The Hirth F-30 is a
horizontally opposed
A flat engine is a piston engine where the cylinders are located on either side of a central crankshaft. Flat engines are also known as horizontally opposed engines, however this is distinct from the less common opposed-piston engine design, ...
four-cylinder,
two-stroke
A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...
,
carburetted aircraft engine, with optional
fuel injection
Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of a fuel injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines.
All c ...
, designed for use on
ultralight aircraft
Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and Aircraft flight control system, conventional three-a ...
and
homebuilts. It is manufactured by
Hirth
Hirth Engines GmbH is an engine manufacturer based in Benningen, Germany. It is currently a part of the UMS Aero Group. Hirth began manufacturing aero engines in the 1920s, was taken over by Heinkel in WWII to develop the Heinkel-Hirth jet en ...
of Germany.
[Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, pages G-4 Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. ][Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 72. BAI Communications. ]
Development
The F-30 is equipped with a dual
capacitor discharge ignition
Capacitor discharge ignition (CDI) or thyristor ignition is a type of automotive electronic ignition system which is widely used in outboard motors, motorcycles, lawn mowers, chainsaws, small engines, gas turbine-powered aircraft, and some cars ...
system and is free-air-cooled, with optional fan cooling. The cylinder walls are electrochemically coated with
Nikasil
Nikasil is a trademarked electrodeposited lipophilic nickel matrix silicon carbide coating for engine components, mainly piston engine cylinder liners.
Development
Nikasil was introduced by Mahle in 1967 and was initially developed to allow W ...
. Standard starting is electric start and
recoil start
Rope start (also called ripcord , ''pull start'', or ''rewind start'') is a method of starting an internal combustion engine, usually on small machines, such as lawn mowers, chainsaws, grass trimmers, ultralight aircraft, small outboard mo ...
is not an option. The reduction drive system available is the G-40 gearbox with optional reduction ratios of 2.03:1, 2.25:1, 2.64:1, 2.96:1 and 3.33:1. A centrifugal clutch is also available as optional equipment.
The engine runs on a 50:1 pre-mix of
unleaded 93 octane auto fuel and oil.
Variants
;F-30
:Four-cylinder horizontally opposed, two-stroke, aircraft engine with a dual 38 mm diaphragm carburetors. Produces at 5,500 rpm if free-air-cooled or at 5,500 rpm if fan cooled. It has a factory rated
time between overhaul
Time between overhauls (abbreviated as TBO or TBOH) is the manufacturer's recommended number of running hours or calendar time before an aircraft engine or other component requires overhaul.
On rotorcraft, many components have recommended or ma ...
(TBO) of 1,200 hours. Currently in production.
;F-30E
:Four-cylinder horizontally opposed, two-stroke, aircraft engine with fuel injection. Produces at 5,500 rpm if free-air-cooled or at 5,500 rpm if fan cooled. It has a factory rated TBO of 1,200 hours. Currently in production.
;F-30S
:Four-cylinder horizontally opposed, two-stroke, aircraft engine with dual integral pumper carburetors. Produces at 6200 rpm if free-air-cooled or at 6,200 rpm if fan-cooled. It has a factory rated TBO of 1,000 hours. Currently in production.
;F-30ES
:Four-cylinder horizontally opposed, two-stroke, aircraft engine with fuel injection. Produces at 6,200 rpm if free-air-cooled or at 6,200 rpm if fan-cooled. It has a factory rated TBO of 1,000 hours. Currently in production.
Applications
Specifications (F-30ES)
See also
References
{{Hirth aeroengines
Hirth aircraft engines
Air-cooled aircraft piston engines
Two-stroke aircraft piston engines