What You Need to Know Before Fabricating Your Own Engine Mount ?

In order to secure the aircraft engine to the airframe or fuselage and evenly distribute the stresses and vibrations caused by the engine, we use engine mounts. Aircraft Engine mounts are lightweight steel tubes welded together to form strong and stable structures to house aircraft engines. Aircraft engines of the same type or manufacturer will often use the same engine mounts. However, you can choose to weld your own instead of buying a pre-made one. Here are some shapes to consider.

Conical mounts are the easiest to fabricate, with four attach points to affix the engine and another four points to bolt the mount to the firewall. The mount points are parallel to the firewall, so there are no awkward angles. However, the vibrations and engine torque are not muffled, they're transmitted through the frame.

Dynafocal mounts are more ideal because they cushion the vibrations and movements of the aircraft engine. However, they're more difficult and expensive to build and install. Dynafocal mounts also have four attach points, but they're configured in the shape of a ring and focused at an angle towards the engine's center of gravity. As a result, during welding, this angle must be held in perfect alignment or else the bolts won't fit during engine installation.

Bed mounts are a little different. They have four points under the crankcase and then hang onto the firewall. They're typically used on certain diesel engines.

Another thing to consider is the shock mount. The engine mount doesn't dampen vibrations much on its own. Shock mounts, stiff rubber pieces of varying thickness and strength, are used in between the engine and mount in order to absorb the vibrations.

When welding your mount, it's important that you know what you're doing. You need to get all the alignments right, weld perfectly, and be able to install your mount properly. Some aircraft manufacturers will have installation kits including a mount for the engines they sell, which can be a lot easier to use than it is to weld your own. It pays to do your research and know what you're doing.

At Aerospace Exchange, owned and operated by ASAP Semiconductor, we want to make sure that your aircraft is running at full capacity, so we stock up on everything you'd need, from materials to fabricate your own mount to pre-made mounts and installation kits. Visit us at www.aerospaceexchange.com to get started.