Barry Gardner wrote:

Okay, Paul. I'll bite. Whatever happened?

Offhand, it seems that they may have been overreaching on that long list

of

goals:
--0.38 BSFC
--multifuel capability
--turbocharged to 25,000' at 250 hp
--stratified charge

Plus all the politics of funding and the general conservatism of the
aviation lobby. At what point, did they decide that a turbocharged

2-stroke

diesel looked more promising (a decade later)? And the news on that front
from NASA/Continental has sure died down.

But did NASA lose interest or funding? Or was there some other problem

they

couldn't conquer? I noticed that the timing of this article preceded the

2nd

generation 13B, with its engine improvements, not to mention the

twin-turbo

3rd gen.

Any insight?

Barry Gardner
Wheaton, IL

I wish I knew what happened after all that NASA enthusiasm
for the rotary in the 80's. When did the shuttle blow up?
Perhaps that diverted their attention.

There was a period there when it appeared the mis guided
wacko environmentalist would go after the minuscule total emissions
from small piston engine aircraft and the rotary was a dirty word.
Only the very wealthy and evil capitalist could afford to own
a private airplane. Fortunately that died down and came to
naught. Truck and bus diesels are now the object of their
intentions. Perhaps with good reason.

If they had their way the internal combustion engine would
be totally banned as the ultimate root of all evil
plaguing the developed world. This of course was and still is
the modern day crusades.

I suspect the real reason is it is easy to get study money out of the
government if you can fabricate any plausible, obscure and difficult to
disprove problem. Take examples like the "ozone hole" and "global warming".
The tools are Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt or FUD for short.
Also class ware fare is used whenever possible.

Paul Lamar

John Tami wrote:

The Shuttle blew in 1986. I was working for Rockwell Satellite Systems in
Seal Beach (on Reagan's Star-Wars projects) when the news came out that
morning. At first I and some others thought it was a joke. Soon we found out
the truth. Soon hidden Radio's and TV's came out of drawers....Senior Exec's
stood shoulder to shoulder with Hourly Tech's and watched the unending news
feed, silently. Many had worked the Shuttle program, so it was heart felt. A
day I'll sure remember.

Understand if Nasa put some things on the shelf, they were for years under
intense scrutiny from the Media and Congress.

Too bad, as they have a wonderful history of innovation, something that
could certainly have helped the Rotary.

JET

 
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