From: "Mike Abbott"
Subject: Wankel Engine History...

As I wandered through the new Air and Space facility in Dulles, VA this
weekend I was pleased to see a Cardinal made it in - if only as a side
note.

Seen in the new Smithsonian at Dulles-
The Wankel engine display mentions that a Wankel RC2-60 was first flown
in a 1970 Cardinal. Along with the engine and description there was a
picture of a C177 RG, tail number N7600V.

A little research reveals that N7600V is owned by Navarro Aviation Co.
Inc. in Sellersville, PA. A little more research reveals that N7600V is
serial number 177RG0886 built in 1976 - clearly not the test bed. So the
two points to note are:

1 - Does anyone know (or better yet own) the original Cardinal Wankel
test bed? Does it still have the Wankel as the power plant (I would
guess not).

2 - Anyone on this list from Navarro Aviation Co.? If so, know that a
picture of your aircraft is proudly displayed in the Smithsonian. Not
bad company.

3. Can anyone confirm that a university or museum has this aircraft or
has it been destroyed?

Marc Wiese

Mike

The original Cardinal Wankel test bed was N3766C (cn661) which was the
second prototype for the 1968 Cessna 150 hp Cardinal.  The Curtiss-Wright
engine was installed under a Navy contract for "quiet airplane" research and
had an extensive muffler system. A multi-V belt reduction system drove a
slow turning 3 blade 100 inch diameter propeller.  I was at Cessna as a
Design Engineer 210 B, 205, 206 (1960-1963) and Flight Test Engineer 300 and
400 series Twins (1966-1968). Cessna typically flew 500 hour accelerated
service tests on new models, generally using the Certification prototypes
for single engine and 1st production models for twins.  I was able to log a
total of over 80 hours of service test time on 6 different Cessna models,
including 17 hours on Cardinal N3766C.  First flight of N3766C with the CW
Wankel was on 7-7-71 with Len Ikerd as test pilot.  Cessna's normal practice
for liability reasons was to scrap test aircraft after they had served their
useful purpose, so I think that I can safely say that N3766C is long gone.
Other "quiet aircraft" efforts back in that era led to the production Y03
powered sailplane that was used in Vietnam.  A few of these details were
taken from Wings of Cessna, Model 120 to the Citation III, by Edward H.
Phillips.

Dean Van Winkle
RV-9A  Fuselage/Finish  13B NA