Honda Motor Co. Ltd. is a major international automobile and motorcycle manufacturer with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. Honda was formally incorporated by Soichiro Honda (1906-1991) on 9/24/48 as a successor to small firms begun by the founder from 1946, when he had ideas for a new motorbike design for post-WWII Japan. During 1992-1993, at least two shops in the US converted four-cylinder, four-stroke cycle, liquid-cooled, horizontally-opposed Honda Goldwing motorcycle engines for aircraft use.
It must be borne in mind that Honda does not authorize the use of Honda engines or parts by any company, nor do they represent or warrant that their engines are suitable for use in aircraft of any kind. Any company modifying Honda auto engines for aircraft use is not affiliated in any way with Honda. This is the policy by most of the automobile and motorcycle manufacturers whose engines have been adapted and converted for aircraft use. In the experimental aircraft community, these engines are generally classified as "Alternative Engines". Everyone dealing with them must appreciate that they are classified as experimental when they are not type certificated by the governing national authority. No Honda conversions have been type certificated in the US.
An international collaboration exists between Teledyne Continental Motors of the US and Honda Motor Co. of Japan. The firms announced, in March 2003, a joint feasibility study for development of a new family of four-stroke cycle HOAE. These engines have liquid cooling, a version of the TCM/Aerosance PowerLink FADEC engine-control system, and the ability to run on either 93-octane unleaded auto fuel or 100LL aviation fuel. A prototype four-cylinder engine, rated at 225hp, has been running since 2001 and completed flight testing (in an unspecified aircraft) up to 17,500 ft. TCM and Honda have said that their engine family could be built in various sizes and numbers of cylinders from 4000cc to 9000cc (the range of all current TCM production engines except the O-200 family). References are FM6/03 and SA4/03, 9/03. Additional information (KP1/04, 6/04) gives the displacement as 370 cu. in. Available data are given here.
OL-61 - - {2.835 / 2.417 / 61.0} / {72 / 61.4 / 1000}
Same stroke as OL-66.
4cyl; Honda Goldwing GL 1000; 83hp@7200rpm; 1992-1993; Wt = 278#; TC = none.
SA2/93.
Converter: Sandpiper Aire, Inc. founded by Lynn Taylor and Dennis Lee of Tucson, Arizona in the US. Their liquid-cooled engine, called the "Howler", has no modification other than installation of a propeller hub adapter. The motorcycle transmission is retained, so that first gear could be used with large propellers on low-speed aircraft and second gear for a small propeller on faster aircraft. No further information has been found by the compiler.
Applications: None found.
OL-66 - - {2.953 / 2.417 / 66.2} / {75 / 61.4 / 1085}
Same stroke as OL-61.
4cyl; Honda Goldwing 1100; 86hp@N/A rpm; 1992-1993; Wt = 140#; TC = none.
SA7/93.
Converter: H & H Engine Conversions of Camarillo, California in the US. Their engine has been highly modified and is geared to 0.4 by a mechanical gearbox. The result is a much lower weight compared to the un-modified GL 1000 above. No further information has been found by the compiler.
Applications: None found.