Should I buy a used Jabiru aircraft?

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DMD3.

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At the time of this post, there are 4 J-230’s on Trade-A-Plane all in the $70-80k range, as well as a J-250 on Bs for $70k and a smaller one called the Calipso-6 for only $38k. Is there a catch as to why they’re priced so low? Would a typical A&P be able to do routine maintenance on both the airframe and the engine? And I remember reading where someone said that Jabiru engines can be reliable, but they’re even less tolerant to neglect and non-use than other aircraft engines (which is saying something, as non-use is bad for any aircraft, engine and airframe).
 
You might want to see what generation engine is installed,a,es a difference in resale value.
 
A close friend had a tailwheel Sonex with an early Jabiru 3300 on it. When I flew it I knew I needed more power on the Sonex I had.

It was a light weight engine with good power but maintenance could be worrisome. Seems every time we checked the head bolt torque at condition it had to be brought up to spec. The early engines had through bolt issues and some guys dealt with case fretting. The engines appear to me to be quite sensitive to cooling and can be easily damaged by ground running in high temps.

Reportedly these issues are all overcome with the new Gen 4 versions. I really hope so because our light aircraft need to have good engine suppliers available.
 
No direct experience but what I’ve seen is the engines are good until overhaul, then you may as well replace it because you’ll get no factory support.
 
Crashnburn said:
No direct experience but what I’ve seen is the engines are good until overhaul, then you may as well replace it because you’ll get no factory support.
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I have no direct experience either, but found a bunch of comments from Jabiru engine owners about the good support they get from the guys at Jabiru USA in Shelbyville, TN.
www.facebook.com

Jabiru North America | Shelbyville TN

Jabiru North America, Shelbyville. 1,211 likes · 9 were here. Product/service
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
(I didn't link the comments, but I have seen them while doing research.)
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
I have no direct experience either, but found a bunch of comments from Jabiru engine owners about the good support they get from the guys at Jabiru USA in Shelbyville, TN.
www.facebook.com

Jabiru North America | Shelbyville TN

Jabiru North America, Shelbyville. 1,211 likes · 9 were here. Product/service
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
(I didn't link the comments, but I have seen them while doing research.)
Click to expand...
That’s good to hear. The folks down under didn’t seem so helpful with overhauled engines.
 
We have one at our airfield. It has been in the shop for a year since it was damaged by a hangar collapse in a hurricane. It is in the final stages of repair.

The airframe is impressive. Crazy slick.

But the engine seems like something some guy threw together in his backyard. The owner was forever troubleshooting it. I would not buy one without getting an understanding of the engine, if you are not very familiar with it.
 
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What kind of flying will you want to be doing with it?

Have you flown one yet to see it you like how it flies / handles?
 
I did a flight review a few months ago in a Jabiru. I'm not a big fan of light sport airplanes in general but maybe that's because I'm old & long for years past.

I actually enjoyed flying the Jabiru. I even asked if I could do few maneuvers in it. It seemed well put together & the flight controls were light but predictable. The ailerons were a bit heavy though. I told the 95 year old pilot/owner to let me know if he ever wanted to sell it.
 
Suggest you consider taking the rainbow aviation LSRI course. This will allow you to complete the annual condition inspection on one of these or another EAB you own. I just completed it today. They briefly discussed these engines and weren't complementary of versions 1-3; they had a hopeful outlook for gen 4.
 
Guy at our local airport recently landed his in the ocean. Engine stopped before he made it back. This was after work performed in TN. Thread on his landing in the mishaps thread. You might wanna contact him. I wo t say more - talk to the owner. You can find him via his faa registry.
 
I bought a 230D last year and am impressed with the plane. I put in a new gen 4 which was recalled due to the crankshaft SB. So I put in another Gen 4 and so far so good. I think it is a great engine however. I do have some complaints, the original carb was constantly making contact with the firewall so I put the Pd42j carb on it, real Chinese junk. I'm sure it is an interim carb since the Bing 94 carb is out of production. I couldn't believe how cheaply made it is, plus fuel consumption is awful.
I am currently installing a Rotec TBI and redesigning the entire fuel system which is less than desirable. The Rotec installation is not easy but the results on jabiru 3300's on other aircraft is impressive. I'll have results in about 30 days.
 
Richard Young said:
I bought a 230D last year and am impressed with the plane. I put in a new gen 4 which was recalled due to the crankshaft SB. So I put in another Gen 4 and so far so good. I think it is a great engine however. I do have some complaints, the original carb was constantly making contact with the firewall so I put the Pd42j carb on it, real Chinese junk. I'm sure it is an interim carb since the Bing 94 carb is out of production. I couldn't believe how cheaply made it is, plus fuel consumption is awful.
I am currently installing a Rotec TBI and redesigning the entire fuel system which is less than desirable. The Rotec installation is not easy but the results on jabiru 3300's on other aircraft is impressive. I'll have results in about 30 days.
Click to expand...
An update on my Rotec TBI installation. The installation was very involved, requiring a different throttle installation, significant fuel system modifications and a lot of induction air redesign experiments. The original throttle system could not be used especially when maintaining the two control setup so separate push-pull throttle cables were used. The fuel system required a 10 micron filter after the engine driven fuel pump. A fuel return line to the header tank with a check valve was installed to avoid any vapor lock issues. Also had to install another FT-60 fuel computer in the return line to balance the fuel flow calculation. I also installed an additional source of air to keep the Rotec TBI cool. The most difficult setup issue was getting the idle mixture correct.
I spent many months developing the installation which involved making parts sourcing parts and discarding many ideas.
The result was very smooth engine operation, complete mixture control, and instant starts.
If I had to do it on another 230D it would only take weeks not months.
 
I can't say anything about the airplanes, but the engines are solid these days. 20 years ago they weren't, and got a well-deserved bad rap for it, but I hear good things these days.
 
The Jabiru is one of the best LSA aircraft out there especially with the new MOSAIC rules allowing you to raise gross weight under ELSA. I am critical of a few things because when you work on certified aircraft for so long and also involved in the engineering end of things in the aerospace world it's hard to accept some of the LSA allowed design options. That's just me and I doubt that will ever change.
 
steingar said:
I can't say anything about the airplanes, but the engines are solid these days. 20 years ago they weren't, and got a well-deserved bad rap for it, but I hear good things these days.
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I read somewhere that while they’re good engines now, they are even less tolerant of neglect and non-use than other engines, which is saying something.
 
Actually they are far less prone to issues found on lycoming and continental especially with regard to corrosion in the cylinders. It's a huge problem here on the coastal towns. The gen 4 engines have aluminum cylinders like Rotax and are not susceptible to this. I think everything else is pretty well designed and seems to have a much better history than the earlier engines. I hope it stays that way.
 
I know two people with them.

I also know two people who have crashed them.

Small sample size, but sheesh. Luckily, no injuries, but both were down for a significant length of time for repairs. The folks in TN do seem to support them well.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I know two people with them.

I also know two people who have crashed them.

Small sample size, but sheesh. Luckily, no injuries, but both were down for a significant length of time for repairs. The folks in TN do seem to support them well.
Click to expand...

Weird because the one person I know with one has crashed it twice.
 
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