PIREP on DA40 Supercharged Performance

[waynemcc999]

First and foremost I'd like to express my gratitude to Brock for being the trail blazer and alpha/beta test site for this "game changer" upgrade for our aircraft... and to Rod and Ian at Forced Aeromotive (FA) for developing this fine product.

I've started to collect some metrics on the Climb Rate and Cruise performance on my aircraft... in the case of Climb Rate (IMHO, the most important purpose of the supercharger) versus POH numbers... and for Cruise, I fortunately had been collecting data for the past several years.

Here's an initial PIREP on Supercharged Performance of my DA40:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FVP ... sp=sharing

Thus far I'm quite impressed with the quality and performance of this important product.
Best regards,
Wayne

[AlexanderBingham]

Thank you! This looks very promising.

[pietromarx]

This is really useful -- thank you. What do you think the EIS contributes to the numbers, if anything?

[BRS]

This is really useful -- thank you. What do you think the EIS contributes to the numbers, if anything?

The original test plane has the Electroair EIS. That being said, you might ask Electroair about the timing advance map. I suspect that above 24" there is no advance above the Mag. So the advantage of the Electroair is the same in both supercharged and non-supercharged. It helps with LOP operation and increases engine efficiency in lower power settings. As well as better starts.

[waynemcc999]

Peter, I agree with Brock on the EIS... easier hot starts; more efficient LOP; slight improvement (a few knots?) in TAS at high DA.
Wayne

[AndrewM]

Wayne, thanks for posting the update!

Just out of curiosity, what is your typical "mission"?

[waynemcc999]

Just out of curiosity, what is your typical "mission"?

Andrew, I fly primarily throughout the US West, so most all trips involve flying over high terrain and/or climbing out of high density altitude airports, with the aircraft loaded at or near max gross with passengers and/or rescue animals. A typical day (on a day trip or part of a multi-day adventure) would involve say 3 legs, totaling 6-to-10 hours/day in the air. Over the past 4 years I've averaged 410 total hours/year in my DA40.

Here's a Savvy "report card" of the usage profile and performance of my DA40 compared to 123 other "cohort" DA40s over that time period.

Wayne

[pietromarx]

Hi Wayne -

My airplane is coming in for its annual in a short while and I'm pondering the supercharger. How has it been? Any updates on performance, life in the air, and an engine breathing better at altitude?

Many thanks


Peter

[waynemcc999]

Hi Wayne -
My airplane is coming in for its annual in a short while and I'm pondering the supercharger. How has it been? Any updates on performance, life in the air, and an engine breathing better at altitude?
Many thanks
Peter

Hi, Peter,

I'm a fan of both the Supercharger and the company FAT. The experience has been pleasant and gratifying.

On many of my flights I collect new data (climb rate, cruise speed) and my PIREP document is automatically updated... so all you should have to do is Refresh the page. Here's the link again:
https://bit.ly/wam-sc-pirep

Bottom line for me... it's super comforting to have sea level Climb Performance at airports having Density Altitude of 7,000'+. The increase in Cruise True Airspeed (7-to-15+ kts), decrease in Time to Top of Climb (e.g. SL to 10,000' in 1/3rd the time), and ability to cruise productively in the mid-teens are added bonuses.

Life is indeed quite good.
Best regards and Happy New Year!
Wayne

[Antoine]

Very happy for you Wayne. Happy flying in 2020.
One suggestion: if reasonably possible, I would add an inlet air temperature probe at the inlet (post SC).
On my aircraft I used a normal EGT probe.
I have learnt a lot about the heat-related aspects of compressing air and, in my aircraft, set myself a limit of 130 F IAT.
IAT works like this: OAT plus increase due to compressing the air.
The latter should be a constant in the case of the DA40 SC since you are always using full boost and throttling back as needed (vs a turbocharger where partial boost is achieved by slowing down the turbine).