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Yeah, it was a mix. To someone new to homebuilding it would be a rotary turn-off. Hopefully, anyone serious about building an airplane will recognize the easily avoided pitfalls he had and do their homework first. I mean really, you wait until the thing’s on the airplane to find out how much this powerplant weighs? I spent months researching and thinking about potential problems with rotaries before I even bought the engine. The Racing Beat technical manual was the single most helpful piece of info I found. Sure wish I had known Lynn at the time though. I’m on the way to CO, driving the Slingshot, not flying, but looking forward to flying the RV-8 I left there a couple of years ago. The extended wings and bigger engine (20B) make it the perfect high altitude airport plane. Salida is at 8000ft & most summer days the density alt is over 10,000. Flys like the RV-4 at sea level 😊 Tracy I donnknow, I have lots of mixed feelings about this article.
Yes it is an important article and reveals lots of problems, and yes we should welcome him into the community,
however
Where is his responsibility to learn all he could about his "strange engine" with a "strange" gear box,a "strange" ignition system that may or may not have been modified in a strange way.
There are many resources available to learn prior to turning a wrench. As an example, It seems like he has a Ross gear box but is lubricating it as if it were an RWS, thus the blown seal.
Articles, such as this, although interesting to those of us with some knowledge of the engine, I believe are detrimental to those people who what to rotarize. It really said-- "Don't go there, the damn things don't work and will cost you a fortune.
Hopefully the author will get the necessary education before going any further. If he continues, as he is going, if the engine ever does produce power, he has a great possibility of becoming a statistic which can only hurt our effort to eliminate cylinders.
Perhaps the article should be entitled," Learn before you leap".
The time, IMNSHO to write an article of this type is after the engine has been successful and should be written as a retrospective of the journey.
Rich -----Original Message-----
From: Lehanover <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Sent: Tue, Jun 7, 2016 11:06 pm
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: What a load!! Good or bad there is great value in airing all problems and cures. If we learn from the mistakes of others the cost goes down. Remove the plugs. Disable the ignition system. Clear the prop. Spin up oil pressure several times so as to get all of the air out of the oil passages and hoses. Before you start the engine the first time from new, and after a long winter or period if no use. If the pump has drained down to dry and will not prime. Disconnect the pressure out hose form its destination and stick the loose end in the shop vac with a shop rag as a seal. Apply a vacuum and crank the engine until you make a mess in the shop vac. Now spin up some oil into a waste can to be sure pump is OK. Then reattach the hose and spin up oil pressure. Piece of cake. Hi Andrew Excellent to hear of another rotary in Aus getting airborne, excellent work, Bumma about the rebuild, but that's the learning curve, is worth the perseverance . As for the article, I reckon it was well done and a good collection of mistakes that some of us has made Over the years, yes it can be taken both ways, but wherever my rotary flies to there is always a fair amount of enthusiasm associated around the engine. Cheers all
On Wednesday, 8 June 2016, Andrew Martin <flyrotary@lancaironline.net> wrote: I dont see a problem with the article, good on him for writing it, looks to me that he is perservering. Much same article could be written by many Lyc/Cont builds. Takes a lot to put your mistakes into print for others to learn. I think we should be inviting him to this forum and encouraging him on. If I was close I'd go and say hello but I dont think he lives near Western Australia. I myself made my maiden flight on Sunday. Total time 4 minuites, learnt that the plane handles exceponally well. Steam cleaned the inside of the cowl at 500' above the wrong end of the runway, all due to an absolutly stupid mistake by the builder, so a rebuild is in order before next flight. I might even tell more if I can bring myself to admitting my mistake in print and know that I wont be ridiculed. I really like my rotary engine, saved my ass.
Cheers Renesis,rd1-c,ec2,em2. gt electric cs prop.
On Wednesday, 8 June 2016, William Jepson <flyrotary@lancaironline.net> wrote:
True Todd, and I was rather harsh in my comment. I think that I am sensitive as I want rotary conversions to flourish. That article isn't helpful to that. On Jun 7, 2016 4:07 PM, "Todd Bartrim" <flyrotary@lancaironline.net> wrote: Oh, there's so many things that could be said about this article, but the most important is the next to final line.. "but I've had a lot more fun and learned a great deal more than simply bolting on another engine." That pretty much fits with the rule that allows us to build for "entertainment and educational purposes". While building my plane was fun, it wasn't hard with the very complete manual and plans that Vans supplies, but by far the most fun and rewarding aspect of the project was the FWF where all design and development was the responsibility of yours truly with the only guidance being provided by the collective wisdom of the members of this list. I don't recognize his name so I assume he was never a member of this list, but obviously a disciple of Lamar. While it does shed a negative light on what we are doing, it likely wouldn't dissuade a knowledgeable and competent builder, but will make those with questionable abilities think twice about embarking on this journey. When we trivialize the challenges that we've overcome, we do possibly create unrealistic expectations for others.
On Tue, Jun 7, 2016 at 2:13 PM, ARGOLDMAN <flyrotary@lancaironline.net> wrote: In a message dated 6/7/2016 12:16:25 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, flyrotary@lancaironline.net writes:
--
Regards
Andrew Martin
Martin Ag
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