On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 22:47:34 GMT, Ernest Christley
wrote:

The second quoted problem is a red herring. BSFC. The rotary leans MUCH
better than any piston engine. In actual practice in real airplanes,
fuel burn is indistinguishable.

But the advantages. An engine that will sacrifice itself to get you
home. A $500 rebuild that takes a weekend. Power to weight ratios that
already beat pistons and continue to climb. Did I mention, an engine
that will sacrifice itself to get you home.

All good points. I didn't mention this (at least not recently) but I
had a 13B in my shop at one time that I was going to use for my
airplane.

This was a number of years ago before Tracy began developing his
rotory. I had started with a Buick/Olds 215 cid aluminum V8 but had
sold it because it was too hard to find parts for it.

I was getting increasingly nervous about using the 13B because I knew
I had to fabricate my own intake manifold and exaust system. I had
been an auto mechanic who worked on Mazda's, including the RX7's so I
knew something about them. The intake manifold looked to be almost as
big as the engine, which is why all the folks I'd been talking with
were recommending it be junked and a smaller one fabricated.

Remember, this was in the early 90's, not now.

But the thing that really put me off was the heat of the exhaust
system. It ran something like 500 degrees hotter than piston type
exhaust systems and required a thick wall stainless steel system.
Even with such a system, all that heat seemed a little scary to me.

So I sold that and now have the Ford V6 which is running well at this
point and seems to have all the power I need.

Corky Scott