Our man Jeff Spitzer's airplane made the front page of the
LA Times business section. Not only that it helped
win the war in Afghanistan. Jeff was also the designer
of the Moller rotary engine. Jeff wanted to put a rotary
in the Predator instead of the Rotax 914 turbo but they would not
let him do it.

Note the insulation on the exhaust pipes to conserve
the heat energy for the turbo. A predator with a turbo
Rotax was able to reach 57,000 feet.

We are proud of you Jeff.

Paul Lamar

Jeff Spitzer wrote:

Thanks Paul.  You know me...always anxious to clear up any misconceptions.
As such, please allow some clarification of your points.

We never considered a rotary for Predator.  We did propose a turbocompound
rotary for a larger airplane in the competition that was won by Global Hawk.
The insulation does help with turbo power but is much more important to
prevent burning the cowl and keep under cowl temps in check.
The turbo 914 that went to 57,000 feet was actually a twin sequential turbo
using highly specialized turbos and not the stock garrett model that comes
with the engine.  We've flown the stock turbo to about 31,000 ft. with our
manifolds and engine control system. (still quite a feat)
Hope all is well with the ACRE crowd.  I think of you all now and again
even though I no longer read the newsletter.  Happy New Year.

Jeff Spitzer
Manager of Mechanical Engineering
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.
(858) 455-2667

 
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