On 2/1/06, Ed Anderson <eanderson@carolina.rr.com> wrote:
You are right, Jesse - no conflict here. If both a reciprocating engine ( which is normally a iron block(or steel sleeve inserts) with an aluminum piston) and a rotary loose coolant, my bet is the iron block will at some point seize from overheating. Because the aluminum piston will expand faster than the iron/steel due to the heat. Just the opposite with a rotary (as at least two/three folks have proven), the aluminum housing expands (and some compression/power is lost) faster than the iron rotor - so no seizing even though the engine is cooked.
Never said you wouldn't damage a rotary with a loss of coolant, just that it would keep running as long as then engine had fire and fuel. Landing with a damaged engine with some power available beats dead sticking in a seized engine in my opinion.
Ed
In my limited experience of overheating rotary engines and then dead sticking onto freeways, you can expect about 4 minutes from inital overheat to complete loss of engine power. The engine will not seize, but the complete loss of compression will prevent any power production.
I invite other to verify my data :-)