JabSP6

Hi Toady

Unfortunately 500kgs is it for the SP range of Jabiru.

95% of my flying is on my own going to work and back each week so the weight is not a problem with full fuel.

On the very odd occasion that I do take a passenger anywhere I have to reduce fuel level to stay within the MTOW.

The only option to increase your MTOW is to upgrade to a bigger Jabiru.

Safe Flying

JabSP6

Mak720

I dont believe they can be registered to a higher MTOW. The original SP's with the 4 cylinder were 450KG MTOW and some of the 6 cylinders aircraft were increased to 500KG MTOW.

I believe you are able to increase the 450kg aircraft to 500kg but i dont think you could go higher. It would be worth looking into this some more.

I would certainly welcome the additional 44kgs.

Safe Flying

JabSP6

Hi Geoff13

I have one of these aircraft and it depends who built it and what additional items have been fitted as to the weight of it. I bought mine already built and it came in at 284kgs empty and the MTOW is 500kgs.

In saying that i have also seen some of the SP6's as heavy as 320kgs empty with the same MTOW. My aircraft has an 85 ltr fuel tank behind the seat. I have seen other SP's with wing tanks giving 135 ltrs but the heavier wings increased the empty weight of the aircraft. The cruise speed is a comfortable 120 kts and will generally burn around 20ltrs/hr. You have the same engine as the 230 only lessweight and drag so you should get a better cruise and fuel usage than the 230. The only downside is the carrying capacity is much less than the 230.

Safe Flying

JabSP6

hey jabsp6 is that a taildragger the sp6 just curious as how they go for something different may hav to post this in the general jab area though

My SP6 is not a taildragger. Just the standard 3 wheel Jabiru Undercarridge. Not a lot of room in the SP with the 85ltr fuel tank behind the seat and MTOW of 500kgs but perfect for the task of going to work and back each week.

Slightly quicker than the bigger J230 and better on fuel do to having a smaller airframe and the shorter wings but the same 6 cyl motor.

Overall i am very happy with the SP.

Safe Flying

Andrew

Highwing

The best way to get the right answer here is to give the people at Jabiru a call. ( 07 4155 1778 )

The other thing you could try is sending them an email asking them to explain the differences as you are looking to purchase one.

[email protected]

Safe Flying

JabSP6

Bruce

I do like the 230's. I think I will upgrade to one of them one day. For now the SP6 is doing what I need it to do.

I hope you and the owner get the plane back in the air soon?

Safe flying

Andrew

Hi Bruce

Thanks for the update. I have suffered the same problem with my original motor a couple of years ago. I had the valve head break off and smash thru no 2 piston but my 6 cyl engine luckily kept running and I also made a safe landing at a nearby airfield. Glad to hear you made it safely.

Can I ask what type of Jab you have?

Safe Flying

Andrew

Ok thanks MM

Is there any word on the cause of the 2 jabiru engine failures?

Just curious?

Safe flying

Andrew

RTFM

Not sure if this helps but I know CAMit in bundaberg run all the motors they produce on their engine Dyno.

4 cyl motor produce around 80hp so it would be accurate to run your motor on.

It might be worth a call to Ian to see if he can help out?

Safe flying

JabSP6

JabSP6Type 2 fuel pump with the 74mm pushrod fitted (type 1 has 72mm)

Safe flying

Andrew

Frank,

Just something else to think about. There were 2 different length pushrods for the jabiru supplied mechanical fuel pumps depending on which type of pump you use. If you have the shorter pushrod in with the pump that requires the longer pushrod then you might have the problems you are describing. Especially with the system performing ok prior to the engine swap. The new motor may have mistakenly been fitted with the wrong pushrod and you swapping pumps making no difference would be right if the pushrods is wrong. Jabiru can give you the dimensions of the correct pushrods for the pump you have.

Might be worth looking at if the fuel hose inner liner isn't the issue.

