Anderson Ed wrote:

Peter,
        I have a 13B in an RV-6A (20 hours).  I believe, based on my own
experience as well as several others flying the 13B rotary, that
adequate cooling is the biggest challenge.  Oil cooling in particular,
while an oil cooler is optional on many reciprocating engines that is
certainly not the case with the rotary which dumps 1/3 of the rejected
heat energy through the oil.  I have been through three mods to my oil
cooling ducts/inlets and have only recently gotten it near the point it
needs to be.  Most others flying a rotary in a tractor configuration
have also had to rework their oil cooling subsystem a couple of times to
get it where it needs to be.

        I know I underestimated the rotary cooling gremlin. On the other hand,
the rotary is sooo smooth compared to the 4 bangers its hard to believe
you have an engine out front churning.

Ed Anderson
RV-6A N494BW Rotary Powered

 
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