Paul,

  I was wondering if you're still working with rotary engines (haven't seen
many recent updates to the site).  If so I've been tinkering with a new
rotary design and wondered if you might like to take a look.  I'm a free
lance technical consultant who has done a lot of design and testing work
with small arms, other weapons and armor related projects.  I've always been
fascinated by aircraft though and have been working on aircraft designs as a
hobby.  I did a concept model of a 4 place, pressurized cross county bird
with the original concept of making the smallest airframe capable of using a
1,000 hp Pratt & Whitney PT6.  Then I started reading up on how much it cost
to acquire, maintain and run a turbo prop (ouch!)  I'm also really
disappointed with the current state of the art in piston aircraft engines.
Other than some improvements in engine monitoring and control (FADEC) a
"modern" aircraft engine seems to me to be pretty much that same as what was
available in the 1940's.  I stumbled onto your site and some of the other
rotary sites and thought why in the world are people still spending tens of
thousands of dollars on air cooled apposed piston engines.  The Wankel is
the obvious choice but Mazda and even the recently revived Mistral power
plants are on the small side for a high performance application. They have
some other limitations stemming from their automotive roots.

  What I'm working on is a design for a larger motor, in a two or four
rotor format.  The rotor dimensions are roughly 150% of a 13b and is
designed to be more modular so a four rotor version is more simply
accomplished using 2 identical e-shafts and a supported coupling.  The
intermediate plates between rotor pairs and the central plate that join the
two rotor pairs are of a split design that provide for having a bearing
supporting the e-shaft between each rotor and at the coupling point.  The
intent is to go with a P-port design in all aluminum from the start and
shooting for an engine that can produce 200hp per rotor without being
stressed to do so.  I also love the idea of doing a turbo compound with the
impeller in line with the e-shaft and coupled via a planetary gear set to
allow the impeller to get up to an efficient speed.

 In any event if you're interested in taking a look I've got things to the
point that I could send some images.  I would value any feedback and
constructive criticism you would be able to offer.  The end goal is to get
the design mature enough to hopefully attract some investment capital to
work up a few prototypes.


R/S


Martin Custer

Sure send away.

Paul Lamar