You might think your LS-powered Chevy, Pontiac, or Caddy flies, but ground-bound applications have nothing on Team Tango’s “fast-build” aircraft kits, which are available with LS1 power. For those unfamiliar with the world of general aviation and light planes, “homebuilt” experimental aircraft are often powered by something other than a conventional Lycoming or Continental piston engine, and auto engine conversions are common because they’re typically far less expensive and more powerful, pound-for-pound, than purpose-built aircraft engines. VW, Corvair, Porsche, and Subaru engines are popular for their horizontally-opposed layout, similar to what pilots have become accustomed to in their light aircraft. But all the truly great water-cooled aircraft engines have arranged their cylinders in a vee…

“CutlassRacer” on YellowBullet.com has been doing engine mounts and exhausts for this project – with a 300-horsepower IO-540 Lycoming engine, the Foxtrot 4 has a 218 MPH cruise and a 230 MPH top speed, so the 350 horse LS1 from Geared Drives should provide a noticeable bump in performance for the already-quick composite aircraft.

The LS1 needs a gear drive to reduce the crankshaft speed down to the 2500 or so RPM necessary to keep the constant-speed prop’s tips moving slower than the speed of sound. A hydraulic governor system changes the propeller’s pitch as power is applied or reduced to keep the engine and prop turning at a constant speed regardless of throttle setting, and therein lies the big challenge for repurposed car engines – while the big, slow-turning Continental or Lycoming powerplants are designed to run for hours on end at a constant RPM, auto engines are engineered to sweep through the rev band and generally aren’t happy at 75% throttle for long periods of time. The durability and reliability of the LS platform makes it a good choice for conversion for that very reason.

Of course, the LS1 isn’t the only GM engine going into Team Tango’s planes. How about a 2.0L supercharged 4-cylinder EcoTec LSJ, making 205 HP in a 2-place aircraft?