Once a month SZP opens the airport for visitors. Those of us with
unusual air planes open our hangar doors and people stroll by and ask
questions. Many are questions I have heard over and over again.

The rotary powered RV4 with the cowl off  is prominent and draws a
lot of people,

I am scheduled to give a talk about rotaries at AusFly in Narrowmine
NSW Aus next week. To speed the process I am getting a large poster
printed with some of those questions.


Here is a preliminary version. Comments are welcome.

Paul Lamar

Paul,

You know far more about rotary engine durability than I do, but you
continue to bury your head in the sand when it comes to the fuel
efficiency of rotary engines--at least when it comes to cars. The
fact of the matter is that rotaries use 20-30 percent more fuel than
comparable, modern piston engines. That's why even Mazda has given up
on them. The proof of this is incontrovertible and as a rational
engineer, you should accept this fact. That shortcoming doesn't
disqualify the rotary as an aircraft engine, where its other
virtues--light weight, compact size, smoothness, and
durability--might be more important.

Csaba Csere

The BSFC is now within 5% of a piston engine

The car problem has more to do with the gear box chosen by Mazda than the BSFC
of the rotary.

My RX8 is doing 3000 rpm at 80 while my 250 HP Honda Odysseys is doing 1800 RPM.
This the same reason the 400 HP Corvette gets 25 MPG on the free way.
My 1994 Mercury Cougar was doing 1900 at 80 MPH.

At a steady 70 MPH the RX8 is getting 25 MPG. The same as my old RX2
and the two RX7s I have owned. All had the wrong gearing.

All you need do is look at the OBD  data attached.

Another factor is when the Mazda  computer leans the engine and when it does
not. Leaning  improves the BSFC. Honda circumvents the NOX emissions laws
by not leaning the engine during the smog test. The rest of the time they lean it
frequently. Nox is a big problem for diesels as nox increases when running lean.
Mazda never leans the RX8 engine no matter what.


I have developed and patented a high speed MSD ignition system that I hope will
knock a few points off of the BSFC.

The exhaust valve, in a 4 stroke, waste 20% of the of the recoverable energy
in turbo compound use. The exhaust normally waste 50% of a gallon of gas.
Harvesting in F1 speak. A turbo compound rotary would therefore become the
most efficient IC in the world maybe short of some diesels.

The F1 hybrid scheme is not the most efficient for free way use,

http://www.rotaryeng.net/Oxford-TC-talk.mp4

If Mazda does not build a turbo compound rotary they are not informed.

 Mercedes, Renault , Ferrari and Honda will.

We now have a RB 650 HP 2 rotor that weighs less than 200 pounds
in a time to climb project air plane. It has a controlled leak in the
exhaust manifold because there is too much energy in the exhaust.
In other words it would over boost the engine. This is in addition to
the waste gate.

Mazda ought to hire me as a consultant. I would straighten them
out damn quick :-)

Paul Lamar

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