Rick Hatton submitted this photo and note: “A Corvette LS3 engine with a 3-blade MT Propeller being installed in 1947 Republic Seabee in Los Lunas, New Mexico.”
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To all the naysayers: Relax. LS3 engines have been pushing Seabees for years.
Very bad idea. There are at a least a dozen failure modes on this automotive engine that an aircraft engine does not have. Cooling system failure, critical sensor or wiring failure like CPS, TPS, and others that will cause TOTAL power loss , engine control computer or wiring failure, reduction drive failure, and on and on.
Having a long and happy flying career entails managing and MINIMIZING risk, an automotive engine in an aircraft adds layers of unnecessary risk. Don’t do it.
When reengining a certified aircraft with what is likely an experimental… non-certified engine and the installation… this has potential for both technical problems and many great rewards!!
Assuming structurally adequate and no significant issues with fuel-flow, control, instrumentation, vibration, mass-aero-torque-thrust, maintenance, etc… land, sea, air… this could give the old horse SeaBee an amazing lease on life…. especially for High-Hot-Humid [3-Hells] operations. I assume that the engine runs just fine on higher octane straight auto fuel also!
Wow… this is a project worth watching!
No Guts, No Glory!”–Major Gen. Frederick C. Blesse
Regards, Wil Taylor
Wow. I love Seabees, and this one might become the fastest in the world!