The Chevrolet Motor Div. belongs to General Motors.

"Logo"

-The Chevrolet brand became a subsidiary of Glenn Martin Company (Martin) known as Martin Motors Company in the 1930's.

-As Chevrolet Aircraft Co., in 1929, it produced the 333 model that delivered 120 hp. It was an inverted inline 4-cylinder engine. (see also Martin 333).

"Chevrolet 333"

-During WWII, along with Buick of GM, they made Pratt & Whitney engines, mainly the R-1830.

-The R-1830-65A series were intended for the B-24 Liberator. The -43 was identical to the former one except the carburetor, and together with the -92 they were installed on the C-47 and other fighters.

"Chevrolet R-1830-65"

-They also built the P&W R-2800-C.

-For some years they made turbojets like the J-35-C3 (7E-TG-180-A5), which is similar to the XJ-35 GE-1.

-They were installed on the XB-43, XB-46, XF-84 and -84A in addition to the YF-84.

-Much later, Chevrolet branded automobile engines have been adapted for use on aircraft.

-The 406 cu. in. V-8 model adapted by Gerry Greth's Diablo Services in California includes many changes in order to lighten it, reducing its rotation to the propeller, turbocharger, electronic ignition, etc.

"Chevrolet 406 cu. in."

-It gives 477 hp at 5,500 rpm with 28.5 in. intake pressure and 412 rpm and 4,000 hp with the same MP. Gerry Greth's Diablo Services also has another version with the 262 engine in. cu. in V-6 and 300 HP cruise.

"Bob’s V-6"

Bob's Special Products prepared a Chevrolet V6 with a displacement of 300 cu. in. (4920 cc), for aviation.

-Team-38 Inc, uses the V8 "big-block", with 502 cu. in. of displacement to achieve 500 hp at 4800 rpm. It has a gearbox and a Hartzell four-blade propeller.

-The famous Chevrolet Corvette sports car engine has been installed in a Cessna Skymaster, which was renamed Skyrocket after this retrofit.

-The engine has a displacement of 413 cu. in. and gave 300 hp. It had a Hartzell three-blade propeller, and was geared at a 1.4: 1 ratio. The modification was made by Blackhawk Lightning Corp.

"Team-38's V-8"

"Cessna Skyrocket"

-A long range modification is made in Canada by the Hawker Siddeley Div., The Orenda Engines (see Orenda).

"Orenda"

-The Chevrolet Corvette 300 hp V6 was fitted on the Heliplane Transport in 1998.

-Chevrolet V-8 engines with a displacement of 454 cu. in. can give 500 hp up to 25,000 feet. Supercharged of course.

-Other Chevrolet engines have been installed in aircraft, and they were always geared, like the Chevy 350, still with its car muffler during testing.

-It was fitted on a Cessna aircraft.

"Cessna with Chevy 350"

-The Corvair engine has also been installed by James & Mails on their Pietenpol plane in 1982.

-We see the horizontally opposed cylinders of this engine.

"Chevrolet Corvair"

-Another Chevrolet V-6 with a displacement of 4.3 lts. is shown below. (See Vesta Inc. for Corvette engines).

-Both "small-block" 265-CID V-8 and the one of 4.3 lts, have great potential for use as well as its parts interchangeability, although the V-6 is lighter and more compact than the V-8 logically.

-The Chevrolet Vega car engine has been used in another Pietenpol by its owner Forrest Lovley, in 1972.

"V-8 with 4.3 lts.of displacement"

"Chevy Vega"

-The small Geo Metro 3-cylinder car engine that gives 68 hp, is useful for its light weight and small size.

-The gearbox in the picture below is a Lou Ross.

"Chevy Geo-Metro"

-It has injection and electronic ignition. Its total weight is 130 lbs., and its measurements are height 24 inches, width 12 inches and length 24 inches. To have a reference, the Continental A-65 engine weighs 171 lbs and gives 65 hp.

