Jeff mentions the Franklin 4 cylinder engine in this piece he wrote. I have some experience with this engine - the 0-235 125 HP form of it. The one I worked on and flew with for a few months was called a "Sport 4". It was identical to their factory model but was sold to homebuilders as a kit engine! The Franklin Sport 4. What a great idea that was, but ahead of its time. Manufacturing eventually went to Poland. It's a very old company and extremely well thought of by those who have these engines and work with them. Parts can require a bit of sleuthing but quite a few sources are out there since there's still a whole lot of Franklins beating about the world. Stinsons and some other planes came from the factory with Franklins and many helicopters - in fact it became well known for it's durability and reliability in the helicopter application.
Jeff mentions the pitfalls and I'm sure finding old parts put in as new may be common, but if someone has an opportunity to lay their hands on one of these engines please do so and take it apart. It's a different design than the ordinary Lycoming and Continental. It's got a top plate that runs the length of the crank - the plate comes off and there you have the entire bottom end to inspect and work on as necessary without having to drain the sump. It's a very common-sense design. It impressed me as a very trustworthy, smooth, and very desirable engine. My average fuel consumption was just under 6 GPH at WOT up high where I always fly. Perhaps because it's an orphan one can buy a nice low-time example for a really low price and if one did I think they would be fortunate. ******************* Regarding the mention of props and their vulnerbility to rain. The Sterba has a very effective urethane leading edge that protects it very well when flying in weather. I can't say as much for the Prince having ruined my leading edges when I first encountered rain with it. Other than it being an absolutely gorgeous prop, the Prince is useless because of the bent prop tip design that does NOT reduce drag as Lonnie claims. Rather, it _increases_ tip drag and is a design liability, as are the leading edges that have no edge protection despite the fact I paid for edge protection which he claimed it had. It didn't. I also paid him to refinish the prop after my encounter with rain. It still sits in it's box, beautiful and useless. My $1500 hangar queen prop. I should probably try and flog it at an aviation-themed restaurant that puts aviation memorabilia on the walls for decor. It's sleek and black and with it's gorgeous compound curves is very much a sculpted art piece. It's a 52 x 54, cut and drilled for VW. I've had it on my "I'll get around to it" list to give to Craig Catto to reshape the tips to a planform given me by Paul Lipps. Craig could install leading edge protection along with reworking the tips. Craig is an awfully busy guy though and I've already spent too much on that prop. I'm very content with the Sterba I replaced the Prince with. If anyone wants to make an offer on the Prince let me know. Jeff gets along with his Prince so clearly it can be done and with it's sleek black curves does add a bit of class to the appearance of any plane. If one never flies in weather it will never cause a problem. Mike KSEE ____________________________________________________________ One Trick to Catch a Liar The Beacon http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/59f0ed11c992c6d112a0bst02vuc _______________________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/. Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html. see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change options. To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@list.krnet.org
