The Porsche PFM 3200 was a six-cylinder horizontally opposed

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. Air-cooled designs are far simpler than their liquid-cooled ...

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are referred to as powered flight. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbin ...

developed by

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

from its air-cooled line of automobile engines from the famous

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 model series (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in ) is a family of German two-door, high performance Rear-engine design, rear-engine sports cars, introduced in September 1964 by Porsche, Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. Now in it ...

sports car. The PFM designation was derived from the name of the division that designed the engines,''Porsche-Flugmotoren'' ("Porsche Flight Engines").

Design and development

In the 1950s, European

light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a Maximum Takeoff Weight, maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are use ...

builders began adapting the air-cooled automobile engines from the

Porsche 356 The Porsche 356 is a rear-engine sports car, and the first ever production Porsche model. The 356 is a lightweight and nimble-handling, rear-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door available both in hardtop coupé and open configurations. Engineer ...

and

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. One of the most iconic cars in automotive history, the Beetle is noted for its distinctive shape. Its pr ...

into aircraft engines with a series of limited modifications. Porsche cooperated with some of these builders and produced a series of factory-built engines for about six years between 1957 and 1963, the Porsche 678 series. These relatively small engines displaced about 1.6 litres (97

cubic inch The cubic inch (symbol in3) is a unit of volume in the Imperial units and United States customary units systems. It is the volume of a cube with each of its three dimensions (length, width, and height) being one inch long which is equivalent ...

es) and produced between , depending on the version. Porsche decided to re-enter the aviation market with much larger engines derived from the engine used in the Porsche 911, starting development in 1981. As the engines ran at higher speed than most aircraft engine designs, the

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

drive used a 0.442:1 reduction gearing so it could drive common propellers. The high operating speed meant the engine ran more smoothly than older designs, and the use of a muffler meant it was quieter as well. With about 3.2 litres (195 cubic inches) displacement, the

normally aspirated A naturally aspirated engine, also known as a normally aspirated engine, and abbreviated to N/A or NA, is an internal combustion engine in which air intake depends solely on atmospheric pressure and does not have forced induction through a turboc ...

N-series models produced about , while the

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

T-series produced about . This was roughly twice the power of a conventional lower-

rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

design of the same displacement. With single-lever operation, fully aerobatic fuel and oil supplies,

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 ...

with automatic altitude compensation and optional turbocharging, the PFM 3200 series were some of the most advanced engines on the market. However, when fully accessorized, they were heavier and larger than competitive engines, especially in cross-section (important for aerodynamics). Also they generated more aerodynamic cooling drag due to the fan system used for cooling. After being introduced in late 1985 and starting to generate increasing interest in the

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

(GA) market, Porsche exited the field during the massive downturn in the market in the late 1980s, closing the lines in 1991. It is suggested that the program cost it

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

75 million to develop and produce the small number of engines delivered (about 80)."Porsche Factory Aircraft Engines"
/ref> Although marketed for only a short period, the PFM was found on a variety of aircraft as the primary powerplant, or as one-off modifications. These included the Extra 330, Mooney M20L, Socata TB-16,

Robin DR400 The Robin DR400 is a single-engine wooden monoplane produced by Robin Aircraft (formerly "Avions Pierre Robin"). The Robin DR400 is widely used in flight schools and for private use in France. Description The Robin DR400 was released in 1972, ...

Ruschmeyer MF-85 The Ruschmeyer R 90 is a four-seat light aircraft designed and produced in Germany in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Design and development MF-85 Ruschmeyer Luftfahrttechnik initially designed the Ruschmeyer MF-85, intended to be powered by Po ...

and others. Only the M20L went into production, with 40 produced in 1988, and one more in 1989. In a letter dated September 17, 2007, Porsche informed the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

(FAA) that it was surrendering the

type certificate A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). Certification confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production is in compliance w ...

for the PFM 3200 engine and that it would no longer support the engine.Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin NE-09-21, FAA Aircraft Certification Service, March 31, 2009. In March 2009, the FAA issued a special airworthiness information bulletin stating that type certificates for existing aircraft with the PFM 3200 engine were still valid and would remain so as long as the aircraft meet

Federal Aviation Regulations The Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) are rules prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) governing all aviation activities in the United States. The FARs comprise Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). A wide var ...

maintenance and operation requirements. However, the bulletin also said that Porsche is not exporting new or replacement parts for the engine and there is no guidance as to how compliance would be possible once existing OEM parts are exhausted.

Variants

* N00: de-rated for automotive fuel * N01: at 5300 rpm * N03: type-certified N01 for the Mooney M20L, at 5300 rpm * T03: similar to the N03 but with a Garrett turbocharger, at 5300 rpm, critical altitude

Applications

* Mooney M20L *

Cessna 172 The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.Colani Cormoran __NOTOC__ The Colani Cormoran CCE208 was a five-seat light aircraft under development in Germany in the late 1980s. The highly streamlined and unusual design was the work of the aeronautical engineer Walter Schulze with the collaboration of the c ...

MBB 223 Flamingo The MBB 223 Flamingo was a light aircraft developed in West Germany in the 1960s in response to a competition for a standard trainer for the country's aeroclubs. Designed by SIAT, it was a conventional low-wing monoplane with fixed tricycle und ...

References

External links

* http://www.mooneypfm.com * http://porscheaviation.com/ * http://www.seqair.com/Other/PFM/PorschePFM.html {{Porsche aeroengines PFM 3200 1980s aircraft piston engines 1985 introductions Products and services discontinued in 2007

Design and development

Variants

Applications

See also

References

Further reading

External links