-The following adaptation is the V-8 with 360 hp that has a significant gearbox. We can see this engine from both ends.

"Chevrolet de 360 hp"

"Chevrolet 360 hp"

-Built by Bo Bates, and the company High Performance Aircraft Engines processes its STC (Suplementary Type Certificate) to be adapted for current aircraft.

From appendix 6: There are a variety of automotive engines that they are adapting for use in light experimental aircraft. Chevrolet does not escape from this trendy and a Chevrolet Vega engine has been adapted and mounted on a Sky Scout.

"Adapted Chevrolet Vega car engine"

-The Chevrolet Corvair engine has also been adapted for aircraft (see) but Ultra-Vair has made a 1/3 version with two cylinders instead of the original six.

"Ultra-Vair from 1/3 Corvair"

From Appendix 7: Light aircraft builder Algie has adapted a Chevrolet brand car engine for its LP1 model, specifically a powerful Corvette.

-The same type was used by Trace and Orenda (see).

“Two views of the Corvette on the LP1”

"Chevrolet engine with coupled gearbox"

-The PSRU (Propeller Speed Reduction Unit) is the Gear-Drives BW-350. The same brand adapts these gearboxes for the 4'3 V6 Ford and BMW V12 lts. automobile engines.

From appendix 9: Car engines from the Chevrolet factory of GM in Detroit, Michigan. are frequently adapted for experimental aircraft and homebuilts.

-In this case it is the 8V LP-1 model with harmonized exhaust pipes. Propeller, hub and structure are of carbon fiber.

"Nice view of the LP-1"

-The Chevrolet Corvair engine is very similar to those of horizontally-opposed cylinder engines that are made by aeronautical brands. Besides it is air cooled.

"Chevrolet Corvair car engine on a J-3"

-Automotive V8 engine converting is increasing. The last given example is that of the LP-1.

-Now there appears a "Geared Drives"  LS-1 engine adaption for combat aircraft replicas such as the Mustang P-51, Stewart S-51 version.

"Chevy LS-1 engine on the S-51"

-In fact, the aircraft is designed to use Chevrolet "Small Block" or "Big Block" engines with a displacement between 454 and 573 cu. in. and with power outputs between 400 and 600 hp at 4,750 rpm.

-The legendary LS engines power the Chevy, Pontiac or Caddy (Cadillac) cars. The model showed below requires that the needed amount of radiator water is shared between two radiators, one on each side of the engine.

“Another view of the LS-1 engine”

-The following is a "Big Block" 502 version, which is also planned for this S-51 aircraft replica.

"Chevrolet 502"

-The company "Geared Redrives" builds gearboxes that are used on most of the mentioned engines.

-We have another picture of another Chevrolet engine with a gearbox of this brand.

"Prepaired Chevrolet engine"

From Appendix 10: In the main text we show an illustration of the R-1830 where is only mentioned that the R-2800 was also made in this automobile factory. Now we can show both, thanks to David Jackson, for his photographs taken at a US Museum.

“Chevrolet -P&W- R-1830” (Photo D. Jackson)

“Chevrolet R-2800 -Lic. P&W-” (Photo D. Jackson)

"Chevrolet assembly line"

-In 1928, Arthur Chevrolet with his brother Louis, of Swiss origin, made the inverted four-cylinder aero engine we show below.

“D-333 at the NASM Museum” (PiP)

-Chevrolet started by designing an engine with upright cylinders. (See Arthur Chevrolet). Then they founded the company whose brochure we attached.

-For a while it was named Chevrolair Aircraft Corporation and eventually for economic hardship it was sold to Glenn Martin who named the same engine as 4-333 (see Martin)

-By Chevrolair this engine is known as D-4 and another one with six cylinders, the D-6 that remained experimental. (With four valves per cylinder).

-Glenn Martin got hold of 90% and the company was renamed "Glenn L. Martin Motors Corp.". That was in 1933.

“Chevrolet D-333 advertisement” (Brochure)