Perry Mick wrote:

The Wankel Rotary company in Korb is going out of business.
President Jurgen Bax must temporarily declare bankruptcy
through a local court, primarily because the Federal Office of
Foreign Trade had prohibited the delivery of motors to
Israel for use in light, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.
About 85 patents and trademarks are for sale, and the
last 15 employees were let go.

Jurgen Bax together with Danwart Eiermann founded the
Wankel Rotary company in 1993, to build rotary engines
for light airplanes and gocarts.  The rotary engine
is an invention of the legendary Felix Wankel, it
was also known as the Wankel Engine.  The inventor
had worked on his motor since the fifties, and in
the sixties was in partnership with the auto manufacturer
NSU.

The first automobile powered by a Wankel engine was the
NSU Wankel Spider, 2375 cars were sold between 1964 and
1967.  At the time the rotary engine was a technical
sensation:  instead of many cylinders containing pistons
that in the Otto motor go back and forth, the single
triangular pistion only rotates in the Wankel engine.
It's advantages are high power density thanks to smaller
dimensions and less weight, superior quiet running [low
vibration] and simple construction. Universally many
were convinced that the Rotary engine would at the least
be a competitor for the traditional piston engine.
Wankel found numerous licensees, including Daimler-Benz.
In the unforgettable concept car C111 the engine
principle hit the jackpot.  Mazda had aquired license
rights in 1961, six years later introduced the sportscar
Cosmo 110S, even before the NSU Ro 80, that in Europe
was most well-known producer of Wankel automobiles.

The technological breakthrough provided a considerable
115 HP to the mid-class model for that time, but quickly
also pointed out a disadvantage:  the engine in continuous
operation simply was not sufficiently durable.  The
factory was accommodating and supplied ever more replacement
motors.  With improved materials these problems were brought
under control, by 1970 the Ro-80 motors achieved acceptable
lifetimes.  NSU merged with the VW subsidiary Audi in 1969.
That it was always silent on this technology in automobile
production, lay above all on two reasons:  the comparatively
high consumption (the Ro 80 used at least 15 liters of fuel
per 100 kilometers) and the disadvantageous emissions.

NSU produced the Ro 80 until March of 1977, saying at last
farewell to the license.  About 37,500 units were delivered.
Mazda fosters the concept until this day, where more than
2 million vehicles have been built, most popular
of which is the sports car RX-7.  In Hiroshima they believe
as before the future of the rotary engine.  At the Tokyo
Motor Show last year was the concept car RX-Evolv, a four-
seater sportscar, with it's 206 kW Wankel engine (280 HP).
Mazda has continuously developed the Wankel system and
sees itself also in the position to meet the new, always
more stringent emissions requirements with it's motor.
In Korb it seems now that the light for the Wankel engine
in Germany once and for all is going out. The airplane engines,
that weigh only 35 kilograms and deliever 35 kW (48 HP),
are unrivaled, said Bax.

--
Perry J. Mick
Duckt N7XR
http://www.ductedfan.com

Thank your wife for me Perry.

Paul Lamar
 
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