Dear Mr. Boyer
Haines's weight for the Mazda rotary is way off to the point
of slander. The firewall forward weight is 325 pounds. The same
as an aircraft IO-360 engine it replaces. The bare engine weight
is under 200 pounds despite many cast iron parts.
We have dozens of airplanes flying with Mazda rotaries
requiring no ballast in the tail.

For a list of those flying and building goto:

http://members.aol.com/rotaryroster/index.html?f=fs

Tracy Crook's RV4  went 217 MPH in the 2004 Sun 100 cross country race
with well over 500 hours on the engine. Look it up.

The total cost for a brand new Mazda RX8 engine and all the other
parts you need for an aircraft application is one third to one half what
an aircraft engine would cost. Overhaul cost is less than $3,000.

Also the Mazda rotary, unlike most car engines, will run almost forever
at full power. Nobody flying one has worn one out yet.
The turbo adds about 50 pounds and not 150 pounds.
Check out our web site below for a video of a turbo rotary
powered RV6. http://www.rotaryeng.net

BTW Mistral is copying the Mazda design for a certified rotary
aircraft engine. http://www.mistral-engines.com/testing.htm

I hope you will publish a retraction soon.

Paul Lamar