Ok Jim, get some pictures on here. I wanna see what ya got, airplane stuff I mean. I didn't mean to sound sharp earlier. What I meant by what I said is I have had so many people contact me for advice and my opinion on the vw and become offended. When I tell them my numbers and experiences I'm told my testing must be flawed, I don't know what I'm doing, prop set wrong, etc. I'll be glad to help you all you want but I won't tell you what evryone else is telling you. I don't bragg about my plane, inflating it's performance figures, I just tell it like it is. I catch more flak for that than anything else, people who contact me WANT me to tell them I climb 1500 fpm, takeoff in 20 feet, burn 2 gallons an hour and cruise 95 mph.
The reason I'm so truthful about my plane is I believed all the rocket claims and had a heck of a shock when I got mine flying. I'm an honest man and I won't lie or bragg about how mine is bigger or better than yours. I don't want you to be disappointed with your engine choice and think you are a horrible builder, like I did.
I used a vw because I had no choice, plans built the plane and built my own engine. I could not afford a rotax, and still can't.The vw made it possible to fly or sit on the ground wishing I could fly but I'm going to tell you flat out it has been one hell of a battle. It is finally paying off just a few days short of two years and 112 hours of flight testing.
I'll be more than happy to help you. All I ask is this, if you ask don't ridicule me for my answers. Look at my engine numbers and tell me which engine will live longer, mine with the cht at the hottest point of the head running 280 or the others with a temp of 450 at the coolest point. I know of a guy up in Maine ( and others) whose engine temps were "good" at 425 to 450 degrees. His engine lasted about twelve hours. I won't get into anymore detail at this time, I look forward to our exchanges.
Wayne