How much does the 13b single rotor weigh? And how much does it cost to get
the e-shaft shortened?

The basic engine with stock housings is about 120-125 lbs, but you could
lose 25 lbs of that in exchange for around $3000 if Racing Beat ever
finishes their aluminum side housings. The e-shaft can be cut down from a
stock shaft, but it's no small job, so it's better to buy a new one, or find
one that someone else has made. Over the years, lots of these have been
built, including a number of shafts that were made by NASA. In the near
future, there will be a much better availability of these I think, but
nothing definite now.


There is an outfit here in Canada that is promising to produce some small
rotaries for light planes, but I don't know how far along they are. A
German outfit makes single-rotor go-kart engines, as well as an UL
version.

Those are actually the same engine if you're talking about the German place
that I'm thinking of. The Canadian outfit bought the rights to the engine,
and will eventually start making them in Canada, though the price is pretty
high for such an unproven engine. I wish them luck, but haven't seen much
interest from the community yet.

As for other posts on this subject:

There were certainly some smaller rotaries produced, such as the motorcyle,
and even some outboard engines. I just don't think any of those were nearly
as reliable as the Mazda version has been. They also aren't that available,
or I'd love to play with one.

As for rotary engines being in cars, yes, they are. The RX-7 was sold until
2001 or 2002, and the RX-8 has a new version of the rotary called the
Renesis. Excellent engine! In the US, people still remember the seal
problems that Mazda had when they were introduced in the early 70's, which
is unfortunate. Other countries have had several cars, trucks, etc with
rotary engines, but Mazda doesn't sent them here, because we won't buy them.
The RX-7 was discontinued in the US after 95, but sold in other countries
until at least 2001. The RX-8 was said to be our last chance, and if the
sales in the US were good (and they have been), we would get the next
version of the RX-7 as well, and perhaps other rotary powered vehicles.

Cheers,
Rusty