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**Dylan Smith**

On 2009-03-25, wrote:
actual testing procedure without paying for it. I am highly skeptical
that a gasoline automobile motor could last 15 minutes on a dyno at
full power where as it quite well established that a commercial diesel
motor can do this for hours even days on end...

Car engines aren't nearly as fragile as you make out. I'd be willing to
bet that the Honda engine can put out full rated power for hours on end
quite happily.

Good examples of car engine power output can be found from the kit-built
aviation scene, where car engines are sometimes used (most usually
Subaru, due to the form factor). Engines in light aircraft are typically
only run at three power settings - idle or near idle on the ground, wide
open throttle for takeoff (with a constant speed prop, making full rated
power), and 75% power in cruise (contrast with car use, where cruise is
usually about 30% of rated power). The usual procedure for making an
automotive engine ready for a light plane is typically done to the
ignition system (switching to dual redundant ignition systems) not the
structure of the engine.

At our glider club we have a winch powered by a 4.2 litre inline six
cylinder Jaguar engine. It lives in an extremely punishing regime -
idling for a few minutes then wide open throttle to launch the glider,
then back to idling. The engine wasn't new when we got it, either -
already it had over 100,000 miles on it - yet we've never had it blow up
after thousands of cycles of idle/full throttle/idle operation. This is
a double overhead cam engine with an aluminium head.

--
From the sunny Isle of Man.
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