DA2 -engine options
cont 65 known good
Cont o-200 known good but may tax the davis with weight in the tail and nose
Corvair 100hp conversion known to have flown a DA2 possibly less weight than the 0-100 + side air cooled and smooth
New alternate 100hp-not known to have flown a DA2 but about 40lbs less than a 0-200 - side liquid cooled with re-drive complexity
What are others considering?
Matt
I have an O-200A in mine.
Approx performance: 115 KTAS, on a fixed pitch cruise prop, without pants or fairings. About 5 gph.
I sometimes feel like an O-200 is too much power for this airplane. When taking off with a left crosswind, I have to feed the power in slowly and keep the nosewheel on the ground (to aid steering) because at full power and weathervaning I run out of right rudder authority. Also, this engine seems to be pretty heavy. Interestingly, after burning out 10 of my 20 gallons (and losing 60 lbs out of the nose), my plane seems to perform a lot better and I almost pick up a few knots.
However, even with those quirks I still love it, because it's such a darn simple, reliable engine, very common, parts easy to find, and everyone knows how to work on them.
Would be very interested to fly a DA-2 with a C65 in it and compare the performance and handling qualities. Also interested to hear anyone else's engine considerations.