Buddy twin aircraft engine for ultralight, ultralights, and ultralight aircraft.

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At Sun N Fun a couple of years ago I did an interview with a gentleman, who was designing an aircraft engine that was totally different from anything I have seen to date.

While the unit at that time was still basically in a mock up stage, the design if produced as speculated, would give ultralight aircraft owners an engine that would fit and work on most single place ultralights currently flying. PLUS allow them to stay Part 103 legal!

This year at Sun N Fun Mr. Carl Voight was again back with his "Buddy Twin."  The engine was still not in production but is VERY close.
One of the most noticeable changes on the production prototype from the proof of concept version was that the oil system has been changed from a dry sump oil in a canister, to a more conventional crankcase oil reservoir lubrication system. This has helped reduce weight and made it a simpler design.

Karl indicates that when designing the Buddy Twin, some of the main criteria were, make it simple, make it reliable, and make it light.
He appears to have at met two of these criteria thus far. The engine weighs in at 69 lbs, and  "simple" was accomplished by use of some very simple "back to the basic" technology.

Example: the engine uses rocker arms and push rods, with lubrication being supplied to the bottom of the pushrod by a "splash system" built into the camshaft housing. The rocker arms use a "grease" system, while the valve lubrication system uses a "sponge filter" that the owners just lubricates with a few drops of oil every 25 hours. No heat is required to prevent carb icing, as the carb is mounted above the fins of the cylinder head which "radiate" heat, which act to prevent icing.

The use of Karl's "patented" crankshaft, which is only 1 inch wide allows for the fitting of an adjustable prop via the hollow center in the crankshaft.

The engine uses a General Motors ignition system, with a manual spark advance, similar to that used on an old Harley Davidson motorcycle.
The engine produces 40 hp, and revs out to 2900 rpm. This gives a very low engine rpm,  high torque engine.

Question "when will it fly?" - Karl, "this is like working in granite"

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