- Piston Engine Technology -
Articles Describing Technical Aspects of Engine Design and Operation
In early 1993, EPI began the development of a lightweight, 500 HP, liquid-cooled V8 aircraft powerplant for a high-performance, two-place tandem aircraft which EPI's CEO had designed.
Several products have resulted from that development program, including PSRU's, ignition systems, lubrication systems, accessory drives, and engine mounts.
The design and development of the EPI Gen-1 powerplant (engine, PSRU, and accessory drives) was the subject of a technical presentation which EPI's CEO gave at the 1996 Advanced Engine Technology Conference (AETC). This section of the website expands on that presentation in order to make the basics of engine design, development and evaluation available to a wider audience.
In December, 2006, EPI's CEO gave another AETC presentation covering various loads and stresses imposed on reciprocating engine components. (The content of the 2006 AETC presentation are being added to this section as time allows.)
If you are considering the use of a non-certified engine for an aircraft you are designing or building, we strongly recommend that, in order to be as well informed as possible in the selection of an engine for your aircraft, you read and digest the information presented in the AIRCRAFT ENGINE CONVERSIONS section of this site.
Quoting from the INTRODUCTION page of that section:
"It is our opinion, based on real-life data, analysis and experience, that for engines up to about 325 HP, the best way to satisfy the requirements of (1) reliability, (2) power-per-pound, (3) ease of installation, (4) availability, and (5) support, is to use an appropriate certified engine (Lycoming, Continental, etc.)."
If you have decided to use a liquid-cooled V8, the next choice is whether to build it yourself or to buy it from one of the many current sellers of alternative powerplants.
Whatever the result of that decision, you need certain tools to evaluate either (a) the validity of your design decisions or (b) the validity of the (sometimes outrageous) claims of engine vendors. The Engine Technology information presented here is intended to provide information to assist in those evaluations.
The details about the EPI Gen-1 engine, as well as the EPI Gen-2 aircraft powerplant and a new engine EPI is developing, can be seen in the Aircraft Engine Products section.
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