Aeromomentum AM15, 750 Cruzer

Hi everyone,

We decided on using the Aeromomentum AM15  117hp engine during Sun n Fun last year. Our engine was finished and ready to ship in the normal lead time, but there were major delays in getting the cowling, We decided to wait on the cowling and have everything shipped in one crate.

We mounted our engine about a week ago and reached a milestone in our build.

I say we, because my good friend Larry and I are in this as build partners. We purchased a scratch built 750 Cruzer about a year and half ago and have been planning and finishing the build. It took about 6 months to actually decide on which engine to use. Together we decided the Aeromomentum was the best value of the lot, and really liked the engineering of the engine. Mark also was a big factor in the decision. He has always answered every question we have had promptly and intelligently.

But the real reason for my post is to document our experiences with the engine so far, purely to help other builders that are about to cover the same ground or would like to consider using Aeromomentum.

The first problem we encountered was the clearance of the engine mount to the puck nosegear system. After conferring with Mark, we created 3/8 inch thick 6061 aluminum shims, which we installed between the mounting flats and the airframe. This gave us the clearance we needed to the pucks. Mark says the next batch of mounts will be 12mm forward to clear the pucks.

When mounting the engine, we soon discovered that the bolts supplied with the engine were too long. Even with 4 washers behind the castle nuts, we could not get the bolts to work.

So, we ordered AN6-44 from aircraftspruce, which proved to be just right.

We used an engine lift and numerous ratchet straps to lift the engine off the crate and get the engine horizontal, we could then fine tune the angle to get the engine to line up with the mounts. This worked great. All spelled out in the Aeromomentum manual.

FUEL SYSTEM

There are dual fuel pumps supplied in the firewall forward kit and 5/16 Helix racing hose for the pressure side of the pumps and 1/4" Helix for the return from the fuel rail and fire sleeve to cover these lines.

The hose needed to supply the pumps is not included, not sure why? It was labeled as 3/8 inch in the manual, however the input to the pumps is 1/2". A quick response from Mark, led to the discovery that 3/8 Gates hose will fit on the fuel pump inlets. We chose a length of Gates barrier 3/8" hose, high quality. It WILL fit, but you better eat your Wheaties and use some silicone grease! No way those connections will ever leak. We used Oetiker clamps on all fuel fittings.

COOLING SYSTEM

This is next adventure on the list, will keep you posted.

Pics can be supplied if anyone is interested.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tim Hine on April 17, 2020 at 7:50pm

More cooling system pics

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Permalink Reply by Tim Hine on April 17, 2020 at 7:55pm

Even more cooling system pics

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Permalink Reply by Brady Butterfield on September 25, 2020 at 11:25am

Looks great!  Have you received your cowl yet?

Permalink Reply by Tim Hine on September 28, 2020 at 4:55am

Yes, received cowl December of 2019, actually waited about 9 months to get engine AND cowling shipped together. It was frustrating, I must say. I do wish the cheeks had been preinstalled, not really looking forward to mounting the cowl and cheeks, sounds like it will be an adventure. 

Permalink Reply by Kevin Perreau on December 10, 2020 at 4:36pm

Hi Tim I have mounted mine its not that bad I can send you some photos.

As an aside I received my engine and cowl around the same time BUT have found my spinner and mounting plate do not match one says 5 and the other 4 so Mark has emailed some builders that were sent spinners at the same time to see who else has a miss match. Would you mind checking yours for me? 

Permalink Reply by Tim Hine on December 12, 2020 at 5:37am

Yes, I had to send my spinner back to Mark, as the screw holes did not match the backing plate. Lili shipped me a new spinner of a different type, from a different vendor. I had to create the spinner to backing plate holes myself, first using clecos, then nutplates and screws. Very proud of how it turned out. Makes me think about using the same nutplate/screws to mount the cowl also, versus 1/4 turn camlocs.

I would love to see the pics of your cowl, as I started trimming the bottom cowl yesterday. The location of the cheeks is the main thing that is unknown. Even with the CAD drawings , its still not all that clear.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Perreau on December 14, 2020 at 2:59am

Looking good, how long ago did you send it back? Ill have to follow them up, the freight from here in NZ to the states is horrendous.

Any way attached are photos of the cowl, I had to move the scoop at the bottom forward as the radiator was going to be too much of a tight fit.

The Cheeks were not so bad, just had to cut it and get it done, then faired it in with resin.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Hine on December 14, 2020 at 6:57am

Thanks for the photos, very helpful.  I sent the mis-matched spinner back to Aeromomentum October 20th. Lili sent postage label for the return of the bad spinner with the new spinner, per my request. 

Permalink Reply by Chris Aerts on August 2, 2020 at 9:13pm

Tim looking good. Just wondering if you ever got around to weights of the aircraft yet. Im getting closer to starting to build. Your building just what I want. 

Permalink Reply by Tim Hine on August 3, 2020 at 1:09pm

No, wings aren't mounted yet, so we haven't gotten to a final weight yet. I will post it when we do.

Permalink Reply by charlie rosenzweig on January 25, 2023 at 7:50pm

Tim,

Great info in your posts.   How is it going, are things progressing well with the engine?

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