Safe flying

Andrew

Yes I have an MGL mini Efis fitted. I have done extensive work modifying the air inlets and outlets on the engine cowls as well as the oil cooler ducting. The highest CHT's I have seen is in climb out during summer. 145 degrees. Normal cruise temp are between 110 in winter and 125 in summer. I have all 6 temps within about 10 degrees. The egt's still have about 40 degrees spread in cruise which I have not done too much about yet.

In all I am very happy with Camit's engine and I am looking forward to doing many more hours flying without having any issues. I will keep everyone informed.

Safe flying

Andrew

Too all those thinking about upgrading to one of Ian's motors I would suggest you take the time to talk with Ian about all the changes he has made. He will be at natfly for those who can't make it Bundy to talk in person with Ian.

Last weekend I did the 175 hr service on the engine. Unfortunately I have nothing out of the ordinary to report for you all.

All the head bolt tensions were good. All the valve clearances were spot on. Everything is performing the way it should. We pulled both the plugs from each cylinder to look at the top of the pistons and check the sealing faces of the valves. Ian was there to look at this and was pleased at the results. Everything was looking nice and clean inside.

The leak downs are all 76/80. Prop pull thrus are all very positive with engine both cold and hot. Nice positive kick back even when I land straight after every 2 hr flight.

It is good to be able to just do the normal regular maintenance and not have to remove heads due to low leak downs.

I am finally enjoying flying my plane with a lot more confidence in the motor and spending less time working on it which is great.

Safe Flying

Andrew

Hi Camel

I do agree with what you are saying. I have been using my SP6 as a weekly commutor to and from work since September 2009 and plan to do so for many more years to come which is why i have invested so much time and energy into this motor.

I am also a Mechanic by trade which is why i looked at improving the motor early on. Ian has since released his Camit engine to the public which addresses all of the issues that he has seen over the last 20 years of making them.

I really am impressed with the Jabiru airframe as it is perfect for my situation and now that i have Ian's motor on board i am more then confident in its performance for the future.

I believe that Camit will prove themselves with this motor and it will help restore faith in people's minds about the Jabiru Brand.

Safe Flying

Andrew

(JabSP6)

Hi Camel

I had a Crankshaft break just in front of the rear journal. Ian did some investigating into the cause of the failure for me. It turns out there was a stress point at the rear journal which had originated from a previous valve failure causing the value to hit piston number 2 at around 750hrs. When the initial valve failure occured part of the rebuild was sending the Crankshaft, Camshaft and Connecting rods to Archerfield for Testing. The results came back all ok but it turns out the Crank wasn't all ok. So after rebuilding the motor with the Through Bolts from W.A the motor did another 400 hrs until the Crankshaft decided suddenly to separate. After lengthy discussions with Ian we decided to scrap the motor with 1150hrs and put a New Camit engine in.

I spent many hrs with Ian going over every single impovement that he has done and why.

As mentioned in Oscar's post Ian will be going to Natfly so if anyone has any questions about the new engine that will be your chance to get the answers directly from Ian.

You won't be dissapointed.

Safe Flying

Andrew

(JabSP6)

John

I haven't been on this site for quite some time but i did come accross your post yeaterday.

I have fitted one of Camit's new solid lifter 6 cyl motors into my SP6 in August last year. I have now just clicked up 160 hrs on the motor without any issues at all.

I do monitor all CHT's and EGT's and so far the only movement in the Valve train was at the first service and it was only .001 on 2 of the valve clearances and .002 on 1 of the valve clearances.

Since then all the head bolts are checked without having any movement and all the valve clearances remain spot on. Oil usage is neglegable between 25 hr services. No more oil pumping out into the catch can and all under the plane.

As Oscar has mentioned there are a lot of things that Ian has developed over time to improve these motors but has not been able to implement any of these into the Jabiru supplied engine for various reasons.

Ian is now offering the improvements in both 4 cyl and 6 cyl motors supplied direct from Camit.

