A recent decision was made by the owner of Diamond to not go forward with the
2 rotor at this time. He feels it is too expensive to make. My feeling is
people will pay extra for the wankel. Send him email and tell him you
will pay $12,000 US :) My guess also is he does not fully understand the 
engineering trade offs that affect the price of manufacturing it as
Mark Wrathal pointed out. If it were me I would miniaturize the Mazda.

Paul Lamar

david mccandless wrote:

**** Hi Paul and Mark W, I understood from your remarks just after your tour of
the Diamond, that the new production facility was to redesign the Mid West engine
to increase its displacement and incorporate the oil cooling ala 13B. What
happened to these plans? BR, Dave McC

Yes and the needle bearing has another problem. The centrifugal
loads on the needles tend to vary causing the needles to slip on the shaft.
This is aggravated by any wear. See the diagram below.

The engine still uses an air cooled rotor which requires a
air pump that subtracts HP from the output causing a higher
BSFC. This is not a problem in a motor glider or a sport
airplane not used for long distance transportation.

Paul Lamar

 
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