Nice write up but there are several items that are not exactly as it happened. Hatch and Beckham had a release ready system before selling to Raytech. Raytech wanted to do some things themselves including running that super expensive bearing. The internal reduction gear was all Hatch and Beckham. Steve sold the business to Raytech after Everett was killed in a crash (not engine related) that took Steve’s long time partner. They had done all the engineering prior to the sale. Steve was devastated by the loss of his cohort. Raytech did some re-engineering and had a good product, but they had a good one to begin with. I know, I have the prototype in my garage. Raytech is a machine shop and had some trouble with that part of the business. They let Powersport go dormant. They still owe Steve and I’m not sure of the intellectual property owner. I have been working on a similar design assisted by Steve. I’ve got a good design in Solidworks, but no production money. That is just the way it goes sometimes. Bill Kitplanes article about the Powersport installation date 9 June 2017
Sent from my iPhone Le Roux Breytenbach OK Ryan, and other rotary enthusiasts, This is the configuration that Steve and Everett, (original Powersport) worked out that was very effective. (see photos attached) The photos show a 2 rotor mounted on an RV3, The engine mount wasn't the best they had ever used, but it shows their best cooling configuration. In the profile shot you see the stack of components. PSRU, 2 rotor, radiators/oil cooler. There are 3 equally sized heat exchangers. On this plane I believe they were all Setrab, but the manufacturer isn't that important. There are 2 water radiators arranged in a V with the oil cooler horizontal between the 2 water rads across the bottom separating the lower ends of the water coolers, thus \_/. They used various cowl inlets and didn't find a major difference there. There was an annular inlet on this set up. The inlet air flowed around the engine which allowed the engine air to be input and generally kept the accessories from overheating, At the rear of the engine there is a bulkhead fitted across the cowl and sealed. Opening for the engine air is directly behind the engine and permits the air to flow between the truncated v with the inside face of all 3 heat exchangers open. The flow is from the inside out toward the cowl and then exiting at the central lower location and out towards the rear in a conventional manner. Three equally sized rads is perfect for the rotary since the oil typically does about 30% of the heat transfer. The swirl pot and header tank are inside the "V" nearest the firewall. This layout was used on their primary RV4 test bed and worked great. A side-by-side like an RV6 would work even better with more room for exit air. The exhaust header is shrouded and has a blast tube in front to control exhaust heat. This layout should work with most of the engine mounts folks are using for the rotary. Sadly major rotary parts are getting difficult to find as this is a very airworthy layout. Bill Jepson
All, My name is Ryan Hendrickson and I have an RV-8 running a Powersport firewall forward setup out here in Utah. I purchased the plane from the builder and a mentor of mine shortly before he went west. So unfortunately, I don't have the benefit of his knowledge to help me tinker on it. Finn has offered some guidance, but I thought it would be also helpful to find anyone else out there running the Powersport design.
The motor runs very well, but I am struggling to keep it cool. If I succeed it solving the cooling issues, I would also love some advice on building an exhaust. It is currently straight-piped off the header and it is unbearably loud. That said, are there any Powersport aircraft out there that are successfully flying?
Thanks in Advance, Ryan
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