Possible modifications of the automobile piston petrol engine for aircraft propulsion: cooling, starting and ignition system

Abstract

The main goal of our work was to design a possible modification of the automobile piston petrol engine for aircraft propulsion and subsequently its implementation. The paper can be divided into four main units. The first part is aimed on the history and development of automobile and aircraft piston engines. We focused on their construction and gradual improvement of performance. The second unit is dedicated to theoretical knowledge of the cooling, starting and ignition systems. In the cooling system, we mainly described air cooling and the required components needed for that process. In the starting system, we paid attention to the necessity of starting gears, their types and uses. We described mainly electric starters and then we attached a diagram of the starting system. In the ignition system, we described the structural elements required for the process of igniting a mixture of fuel and air. In the following section, we described the engine used for aeroconversion, its parameters and the reason for its selection. In the last part we deal with the practical part of the paper. We created the component models needed for the complete construction of these systems, which were created in the computer program Autodesk Inventor Professional 2021. We prepared the cooling system for more efficient air cooling by adding deflectors, in the starting system we used a starter with a reducer to increase torque and reduce fuel consumption and in the ignition system, we proposed a modification of the flywheel made of dural material, which would reduce the overall weight of the engine. The result of our work is a finished design for aeroconversion of a flat four-cylinder engine. The modified engine is suitable for ultralight aircraft.