Thomas Jakits wrote:

Do you have all your "run/kick-off" ideas on your site?
And what EWP's are you using?

TJ

No.  Very few of my engine ideas are posted there.  Most of the website work was done when I was working as a security guard during the Dot-Com bust days.  Working a real job now, I have to make a choice between building an airplane and talking about it.
I'll talk more about the next one.  But for now:

One of the negatives for the rotary engine is an output that goes at 6000RPM, necessitating the need for a gearbox.  But maybe we can make some lemonade.  Let's exchange the alternator for something more reliable and lighter.

The alternator solves a problem that cars have.  They spend a lot of time idling, which means that a dynamo wouldn't be turning very fast.  Since the dynamo's output depends on how fast it's spinning, you're battery would run dead as your sitting at a stoplight.  The alternator solves the problem by replacing the magnets with an electro-magnet.  Now, the magnets strength can be increase when the car is idling, so that enough electrons are pumped to keep all the electro-whizzies a whizzing.
But we don't idle much in airplanes.  And the alternator carries with it all sorts of error modes and extra weight.  Belts break.  There's all that work and circuitry to control that electro-magnet.  Let it get away from you and you'll fry all the electro-whizzies.  There's a side load applied to the shaft that has to be supported by bearings.  Then you've got a lot of weight invested in brackets and pulleys.  And don't even mention a case to hold the alternator that is solid enough to not buckle under the side load.

Henry Ford showed us the path to light and reliable aircraft electricity in 1897.  I'm going to copy the old design.

http://bobhooversblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/av-reliable-ignition.html

4.7lbs isn't a great weight saver compared to some of the lightweight alternators out there, but I don't think they're usually weighed with the mounting brackets and pulleys from the engine side of the belt.  We can get more weight savings if we let the flywheel that we already have double as a rotor.  The last part requires some investigation, but there isn't a rule that the coils must be round.

The electric water pump I'm using is a CSR-901S.

Back to that 6000RPM thing.  What else can we do with that?

Your typical commerical leaf blower spins at 6000RPM.  Delivers 600CFM at 100MPH or more.  Ever seen inside one?  The ones I've seen all have four flat impeller blades space at 90 degrees.  There's a nice space between that gearbox adapter plate and the engine.  Tom Belvin is machining an adapter plate for me.  It's going to be round.  So now we have an excellent source of lightly compressed air.  What can we do with that?

The first thought is immediately turbocharging...or is that supercharging. Regardless of what you call it, it's not a big boost, but is that a bad thing.   You can never have too much power at your disposal, but how much work and complexity do you have to add to get it.  The fan won't add enough pressure to require pop-off valves and such (I think).  The intake air won't be sucked through a device that is connected to the exhaust. There'll be no added exhaust back pressure. Nothing spinning at 100,000RPM.  Basically,  another ??Hp for the cost of some fan blades and a shroud.

We can also use some of the pressurized air to help with the rotaries exhaust problems.  The heat destroys most mufflers and the noise pounds them into dust.  The biggest part of the noise comes from the supersonic exhaust pulse.  Slow that air down, and it starts to get much quieter. The easiest way to slow it down is to cool it.  How about we pump some of that air backwards through the EGR ports.  There's a hole at the top center of the engine.  Bruce covered mine with an aluminum plate.  The other end of the passage is a 3/8" or so hole under each exhaust port.  A constant breeze of cool air will go a long way toward taming the exhaust demon.

There's other things I'd like to tell you about, but the aliens say that I have to keep quiet about them for now.  I'm not sure if it is because it is 1am, or because they're not ready for the rest of the world to experience rotary teleportation (the piston teleportation is so old hat).

Good night.

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