"There Truly Is A Better Piston Engine"
Superior Air Parts, the newest
manufacturer of FAA Certified piston engines for general aviation
aircraft, says the Vantage Engine-powered "High Country Explorer"
from American Champion Aircraft (ACA), has received its FAA
approvals.
"This is an incredibly exciting time for us," said Terry Wood,
Superior's V.P. of Sales and Marketing. "From the very inception of
the Vantage Engine, we have looked forward to the day when it would
be certified on an OEM aircraft so we could begin to show pilots
that there truly is a better piston engine. We couldn't be prouder
that the first such OEM airplane is built by American
Champion."
Superior says performance, reliability, and flexibility are what
the Vantage Engine is all about. Because the High Country Explorer
has been developed to be a truly hard working, backcountry
airplane, Jerry Mehlhaff, American Champion Aircraft President,
added that another advantage of the Vantage Engine is that it is
already approved to operate on both 100LL and unleaded automotive
fuel. "We felt that this capability was extremely important with
the Vantage Engine," Wood said. "It takes advantage of new
technology to give both the aircraft OEM and the end-user
flexibility that other engines don't offer."
The ability to use a variety of fuels is just part of what makes
the Vantage Engine 'different' from other piston engines.
"Superior's Vantage Engine may look like other
horizontally-opposed, 180 horsepower, four-cylinder engines but
that's where the resemblance ends. From the camshaft to the valve
covers, the Vantage Engine is an all-new design," explained Keith
Blockus, Superior's Senior Director of Engineering and Product
Development. "We hold all of the design data and will manufacture
all of the parts to the most stringent performance and quality
specifications in the general aviation industry.""One of the major
differentiators for this new engine is the fact that it is the
first of its type certified in the United States to run on unleaded
automotive gasoline," added Tim Archer, Superior Air Parts'
president and CEO. "Low lead aviation fuel is not only becoming
more expensive, in many parts of the world it is extremely
difficult to get. We believe that the option to run on unleaded
auto gas will be very attractive to a growing number of aircraft
owners around the world."
Fuel flexibility is just part of what make the Vantage Engine
truly 'different.' The Vantage Engine benefits from component
manufacturing techniques and materials that weren't thought of when
the last-generation of piston engines were developed. Superior
designed and manufactured parts are certified to the latest Federal
Aviation Regulations (FARs) Part 33, where as the majority of the
parts used in OEM engines were most likely certified to the much
older Civil Air Regulations (CAR) Part 13. Many of these standards
are outdated, obsolete and often superseded today.
Wood added that ACA's selection of the Vantage Engine for the
High Country Explorer shows that the company has great confidence
in Superior's new engine. "The High Country Explorer has been
created to meet their customers' demands for an airplane that has
the power and capabilities they need to operate on short runways in
remote locations," he said. "The Vantage Engine has proven to ACA,
their dealers and the FAA that it will routinely deliver the
performance and reliability these customers demand. If it didn't,
it wouldn't be on the front of the airplane today."
"I think we will give the competition a real run for the money,"
Mehlhaff said. "It really shows off its advantages in the takeoff
and climb numbers. Customers really like it. We've delivered two
High Country Explorers already and will have two or three more in
the hands of operators by the end of June."