Does anyone have any hard numbers on the SFC of the rotamax wankels? I know
that they are charge cooled which suggests a built in penalty.
George Wright
That is the least of their worries George. Unless they come up
with a viable rotor housing coating or a steel liner they
are doomed to failure. Building Wankel is not as easy as it
looks.
Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
I am very encouraged by the information I have received from Eric McCall at
Rotamax. I don't know how they are charge cooling their motors, but the word
of mouth test results from Eric are very encouraging. I do know this that
they are very close to announcing a deal with an OEM to sell the 650cc for
aviation consumption. I understand that they are initially going to give
themselves around a 1,000 hour TBO, and that they are hoping to increase
that figure as they gain experience and confidence in the engine. I know
that Paul is somewhat cynical, however, I am going to hope for their
success. If their design proves to be reliable they have several more engine
designs for the future. This is especially encouraging to me, as an ultra
light and a light sport pilot. I am sick of these 2 cycle piston pieces of
junk that are totally unreliable. Even by the manufacturers own admission
they are subject to sudden stoppage, so they say on the first page of their
manual. I really hope they are successful and I am glad that Moeller is no
longer a part of it.
Thanks,
Mark Burns
-----------------------------------------------
You sound like a Rotamax PR employee. How come this is the first
time we have heard from you on any subject? By your tone I am
going to assume you work for Rotomax.
The trouble with Wankel wear coatings is there is no way to inspect
them for quality control. Some that look good may or may not come
off. You can't tell unless you destructively test each article
over every square inch of the wear surface.
In other words there is no way of controlling the quality.
I have seen too many Wankel companies go belly up over this
issue. Now if you prove to me you are copying the Mazda steel
liner exactly I would give you a little slack because Mazda
has built over two million engines with excellent results.
Are you going to guarantee it for 1000 hour or are you
just going to say it has a 1000 hour TBO? Of course you could
guarantee it but if you are not around when the 1000 hours arrives
10 years down the road the guarantee is not the worth the paper
it is written on.
Since you won't reveal how you are going to deal with the rotor
housing wear surface I give you a snow balls chance in hell
of surviving. In that case it smells like nothing more than a scam.
I would wait until some other sucker buys hundreds of engines
from you and run them to 1000 hours before I would shell out any money.
Is this clear enough for you or do you want to know how I really feel? :)
Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
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