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Mark,
The secret to Richards design is an expensive cast
iron mould - so if anything does happen to him, that's the end of it anyway.
Although , like Tracy, I admire his efforts as not many people could accomplish what he
has done, I wish I had thought of the Powersport type carbon steel, oven brazed
housings, that Bill Jepson is redesigning for the homebuilt
use.
The problem with end housings is the need for
strong flat wear surfaces couple with light weight. Naturally aluminium is
light weight but the only reasonable wear surface to date has been Det-gun
application and that's expensive. Richard opted to go the cast iron wear
surface ( which is very good) and because it is a flat area it has to be
thick so as not to flex under load, this he coupled with a aluminium half
housing. The carbon steel housings that Powersport developed is all steel,
machined to exacting tolerances and brazed together in an over while being
clamped in a jig ( I assume).
Although aluminium is lighter than steel, the steel
housings are only 1 lb heavier, I assume because the walls can be thinner.
This would still be lighter than Richards composite housing.
There are other technologies coming to the fore
like sintered laser technology where powered metal is laid down in thin layers
at a time and then melted by the laser. This can be done to exacting
specification and comes out much like high quality casts - with high density.
Only the material needed is fused, the other falls from the item as it's removed
from it's container. The thing I like about this technology is that's there very
little machining ( which is expensive) and little waste. Different
materials can be used so as hard points can be built in as the item is
constructed. I would like to see a Titanium rotor built with hard points ( built
in steel strips) for seal areas. I think you will see much more of this in
the future, however I assume it is quite expense at this stage. Commercial
reality drives these technologies, so we might see these things sooner rather
than later - I hope.
George ( down under)
Step
1 should read, "Machine the aluminum side housings from billet aluminum per
attached drawings."
The real issue is that I would hate to see all of Richard's excellent
work lost if anything were to happen to him. It would turn into another
story of some mystical rotary engine stored away in a garage somewhere for
decades, never to run again. The "hairy-chested hero" group needs to do
more to further the rotary movement for those that will follow.
Otherwise, we will keep reinventing the same old wheel over and over
again.
Mark
On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 9:18 AM, Tracy Crook <tracy@rotaryaviation.com>
wrote:
how
about a "how to" manual?
After following Richard's impressive
effort over the years, I can just imagine that manual.
Step
1. Machine the aluminum side housings from billet
aluminum.
Step 2 Cast the iron wear surfaces and
machine the o-ring grooves to seal the water jacket area.
.
.
.
Step 302 ...........
Some projects aren't
suited to DIY manuals. If you had the talent & ability to follow
the instructions, you probably wouldn't need the manual at all. It
sure is way beyond what I could tackle.
Tracy
On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 9:52 AM, Mark Steitle <msteitle@gmail.com> wrote:
Well
then, how about a "how to" manual?
Mark
On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 12:04 PM, Richard Sohn <res12@fairpoint.net> wrote:
As soon as someone shows up with a couple
million bucks.
Richard Sohn
N2071U
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2010
9:22 AM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Flight
Report
Richard,
That works for me, RES12 it is. So, when do you start
selling these little jewels?
Mark
On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 9:09 AM, Richard Sohn
<res12@fairpoint.net> wrote:
Whatever, I call it the RES12. If there
is a 13B based version in the future it will be a
RES13.
Richard Sohn
N2071U
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010
1:19 PM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re:
Flight Report
Richard,
Then, wouldn't you refer to half a 12A as a 6A?
Mark
On Tue, Jul 6, 2010 at 12:27 PM, Richard
Sohn <res12@fairpoint.net> wrote:
Yes Mark,
the airframe is my AVID Heavy
Hauler, which I flew for 10 years with a SOOB. Airframe mods are
done, and the engine is on the test stand for shake down runs.
I would call that engine a 12B
because it uses a 12A rotor and rotor housing.
Richard Sohn
N2071U
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