Those Yak and Sukhoi owners familiar with the US scene will almost certainly have heard about the automotive sparking plug conversions that are manufactured by Dennis Savarese in the USA.

Equally, many of you will have had problems with high tension ignition issues on the M14P.  Some of these are, of course, within the magneto, but very often they are connected with the old fashioned design of the spark plugs, OR with the high tension ignition leads, where the leads are firstly small – i.e. not a lot of insulation on each wire; they are then compressed to get them into a thin metal conduit; the Russian rubber is not brilliant and after a period of time will lose its insulation, and finally, of course, water can get into the conduit which often causes short circuits between the different leads.

The Savarese conversion comprises of racing car silicone leads which are not constrained within a conduit, but which are separate as in Lycoming / Continental engines.

The plugs themselves are the very high quality NGK plugs designed for air-cooled engines. 

Some 190 kits have now been sold and are now in service, with the highest time approaching 1,500 hours, and an average time of well over 250 hours in service.

The feed back has been extraordinarily positive, with almost every pilot saying that with over 200 kits now been sold:

Ø  Starting is easier.

Ø  Engines run cooler.

Ø  A magneto-drop is reduced to 1/1½%.

Ø  Slight improvement in fuel economy.

Ø  A much smother idle.

Ø  (Seemingly) slightly more power.

In the USA these kits can of course be fitted under their “Experimental” rules, but in Europe we are rather more controlled.   For this reason we made a formal application to EASA, and we now have minor-mod approval from EASA for all European applications of M14P; M14PF.

So we are now able to offer a “package” to convert either an engine or an aircraft, on a supply only basis or the conversion can be done at Russian Engineering at White Waltham in the UK, or with Kobo Coop KFT at Gyor in Hungary.  

Click here to view pictures of M14P engine with conversion installed

Further Hungarian modification

The standard kit has the nine ignition leads coming out from each magneto from the original aperture cover onto which the Russian wiring conduit was screwed.  So the nine leads come out and the gap between them is sealed with mastic.  

This is a reasonable solution but Aerometal, our engine partners in Hungary, have developed a significantly better method, whereby there is a separate small housing which joins the magneto and the nine leads then come out through a separately insulated block, which is naturally, waterproof.

In addition they have produced a separate, and again improved, method of the wires going through the baffles for the front sparking plugs.

Click here to see photos of the insulated block and the rubber 'grommit' 

Please come back if you need more information, or if you want to have a set installed, please deal directly with Gena or Ron at White Waltham contact Telephone +44 (0) 1628 829 165 e-mail parts@wlacrussianeng.co.uk or directly with Bela Kobori in Hungary Telephone 00 36 96 348 144  and e-mail b.kobori@mail.kobocoop.hu