Mike wrote:
Incidentally, I was interested to see the comment on Courtesy's site about R-1830 conversions... Is there a sound engineering explanation for this, or is it a case of 'not invented here?
I think it’s more to do with the performance increase that you get from almost doubling the horsepower, Mike. While the original ASh engine’s output of 680hp is respectable for a trainer, the kick in the pants of going to 1350hp makes the Yak a real performer.
And you know how we Americans just love to put our more powerful radial engines on those quaint European airframes to make them perform better. Just imagine if we put turbines on the Vimy, man that baby would really SCREAM!!!