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Bud Warren, founder of
Geared DrivesTM, has announced that his propeller speed reduction unit, a
moderately-priced gear drive that allows the harnessing of a Chevrolet engine
for aircraft use, is now in production and available.
Warren, a certified aircraft mechanic who designed, built and perfected the PSRU
over several decades, completed a successful round-trip flight from Houston,
Texas to Oshkosh AirVenture 2006 in his testbed Chevy 350-powered Wheeler
Express, a 3200 lb. four-place low wing composite aircraft.
The
Geared DrivesTM unit is aimed primarily at the experimental aircraft builder in
need of a power plant in the 200-400 hp range. Warren estimates that the cost of
a Chevy V-8 combined with his PSRU to be about 40 percent of the price of a
conventional aircraft engine--with comparable weight, TBO and less maintenance
costs. The PSRU will fit any Chevy engine made since 1955. It can handle
conventional aircraft propellers, fixed pitch or constant speed, with no
additional equipment to purchase.
Warren’s
PSRU features a specially designed centrifugal clutch to eliminate dangerous
harmonics associated with other PSRUs. It is smaller and lighter than
chain or belt drive units. All PSRUs are custom made by Warren himself in his
facility at Lone Star Executive Airport in Conroe, Texas. For more info contact
Bud Warren at Bud@GearedDrives.com.
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