CORSAIR’S ALPHA1 AUTOMOTIVE V8
Who knows if a Biden admin will finally push high-octane unleaded avgas to reality, but why not play around with different powerplants while it shakes out? That’s exactly what Colorado-based Corsair Aircraft Engines is doing with an experimental Skyhawk. Engine of choice: a tweaked General Motors V8 used on some later-model Chevy Corvettes. Corsair has been test flying the engine while tackling the huge task of tweaking the electronic fuel injection system for failsafe redundancy, something the FAA is interested in as part of potential certification. That’s the V8 shoehorned into the cowling of Corsair’s Skyhawk shown here, and there’s a video of it flying (with the engine uncowled) around Colorado on www.corsairpower.com.
The main idea is a flex fuel solution for overseas buyers (if it can’t ultimately earn U.S. certification), burning automotive mogas—a minimum 85 octane—with or without ethanol pump gas. Corsair says the use of E15-E85 fuel requires an optional fuel sensor. Leaded avgas is also approved, but the marketing points out that mogas produces cleaner tailpipe emissions, is lead-free, cheaper and widely available and extends times between oil and spark plug servicing. Of course the engine is computer controlled, analyzing the fuel type and mixture, as we’ll as the tailpipe gases, to adjust ignition and fuel delivery to make it run best, just like any other modern automotive engine. The company has conservatively calculated a 3000-hour TBO for the engine flat-rated to less than 220 HP, and it’s testing a variety of props. Each cylinder has one spark plug and its own ignition coil controlled and powered by either an electronic ignition system and/or either battery. Unlike distributor-type automotive ignition systems that use a common ignition coil and single power source, the REFI system has multiple redundancies, and Corsair says it can produce more than 150 HP with four of the eight cylinders failed for sustained flight.