Hard to believe I ordered this engine in late June and haven't been able to fire it up yet. I ordered a Jtec wraparound Pitts muffler for it based on some good comments from some flying friends. I wanted to have the quietest possible setup without compromising too much on power, so I ordered the large version with the snufflers on the stingers, which are really small mufflers, so I'd have a two-stage muffler. It finally arrived in late July, but I was amazed at just how
huge it is.
The OS 55 is going into my trusty Hangar 9 Carden Yak 54 to replace a nuthin-but-trouble Evolution 58. The Evolution 58 is a very powerful engine and can be a joy to fly when it runs well, but it's proven to be very unreliable. I lost the 2009 IMAC season While I sorted out various things and just when I thought I had everything running just right it gave me more grief on the eve of the 2010 IMAC season opener event. I was just too steamed to want to try to figure out it's newest problem, so I shelved it and ordered the OS.
Size matters. This is one of the things about the JTEC site (
http://www.jtecrc.com/wraparoundpittsstylemufflers.htm) that ticks me off - they don't publish clearance dimensions. In fact many sites lack basic overall dimension sketches. But that's a whole other rant. So I ordered the large version without consulting their sales team etc for dimensions and got burned. I would have to cut out pretty much the bottom of the Yak's cowl to make it fit and I'd have to protrude the engine farther forward than I'd want to, just to clear the motor box. That cowl really needs the support that comes with a minimal cut-out.
Anyway, I finally consulted the sales dept at Jtec and got the dimensions for the regular wraparound pitts muffler without the shufflers, plus I talked to a local guy who had just installed the same muffler in the same plane, but on a DLE 55 and he told me it was a great fit. So I ordered the regular pitts muffler.
The waiting game: Jtec's business model is to produce only what's ordered, so one could expect a week or so to make it then another 3 or 4 weeks shipping time from the USA to Canada. But I got a little lucky because they had one already made and sent it. So it may be the end of August before this thing get's fired up and in the air.