Superior Air Parts
Superior Air Parts
announced Friday that Adam Silverstein completed the first owner
built XP-360-Plus at its engine build school in Coppell, Texas.
Superior Air Parts manufactures FAA approved replacement parts for
Lycoming and Continental aircraft engines and produces aftermarket,
new replacement engines including the XP-360 series.
Silverstein is building a Vans RV-8 at his New Jersey home. He
decided to use Superior's XP-360 Engine for a variety of reasons.
"I think the value received is very good for a brand new engine,"
he said. "And I have a few friends who have the 'XP' engine in
their airplanes and they are extremely happy with the engine's
performance, smoothness, and price."
"I thought about it for a long time, but made the choice to go
with the 'Plus' because of my experience with automotive engines,"
Silverstein explained. "That technology (roller lifters and roller
cams) has been around in cars for a long time. I thought it was
strange that it hadn't been used before in piston aircraft engines.
Anyway, I didn't necessarily want to be the first to do this (build
an XP-360-Plus) but somebody had to do it."
"The introduction of the 360-Plus Engine is a direct response to
requests by the experimental aircraft community to have an engine
that offers the engineering, quality and value of the standard
XP-360, with the added reliability of advanced roller cam and
lifter technology," explained Terry Wood, Vice President of Sales
for Superior Air Parts.
"In order to meet our customers needs, we teamed up with
Thielert Aircraft Engines in Germany to design and develop the
roller lifter and cam for the XP-360 Plus Engine, capitalizing on
Thielert's vast knowledge and experience in design, development and
testing in the automotive industry. When you look to introduce
best-of-breed technology, the place to start is with the company
that's best at producing that technology."
Keith Blockus, Sr. Director of Engineering for Superior said,
"Our roller lifter design relies on a different lubrication
strategy than the sliding interface of a conventional flat tappet.
This results in the engine being more tolerant to surface
degradation than the conventional lifter in low lubrication
conditions such as engine startup, eliminating cam and lifter
spalling."
Blockus added, "Superior's roller lifter has a conventional
hydraulic plunger assembly that interfaces with conventional
pushrods. However, the oiling strategy has been designed such that
increased oil is directed to the cylinder top-end, aiding in both
lubrication and cooling of valve and rocker components."
When asked about the build school experience, Silverstein said,
"I'm a hands-on person and I now have a very good understanding of
what goes on inside the engine after attending the class. They
didn't just hand you a part and you put it on. They took the time
to explain what it did and why it was installed a certain way -
that's one of the big benefits of the school."