• If You Are Having Trouble Logging In with Your Old Username and Password, Please use this Forgot Your Password link to get re-established.
  • Hey! Be sure to login or register!

You don’t see this plane everyday... Yamaha 1300 engine

dustinjames

Registered User
Utah
Hello all,

As my first post I thought I would share a bit of humor I saw on Craig’s list today.

https://cosprings.craigslist.org/avo/d/elbert-zenith-2012-ch750-stol/7180493693.html

My name is James I’m in the process of buying my first plane. I’m a corporate pilot and got introduced into the back country a few years ago and I’m finally pulling the trigger on my own plane. I have a lot to learn but can’t wait to get in the air and start flying. Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org mobile app
 
Frightening, absolutely frightening. And what size belt is that from the motorcycle sprocket to the propshaft.
 
If yer gonna keep everything out to the output shaft, you have to keep the cush drive in the driven hub. Most motor cycles have some kind of rubber cushioning back there. But there's no need to do this now that Yamaha has done the conversion for us by putting them in snowmobiles.

I didn't realize you could make a Zenith even uglier, I guess you just have to keep at it.
 
Good thing thats a STOL plane with good low speed and glide characteristics, somebody is going to need them.
 
I love the the way the carbs are welded right to the intake runners, which are welded to the cylinders.....wow
 
Those air filters are from a Honda lawnmower. Very creative for someone who has built "race winning cars several times".

I'm genuinely curious how well the gear shifting with a prop works. I would think it would be kind of like a constant speed until I remembered that props spin out and lose efficiency after a design RPM.
 
LOTS of those belt driven "redrives" out there in the experimental world... still haven't road in one !:lol:
 
I'm genuinely curious how well the gear shifting with a prop works. I would think it would be kind of like a constant speed until I remembered that props spin out and lose efficiency after a design RPM.

Long ago I read about an early Italian design that used a three-speed transmission and a sports car shifter. It seemed very clever until they figured out that turning the prop at higher speeds defeated the purpose. Prop tips going supersonic, etc.
 
The belt might have a chance if a larger driven pulley is used and the gearbox put in a higher gear. That tiny driven pulley is going to give the prop way too much leverage against the belt during stop and start mayhem. Soft motor mounts hide a multitude of sins.
 
I too would have a health problem after test flying that hardware store special, note soldered copper pipe with galvanized pipe cap at rear of engine.
 
Another gem is the distributor somehow welded onto the end of the valve cover probably driven by a shaft welded onto the end of the camshaft. I dare say the stock electronic ignition would have probably been far more reliable.
 
That does it. Every time some 20 something screams by me on a crotch rocket from here on I'm thinking airplane.
 
That motor is not from a crotch rocket, the 1300 was a sport tourer. I question if that plane has ever flown not to mention being documented for flight testing. Taxi tested yah.
My concern on the belt drive is that looks to have two L series belts, these are square tooth profile about the size we used to drive our old style dry sump oil pumps. They have no where near the torque capacity for driving a propeller. No one in their right mind would run those belts for a critical drive system nor even an oil pump drive in a car. A comment was there about him building race cars, you will notice that car is in singular, not multiple. I truly hope no one ever garners enough curiosity to try to fly that thing.
I hate to seem harsh, Over the past 40+ years I have built many very high performance "toys" I have a very good record of making things that do not hurt anyone. The only way this thing will not hurt someone is if it never gets off the ground in the condition it is presented.
 
I'd like to talk to the DAR who issued this plane an airworthiness certificate. IF one was issued.
Yep. And the local EAA members who couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel, who say "yeah that's a great idea".
 
If you stop and really think about it, this is annexcellent brain twister. The gear shift wouldn't be to make the prop go faster as you speed up, but to make the engine turn slower and prop turn the same as you speed up. But would it work that way?
Now put a constant speed prop and gear shifter on it and really tie your brain in knots.
 
If you stop and really think about it, this is annexcellent brain twister. The gear shift wouldn't be to make the prop go faster as you speed up, but to make the engine turn slower and prop turn the same as you speed up. But would it work that way?
Now put a constant speed prop and gear shifter on it and really tie your brain in knots.

I was pondering that very thing, but I kept running into the question of whether a slower engine with a faster prop would be more efficient. I don't think so.

One little empirical touchstone I have is my long-ago 72 Subaru. It had 5 speeds and would get 42 miles per gallon on level roads around 58 mph (this was during our national speed limit craze). Once I crossed Snoqualmie pass going east and had to stay in 3rd gear to get up the hill. I forgot to shift until Spokane so I ran that poor thing around 200 miles in 3rd gear. I still got 42 mpg.

So my brain is twisted right from the start.
 
Yep. And the local EAA members who couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel, who say "yeah that's a great idea".
Years ago a fellow showed up at Oshkosh with a licensed airplane which resembled a flying outhouse with hardware store bolts and house door hinges on the controls. As I recall he flew it from Arizona and then back again. It created a lot of discussion and raised eyebrows but did comply with the amateur built requirements.
 
Years ago a fellow showed up at Oshkosh with a licensed airplane which resembled a flying outhouse with hardware store bolts and house door hinges on the controls. As I recall he flew it from Arizona and then back again. It created a lot of discussion and raised eyebrows but did comply with the amateur built requirements.
That was Merl Replogle. The name of the airplane was Gold Bug, painted with house paint and a brush.
 
Last edited:
According to the owner the Zenith has an experimental airworthiness. It's last flight was last fall. And, it just sold.
 
Back
Top