Dear Paul, I am glad to have
 found your rotary site. I am
 building a very
 unusual  twin rotary amphibian. Where can I get the
 all aluminum  rotary
 engine?  Please add me to your newsletter. I want to
 subscribe. James
 whitehurst

 Racing Beat sells the housings.
 http://www.racingbeat.com/

 Mazdatrix builds the engines. I suggest a P-port version.
 http://www.mazdatrix.com/


 Paul Lamar

 Paul,

 No engine part details are online.  Do you really have
 to buy
 the Racing Beat Catalog's  PDF for $8.00 to get the
 'catalog'?
 $6.55 for the catalog, and a $1.98 bandwidth 'fee'?  Or $8.00
 (shipping fee) to mail the catalog $14.52 Total?

 Sheesh....
 thomas walter

 I'll pass this on to the RB owner. The housing are about
 $1200 each
 and you will need three. It's kind of like; "If you have to
 ask the cost
 you can't afford them" :)


 Paul Lamar



     Paul,

They also have a 'down load and print' form so you can get the
printed catalog for $10.00

When you talk to Jim, tell him Hi for the old "Sacramento
Rally Gang". We had RX2, RX3, that GLC rotary powered "generic" car -
Rod Sorenson built that one, including the (in)famous
exhaust over the top RX2.  We're some of his early customers
(1970's).  I had gotten a set of 'templates' for our first
bridge ported motors, and ran that 12A at 10,000 rpm without
missing a beat (Racing Beat gears!)

$3600 for the three end housings really isn't that bad.
Any idea how much weight it saves? Guess is 80 pounds,
but would like to know as that is a heck of good way to reduce weight.

Tom

My guess is they save close to 70 pounds.
Not significant for most kit planes as the iron engine weighs
about the same as a Lycoming 180 HP engine.  The 250 HP p-port
cast iron version weighs a lot less than any 250 HP
aircraft engine. These A/C engines are usually six cylinders.
The stock iron p-port rotary engine pays off big time in this scenario.

Paul Lamar


70lbs is 70lbs is a lot..  Offsets the weight of a constant speed
prop.  Lowers vibrating mass.  Opens the door for putting a rotary on
a much smaller/lighter airplane.  I'd consider an all Aluminum rotary
on my Varieze, as one could probably be built that has an all-up
weight similar to an O-235.  200hp would make a 600lb Varieze into an
exciting performer.  If you kept it simple - carburetor, basic
ignition, the cost probably wouldn't be any worse than the aircraft
engine it replaced.

A _new_ 250 hp aircraft engine is about $30k..  $3k buys 3 (of the
required 6) new cylinders that are part of such an engine.

Long term durability remains the question..  Then again, Continental
and Lycoming have both recently had AD's and recalls that require
replacing either cranks or cylinders or other major components.  The
federally blessed parts may not have particularly good durability.  If
the the Racing Beat side housings consistently last 1500 hours in
aircraft service, they aren't a terrible value.

I hear you though Paul..  A cast iron side housing (stock) rotary
offers tremendous value and performance, compared to _anything_.


Matt-