Ed,
The bottom line is that whenever a rotary powered a/c crashes the nay-sayers all shout "We told you that using automobile engines in airplanes is a bad idea", or something close. We need to follow up on this engine stoppage to find out what actually caused the engine to quit. I would be very surprised if it turns out that the rotary engine itself failed, but more realistically expect that it was a system failure (fuel, lubrication, ignition, psru, etc.). Regardless, the powerplant isn't any stronger than its weakest link.
I bring this up not to criticize, but because I truly hope to learn what went wrong in order to help advance the state of the art of rotary engine installations.
Oly did a great job of flying! He's obviously a very skilled (and lucky) pilot to survive this ordeal without a scratch.
Mark S.
Lancair ES - 20B
On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 12:56 PM, Ed Anderson <eanderson@carolina.rr.com> wrote:
For what little of the wreckage you could see in the video, I rather doubt much of anything is salvageable. But, you are right it was a one-of-a-kind beauty. For what its worth, Oly purchased the aircraft with the rotary already in it. He worked hard to make the installation work right – but, don’t know how much he changed other than the intake.
Ed
From: Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of Michael Silvius
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 2:45 PM
To: Rotary motors in aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Accident - Oly Olson Down but Alive and well!!!!!!!!!!!
Here is a photo of Oly's Viggen, Hope it is saveable because it is a beauty.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 9:13 AM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Accident - Oly Olson Down but Alive and well!!!!!!!!!!!
I am glad Oly is OK. Sounds like he did a great piece of flying to get upright before the tree caught him. Apparently God placed the tree there for him. It is a shame he didn’t have a lottery ticket at the time!
There is a lot more going on here than just a rotary engine. The plane is supposed to be plastic and stall at 48 mph and is stall resistant as well. This plane was a metal variant (MiniViggen??). When Rutan gives up on a plane, there may be a reason. Then there is that high thrust line???
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