DB601 & 605's

Sun Oct 24, 2004 11:06 am

Just curios how many DB engines are airworthy or potentially airworthy out there?
Any idea on cost for an overhaul or flight ready one?

Thanks,
Mike

Sun Oct 24, 2004 11:13 am

around 50k to o/h but they sell for 250k to 500k.

Sun Oct 24, 2004 11:30 am

Which currency?

Sun Oct 24, 2004 11:42 am

last ones i saw were uk pounds. prices are beyond stupid but thats what you get...

Sun Oct 24, 2004 11:44 am

The prices are kind of insane but due to the rarity of the powerplant I'm not terribly surprised.

Sun Oct 24, 2004 4:22 pm

I actually thought that it was a bit low for a rebuild. I have followed a discussion on the LEMB on the rebuild of a 605 for a 109G restoration project. 3,000 hours of "skilled work" had been put into it and they were still counting. I don't know if these hours were "paid for" hours for "skilled labour" but if they were, 50 k£ seems cheap.

I also compare with a Lycoming O-540 (flat six) for a Piper Pawnee which costs ~20 k$ to overhaul.

Christer

Sun Oct 24, 2004 10:16 pm

maybe it would be cheaper to build new engines, in wartime down here anyway they changed the engines every 120 or 240 hours because they dont last very long and there isnt much left.

if enough people wanted them you could build them new and keep costs down.

Mon Oct 25, 2004 7:28 am

homer wrote:maybe it would be cheaper to build new engines, in wartime down here anyway they changed the engines every 120 or 240 hours because they dont last very long and there isnt much left.

if enough people wanted them you could build them new and keep costs down.

Thats been a reoccurring discussion here for years. Personally I agree, the problem is fronting the money. Not enough people want them at the moment but I'm sure if they were produced you would find quite a few projects getting started. But as with most things its all about money.

Mon Oct 25, 2004 8:26 am

can the cost of an engine really be much more than the cost of a repro airframe?

for example, flugwerks 190's at 550k have russian engines but i dont think it would cost them too much to build 20 bmw engines for them.

im sure they would have a market, i think a lot of people would want 109 engines too.

Mon Oct 25, 2004 9:15 am

I think alot of the expense can be attributed to factors outside the actual production process, like certification, etc.

Wed Oct 27, 2004 11:08 am

homer wrote:can the cost of an engine really be much more than the cost of a repro airframe?

Yes!

Bending sheet metal is a lot easier than casting magnesium and forging steel.

Go get a quote for building 5 Volkswagen Beetle aircooled engines using no parts other than the ones you build yourself and get back to us. Then we can multiply the cost by 10 for the added complexity (you didn't forget the fuel injection or the magnetos, did you?). And don't forget that someones life depends on how good of a job you did.