Yes, Ron was one of the early pioneers of the Rotary along with Neil Kruiswyk in his Lancair 235, Terry Adams and his Throp T-18 and a number of others. Some got airborne with their rotary and many did not. None I know of ever got their installation sorted out well enough that you would call it a truly going concern. I know Ron flew a number of flights and some of you had the good fortunate to undoubtedly be the first passenger in a rotary powered aircraft. Ron (as pioneers frequently do) had one incident where his coolant went amiss and he pretty much cooked his engine but made it back safely. From photos I saw of one of his intake, it was a series of short aluminum tubes clamped together every 4-5 “ with hose and clamps. Not certain what performance he got with that set up. He like many of us using the Ross drive eventually found it deficient – one reason we fly with Tracy’s and one reason Tracy designed his own.
Unfortunately, back in those days, there was no e mail list such as we now enjoy – so that these early pioneers could not easily contact each other and assist and share knowledge – I mean there are many reasons these guys are called pioneers. Heck, I didn’t know there was a Tracy Crook, until his photo appear on the cover of KITPLANE back in 1995. But, despite the efforts of these early pioneers, in my opinion, Tracy Crook garners the honor of showing that the rotary was a viable aircraft power plant, flying now for over 15 years and likely approaching 1800 – 2000 hours of rotary time probably having carried dozens of passengers in his Rv-4 Otter.
We are fortunate to have so many on this list with so much expertise in so many areas to aid us in safely and quickly get our rotary powered aircraft airborne.
Thanks Pioneers
Ed
From: Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of Mark Steitle
Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 7:47 PM
To: Rotary motors in aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: DAR
You're probably thinking of Ron Gowan. He inspected my Lancair (20B). He used to fly a rotary-powered canard. I think he flies for Delta out of Atlanta, Ga, but lives in Denton. He's a great guy that serves as a DAR to help out the local EAA. I don't know how far he will travel, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. His number is 817/975-2138. When he inspected my project, he arranged to fly into Austin, get a rental car, drive to Lockhart, then drive back to Dallas. He wouldn't take anything for his troubles, but I did manage to get him to let me pay for the rent car and gas.
His two comments concerning my project was to pay close attention to: 1) the cooling system, and 2) the gearbox.
On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 10:31 AM, Steve Thomas <glasair2@me.com> wrote:
Somewhere I remember reading about a DAR that was rotary-friendly and who would travel to my location to to a certification. Was that here? Does anyone remember who that was? Thanks to all for this great list and all who so graciously provide such valuable information.
Best Regards,
Steve Thomas
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