figured I would find a use for it someday.
On another subject... Shipped it home alone with an O-320D2J and an O-235L2C engines that were laying in the 'recyle' yard on base. They aren't complete engine but had been removed from the AF aero clubs planes. They laid in the dirt for months and when I asked the proprietor what they were doing there, he said, "you want them?" Ahhhh, heck YES!!! So I loaded them in my trunk and shipped them home.
Ok, I picked one up and removed all no aircraft parts. weighed in at 120lbs. I have a few more things to replace with light weight parts. Should have an installed weight of 125lbs.
Apparently the engine was rated for the military at 10,000ft 100 deg F @ 20 hp @3600 rpm for 1500 hrs.
Density alt says it's about 41hp at sea level. But this includes the drag of the cooling fan. I have first hand knowledge of a plane with one installed turning prop larger the 45hp 1/2 VW. The prop is actually closer to one sized for a 50HP 4Cyl VW.
The 4AO84 is a fine engine, Frank. There are lighter ones out there that will deliver 40-45 HP, but they aren't as smooth, nor as quiet, nor as reliable. The only "improvement" I'd recommend is installing an SDS fuel injection system on her, as those long induction runs play games with the fuel vaporization, just like on the early radial engines without superchargers. I have a pdf of the Gov't manual for her, if you need one. I can email it to you: a(dot)gelston(at)juno(dot)com It's several hundred pages long. There was a Yahoo group for this engine, and its archive was priceless, but the lady that ran it could be a bit tempermental at times, and when Yahoo changed the format a while, she decided she'd had enough of Yahoo and deleted the group. I queried Yahoo about the archive and they said it was gone and they didn't seem at all interested in providing it to me from their back-up files.
Frank,
What plane are you planning on installing this engine in? I always liked the Hummel bird and wonder if it would fit on it? To be honest, I haven't really looked at the Hummel other than seeing a couple at Oshkosh. I have a couple of projects that need completion before I start another.
Keep us posted on your progress. SInce I already have the engine I may follow in your footsteps and build a plane around it.
I'm installing it on a Legal Eagle XL. It's a bit of a hybrid between the LEU an XL. Trying to keep it light as possible but may go get an N number. We'll see what the weight comes out too. Started full force building in January an hope to fly this summer. Got the spars done in January, right wing done in February, left wing this month, and so on.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote