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General

Jabiru produce their own range of lightweight 4 stroke horizontally opposed aircooled engines, specifically designed and engineered for use in aircraft. All engines are direct drive and are fitted with alternators, silencers, vacuum pump drives and dual ignition systems as standard. Over 2000 4 cylinder engines and over 750 of the 6 cylinder engines have been produced. The basic design is now so mature that only minor design changes have been made in the last 1000 engines or so.

Engines available are:

Currently the most popular is the 2200cc Aircraft Engine which has been recently uprated to 85 Bhp in line with constant enhancements to the performance and longevity of the engine. The power increase is due to the continual evolution of the engine design and steady enhancements in manufacturing techniques. Improved machining of the head allowed an increase in the compression ratio, while improvements to the crankcase has reduced “pumping” losses from the movement of air around the engine’s bottom end.

Overall dimensions are small. The 596mm (23.5") width allows tractor applications with very small frontal areas, and the engines can be installed in either tractor or pusher installation.

At 60kg it is the lightest production 4-cylinder 4-stroke aircraft engine of this output manufactured in the world: 

A Viable Alternative

Skyranger firewall forward kit

The 2200 Aircraft Engine is an ideal replacement for engines such as the Rotax 582 2-cylinder 2-stroke engine which powers many of the existing light aircraft and surprisingly it is the same installed weight as the 582. It is also a lightweight, smaller-package alternative to all of the VW derivative engines and the Rotax 912. Jabiru now also supply firewall forward kits for many other types of aircraft, such as the Sky-Ranger, Avid, Murphy, Europa, Escapade, Xair, Hawk, Jodel D18, Kitfox, Kolb, Pulsar, Rans (all models) and Zenair, (all models). A full listing, together with additional information regarding kit and drawing availability is available here.

A test of an earlier (80Bhp) Jabiru powered RANS S6 versus a 912 powered version is available here.

Engine Design & Construction

The engines are designed to be manufactured in batch quantities using the latest CNC machine tools. The vast majority of the components are manufactured by a network of high technology small companies. The sump is the only casting on the engine. The crankcase halves, cylinders, crankshaft, starter motor housings, gearbox cover (the gearbox powers the distributor rotors), coil mounts and the tappet covers, together with many smaller components are also machined from solid.

The cylinders are machined from solid 4140 chrome molybdenum alloy steel, with the pistons running directly in the steel bores. The crankshaft is also machined from solid 4140 chrome molybdenum alloy steel, the journals of which are precision ground prior to being Magnaflux inspected. The camshaft is provided by a specialist camshaft manufacturer.

Cylinder heads are machined from solid aluminium machining billet and Conrods are machined from 4130 alloy steel; the 45mm big end bearings are of the automotive slipper type.

The propeller is direct driven off the crankshaft and does not use a reduction gearbox. This facilitates its light-weight design, keeps maintenance costs to a minimum and minimises the noise and vibration prevalent with geared designs. The crankshaft features a removable prop flange which enables the easy replacement of the front crankshaft seal and provides for a propeller shaft extension to be fitted if required for a particular application.

Under a direct supply arrangement with Honda, various components of the engine are sourced. These items include valve springs, camshaft followers, and the bendix gear in the starter motor. The ignition coils are also sourced from Honda, but are modified by Jabiru for this particular application.

An integral alternator provides alternating current for battery charging and electrical accessory drive. The alternator is attached to the flywheel and is driven directly by the crankshaft. The ignition is a transistorised electronic system; two fixed coils mounted at 180 degrees adjacent to the flywheel are energised by two banks of rare earth magnets attached to the flywheel. The passing of the coils by the magnets gives rise to a high voltage current which is then transported by high tension leads to the centre post of two automotive type distributors (which are simply rotors and caps) before distribution to automotive spark plugs, two in the top of each cylinder head. The ignition system has fixed timing, and therefore removes the need for timing adjustment. It is suppressed to prevent radio interference. The ignition system is fully redundant, self-generating and does not depend on battery power.

The bearing crankshaft is designed with a double bearing at the propeller flange end and a main bearing between each big end and therefore does not have flying webs. The 48mm main bearings are also of the automotive slipper type.

Pistons are sourced from GM but are re-machined to include a piston pin circlip groove. They are fitted with 3 rings, the top rings being cast iron to complement the chrome molybdenum cylinder bores. Valves are 7mm (stem dia) which are specially manufactured for the Jabiru engine.

The valve gear includes pushrods from the camshaft followers to valve rockers which are CNC machined from steel plate, induction hardened and polished on contact surfaces and mounted on a silver steel shaft through an aluminium bronze bush. Valve guides are manufactured from aluminium/ bronze, as is found in larger aero engines and high performance racing engines. Replaceable valve seats are of specially hardened steel and are pressed into the aluminium cylinder heads. The valve gear is lubricated by a mist oil system from the crankcase.

An internal gear pump, direct mounted on the camshaft and incorporating a small automotive spin-on filter, provides engine lubrication. An optional oil cooler adapter is available although most existing installations have not required it's fitment but is still mandatory for warranty cover.

Ancillaries

The standard engine is supplied with two Ram-air cooling ducts, which have been developed by Jabiru to facilitate the cooling of the engine and direct air from the propeller to the critical areas of the engine, particularly the cylinder heads and barrels. The fitment of these Ram-air cooling ducts is a great bonus for the home builder or engine installer, as they obviate the need to design and manufacture baffles and the establishment of a plenum chamber, which is the traditional method of cooling air-cooled aircraft engines.

The fact that these baffles and plenum chamber are not required also ensures a "cleaner" engine installation, which in turn facilitates maintenance and inspection of the engine and engine compartment. So the hard work of engine installation has largely been done for you by the Jabiru design team. Ram-air ducts are available for tractor or pusher configurations.

The engine is fitted with a 1kw starter motor, which is also manufactured by Jabiru using a Bosch core and provides very effective starting in all conditions. The engine has very low noise and vibration levels, however it is also supported by four large rubber shock mounts attached to the engine mounts at the rear of the engine. An optional bed mount is available.

The fuel induction system comprises a Bing pressure compensating carburettor, similar to that used in the Rotax 912 and some BMW motorcycles. This is optimised for use with the particular loads imposed upon the engine by a propeller. Following carburation, the fuel/air mixture is transported to a small plenum chamber, in which the mixture is warmed prior to entering four short induction tubes attached to the cylinder heads. Fuel injection has been considered, but due to considerations of weight, the need for redundancy, subsequent reliance on the electrical system, the introduction is not imminent!

An effective stainless steel exhaust and muffler system is provided as standard equipment, ensuring very quiet operations, which in the Jabiru aircraft have been measured at 62dB in a 1000ft full power flypast.

For those owners wishing to fit vacuum instruments to their aircraft the Jabiru engine includes provision for a vacuum pump drive as standard, direct mounted through a coupling on the rear of the crankshaft.

TBO

The Jabiru engine is manufactured within an Australian Civil Aviation Authority (CASA) approved Quality Assurance System to rigorous standards. A TBO of 2000 hours currently applies, with a top end TBO of 1000 hours. Typical costs for a 2200 are less than £1,250 for a top end TBO equating to less than £3 per hour (incl vat) engine fund*! *Subject to condition & servicing
 

Availability

The engine is currently available in uncertified form (Model 2200A). The 2200J model will soon be available, type certified to JAR-22H. delivery in the UK is typically 2 to 4 weeks from receipt of funds.
 

What's in the Box?

A new engine includes the Exhaust System including Muffler, Starter Motor, Alternator, Jabiru Ram Air Ducts, Propeller Flange and Propeller Guides (6), Ignition Leads and Spark Plugs (2 per cylinder), Oil Filter, Engine Mount Cushions (8 ie 4 sets), Rectifier/Regulator, Starter Solenoid, Oil Temperature and Pressure Senders plus installation manual, operating manual and parts list on CD-ROM.