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CT vs Jabiru


John R

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I have flown 2 Jabiru 250's. I work on the engine on occasions. The cabin is small and tight. My knees are in the dash, my shoulders would over lap anyone else in the plane. It is only a common center stick and hand brake like a motorcycle. It carries less fuel, the fit and finish isn't even close to a CT, the door hinges are a major weak point. Engine's aren't making it to TBO, cooling issues, oil use and its still an air cooled engine.

Let me know if you want more.

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I have about 20 minutes in a Jabiru 250 and it doesn't fly even as well as the FD. The controls felt less coordinated, in that you had to have lots of pressure on one and not so much on the the other - can't remember which but I remember it was worse than the CT. The Jabiru seems to be built strong and has a place behind the pilots for storage. I visited their assembly plant in Tennessee and felt comfortable with what I saw.

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I will pass on to you what A friend told me when I was looking at the Jabiru. He said to go to,the Internet and look up Jabiru engine failures and emergency landings. He said if that did not convince me then I should call around and see if I could find some one to work on it when I needed repairs.

May I suggest the CT for you as a better choice of the two planes.

 

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I agree the CT is the better of the two planes, but I know a lot of people running Jabiru engines in their experimentals with no problems. In fact, I was planning on a Jabiru 3300 engine in the Sonex I was building. The engine is nice, and makes good power, the primary issue seems to be keeping it cool (like most air-cooled engines). The engine redline temps is 400°F and it's not hard to get it there. Here in Georgia in the hot summer one of my friends says he needs to get off the ground within about 10 minutes of engine start or temps start to get too high. That's not ideal, but once in the air he has no problems. Rotec is making a liquid cooled heads option for the 3300 that keeps temps under 250°F even running full speed on the ground for hours, so that is an option to tame the heat.

 

All told I like the Rotax engine better, but there is nothing wrong or unreliable with the Jabiru engines.

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  • 2 weeks later...

G'day John R,

 

Greetings from down under.

 

I have owned both.

A J160 Jabiru and now a CTsw.

They're like chalk and cheese.

Done 650 hours in the Jab and worked on the engine internals 3 times.

Finish left a bit to be desired but otherwise a sturdy little aeroplane.

 

If you're into eating chalk get yourself a Jab.

 

Duski Don

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