Engine upgrades on Lancair 235/320’s?

[DMD3.]

I’ll probably never own a Lancair, but I’ve been doing some casual reading about them and I’m wondering; do there exist any 235 models upgraded with an o320? Or perhaps a 320 model with an o360? I can’t find where anyone has ever upgraded on any of these models. I suppose the owners were pleased enough with the cruise speed that they didn’t bother mounting a more powerful engine.

The later model Legacy was designed from 200 up to 310 hp, so surely an o320 engine mounted on a 200/235 model wouldn’t be out of CG so much to make the conversion impossible? (Perhaps one day, Phil Lockwood will mount a Rotax 916 on one ).

 

[FORANE]

Tons of them flying. My 235 was built with a o-235. The builder didn't like the poor climb rate and converted to a o-320 at 50 hours on the plane. When the 320 started having trouble I put an o-340 on it.

CG is a concern. I have 2 batteries behind the baggage rear bulkhead to get the CG in range. It lacks good stability in pitch axis though.

If you're interested in lancairs, go over to lancairtalk.com and look around.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

(psst
it’s .net
lancairtalk.net)

 

[camorton]

I built a Lancair 320 with a O-320-D1A. Pretty much stock 160HP and a constant speed Hartzell. It had no CG issues (one battery in the stock location behind the seats) and was plenty fast. It had the original small tail and was exceptionally light, though. Lots of people put 360's in. The original 235 was significantly smaller, the Legacy is significantly bigger.

C.

 

[DMD3.]

I built a Lancair 320 with a O-320-D1A. Pretty much stock 160HP and a constant speed Hartzell. It had no CG issues (one battery in the stock location behind the seats) and was plenty fast. It had the original small tail and was exceptionally light, though. Lots of people put 360's in. The original 235 was significantly smaller, the Legacy is significantly bigger.

C.

I meant a 235 with the o320 engine in regards to CG issues.