I also would highly recomend that you take the time to give Ian a call or even better if you are ever down this way drop in and see him.

Safe Flying

Andrew

(JabSP6)

It is with great regret and a heavy heart that i inform you today the decission was made to turn off the life support for our friend.

He had irreparable damage to the spinal chord sustained from the 2 broken vertebrae in his neck. He also suffered broken ribs, another broken vertebra in his lower back along with a broken femur.

It is only due to the miraculous effort of those first at the scene that he was able to stay with us as long as he did.

He was a colourful character and will be truly missed.

All of our thoughts go out to his wife and family.

Andrew

JabSP6

Hi Bex

Great to see things progressing for you on this motor.

Now that you have the 2 crank case halves, cranks, bearings, oil pumps etc i was just curious if your target of 70kgs for the complete motor is still within reach?

Do you have an update on the cylinder casting yet?

Can't wait to hear your results of the first run of this great design.

Keep up the great work Bex

Safe Flying

JabSP6

Thanks Hongie

His wife is in Brisbane now by his bedside. All our thoughts and prayers go to them both.

I will let her know mate.

Back on the thread title

I am in Bundy and I know the pilot and his family and all of us here are praying for his recovery.

He needed CPR for almost 1/2 hour before the ambo's could make it to him.

He has a broken Femor and possible spinal injuries. He is in critical but stable condition ATM in Brisbane.

For the record he has a 6 cyl jab motor in the storm and did not have any engine issues or loss of power as the media has reported.

The incident is under investigation so I can't say any more until the findings are released.

So please let's not speculate any more on this until the investigation is complete.

Safe flying

JabSP6

Russ

The J160 was nicknamed the fatboy and was produced to accommodate comfortable flying for the bigger people like myself at 6ft and 100kgs. The cockpit is slightly wider than the J170 so if you are after room then the J160 is the pick. The empy weight of the J160 is around 320kgs and the MTOW is 540kg. The J170 is slightly narrower in the cockpit and has longer wings as Keith has mentioned which can be a little tricky in windy conditions but if you get the approach speed right use the correct technique you will be ok. Both models have 135ltr fuel capacity but the J170 is around 340kgs with an MTOW OF 600kg. So if you are after extra take off capacity then the J170 is the choice. The cruise speed of both models is 100kts and both use around 15lt/hr and 2850rpm with the 4cyl 2200 motor.

Both Models are great so it is up to you want you need in a plane.

Good luck mate.

Safe Flying

JabSP6

Marty

I ride my bike to the hanger, fly out to work, fly back home from work to the hanger then ride home. I'm a keen dirt bike rider.

love my Ktm 530

JabSP6

I did buy 2 packs and tested them out in parallel. This gave me a scare because the engine belted over so hard I worried about burning out the starter-motor.So now I am only using one pack and it still belts over. This makes the weight 1 kg plus the battery-box. The cranking voltage is 11 volts with the single lithium pack as opposed to 9 volts with the Odyssey.

The lithium obviously has a lot less internal resistance.

 

One of these packs would make a good booster setup if you have trouble starting on frosty mornings. Is that what a cpap is?

 

... Bruce

I am keen to talk to you more about the light weight battery option.

I have sent you a PM

Thanks

Andrew

(JabSP6)

VRF Pilot

I believe the Liquid Cooled Heads were designed to replace the original Thick Finned Heads and as such the casting for the head replicates the dimensions of the original Thick Finned Heads.

If you replace these old heads with new Thin Finned Heads you also need to replace the rockers and the tappet covers as the old one don't fit the new style heads. The rocker offset is different and the 4 mounting holes for the rocker covers are slighly wider apart on the new heads.

With this in mind it is no wonder you will encounter problems trying to fit rockers from the thin finned heads to the Liquid Cooled Heads as they would not line up very well with the valve stems.

Safe Flying

Andrew (JabSP6)