The Superior Air Parts XP-400 is an
aircraft engine
An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years many ...
, designed and produced by
Superior Air Parts
Superior Air Parts, Inc. is a Chinese-owned manufacturer of aviation piston engine replacement parts, headquartered in Coppell, Texas, United States. The company has been owned by Superior Aviation Beijing since 2010.
History
Superior Air Par ...
of
Coppell, Texas
Coppell ( ) is a city in the northwest corner of Dallas County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is a suburb of Dallas and a bedroom community in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 42,983 at the 2020 census. A small area in the ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
for use in
homebuilt aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...
.
[Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', pages 262-263. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. ]
The company is owned by the Chinese company
Superior Aviation Beijing
Superior Aviation Beijing is a Chinese aircraft manufacturer.
Superior was initially formed as Qingdao Haili Helicopter Co and Qingdao Brantly Investment Group, a private venture that purchased the Brantly International rights and tooling to ...
, which is 60% owned by Chairman Cheng Shenzong and 40% owned by
Beijing E-Town
Beijing E-Town is an economic development agency of the Beijing municipal government that traces its origins to 1994 when the Beijing government chartered an entity to help foster high tech manufacturing in Beijing.
E-Town supports high-tech ...
, an economic development agency of the municipal government of
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.
Design and development
The engine is a four-cylinder
four-stroke
A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...
,
horizontally-opposed
A flat engine is a Internal combustion engine#Reciprocating engines, piston engine where the cylinders are located on either side of a central crankshaft. Flat engines are also known as horizontally opposed engines, however this is distinct fro ...
, displacement,
fuel injected
Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines.
All compr ...
air-cooled, direct-drive, gasoline engine design. It produces , with an 8.9:1 compression ratio.
The engine is not
type certified
A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...
and is therefore intended for homebuilt aircraft.
In March 2019 the engine type was withdrawn from service and all customer engines were subject to a mandatory, immediate buy-back by the manufacturer to remove them from service. The company made this decision based on
detonation
Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves with ...
problems found in some XP-400 engines that could not be resolved. Due to parts commonality, the decision was made to buy-back the
Superior Air Parts XP-382
The Superior Air Parts XP-382 is an aircraft engine, designed and produced by Superior Air Parts of Coppell, Texas, United States for use in homebuilt aircraft.
The company is owned by the Chinese company Superior Aviation Beijing, which is 60% ...
engines as well.
In February 2020, Superior settled a lawsuit regarding the 2016 fatal crash of a
Van's Aircraft RV-8A
The Van's RV-8 is a tandem two-seat, single-engine, low-wing homebuilt aircraft sold in kit form by Van's Aircraft. The RV-8 is equipped with conventional landing gear, while the RV-8A version features tricycle landing gear. The design is ...
for
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
5M. The crash was due to the failure of the crankshaft in the installed XP-400 engine. In the accident investigation the
NTSB
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...
determined that the crankshaft failed due to
metal fatigue
In materials science, fatigue is the initiation and propagation of cracks in a material due to cyclic loading. Once a fatigue crack has initiated, it grows a small amount with each loading cycle, typically producing striations on some parts o ...
. The crankshaft had 20 hours of flight time on it at the time of failure.
Specifications (XP-400)
See also
References
External links
*
{{Superior Air Parts
Superior Air Parts engines
Air-cooled aircraft piston engines
1990s aircraft piston engines