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Permalink Reply by John Austin on November 16, 2024 at 4:15pm

Thanks for the update!  What's the horsepower, weight of the engine and cooling system,  what cowl are you using, and is someone making a complete FWF kit?

John

N750A

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Permalink Reply by James Neirinck on November 16, 2024 at 4:54pm

I'm running stock Yamaha Apex with stock Yamaha ECU so 150hp max output. (note: engine can be turbo'd to 200+ or 300+ hp if someone wanted such as Steve Henry and his STOL Highlander.  Also Bryan Dacus of BD Turnkey who is on the Yamaha Aircraft Engine Facebook group has an aftermarket ECU, wiring harness, etc that will get another 10hp out of stock Apex with his custom ECU tune.)  For me the stock set up is plenty of power for the Cruzer!  My empty weight came in at 840lbs, and firewall forward is around 190 lb.  Base engine is 119 lb, gearbox is 24 lb, my engine mount was just under 10 lb, radiator and coolant 15 lb, oil and oil reservoir 10 lb, exhaust header 8 lb.   My cowl is from Zenair as is their stock Rotax 912IS version which worked perfectly I just glassed in the opening for the Rotax setup oil cooler that I don't have.  Did not need to do this but it looks cleaner.  There is no complete FWF kit for this engine.  I designed and built my own engine mount and pretty much the entire layout and setup.  The information on the Yamaha Aircraft Engine Facebook group was extremely helpful.  However in addition to the ECU and wiring harness Bryan Dacus sells, he also has an exhaust header (I made my own), engine mounts are available from Bryan and others for the 701 and 750 (and Kitfox, Highlander, etc).  Fuel pump and system can be same as what is used in any 43 psi type fuel injected engine such as the 912IS, 915, etc.  I came up with my own system that has header tank and dual fuel pumps inside the header tank (like current automotive and racing setups).  Electrical system is based on Aeroelectric Connection / Bob Nuckolls recommendation for a electrically dependent, fuel injected engine.  I posted my electrical diagram on the Yamaha Facebook page.  If Zenair folks are interested I'm happy to share more.  So far my setup is working perfectly (which is what we want!).  Only complaint so far is the Zenith design fuel tank vents out the bottom of the wing and the Cruzer fuel caps are not very good as they leak from both ends (top and bottom).    I've changed mine to close off the under wing vents, remove the key locks on the caps and install breather tube / vent in the key lock holes which I copied from one of the members posts on this forum.  Seems to have resolved most of the issue although a small amount of fuel may still be seeping by the o-ring seal on the right wing fuel cap.  Monitoring this.   Cheers, James 

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Permalink Reply by Roark D Hennessy on December 11, 2024 at 4:42pm

John,

I'm a long way away from where you are now.  But, your success is giving me motivation!  I can't wait to hear what your numbers are for cruise speed, rate of climb, and fuel.  I know the numbers would be relative to your weights, alt, and temps.  I'm sure I'm not the only one looking very closely at your progress!  

Bravo,

Roark

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