I came across your site by chance in a search for something else. You
have a lot of good information. Unfortunately, there is a large amount
of bad info in it as well. A "20,000 hour TBO" is not possible by
simply adding ceramic apex seals. Granted they are great (and pricey),
but when was the last time you measured side seal or side housing wear
on a high time/mileage rotary? The list is not that short, but I see no
need to cry over spilled milk. While I enjoy your enthusiasm for the
rotary, I would ask you keep your comments a little closer to earth. I
say comments because it seems a rather large portion of what you write
is just that.
An oversealous sales pitch (do you need to sell anything?) also leaves a
very bad impression. Mazda gave refunds to new RX8 owners when their
extravagant HP figures didn't materialize. Unfortunately a lot of those
people were rotary fans that, while still rotary fans, would now prefer
to buy another brand.
One of my pet peeves in aviation is the continuous flow and evolution of
misinformation. The best example is the 18 yr old instructing
to building time (experience) that didn't learn what's really involved
and passing on information given to him/her by their CFI in the same
fashion. Their lack of knowledge (experience), in a best case
scenario, gives a false sense of accomplishment (experience) to their
students. In a worse case scenario, we have to live without friends and
family. I've personally seen both and hope you see my concern and take
this to heart.
Tom - ATP, CFII, MEI, and A&P
At the moment down to 3 RX7s with no intention of buying the 8. The
Renesis is a smog motor, no more...
Thanks for your comments and I will correct that impression on the web site. It
was supposed to be just the life of the apex seal. You are 100% correct about the side seals.
I agree with you on thr RX8 intake system but I am building a P port version to
see how much power we will lose with the side exhaust ports. We got 240 HP at 7500
RPM with a 2nd gen P port engine.
A P port 2nd gen 2 rotor engine just went 205 MPH in the 400 mile Dayton to OSH air race
in a four place Velocity aircraft. The pilot said if he had known about the Everette
Hatch $1000 dollar prize for averaging over 220 MPH in a air race with a rotary
engine he could have gone 220 MPH. He burned 12 gallons an hour which is not much
for any 215 HP aircraft engine.
Paul Lamar
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