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"Real airplane engines are round" (sort of) The engine installation has evolved since the engine page was last updated, but at this point it is just to big of a job to fully update the page, given my current time constraints, however since it is probably the most interesting part of this site I will begin to take more pictures of it's current configuration to update this page.		Turbocharged 13B Rotary Engine
Here is simple internal view of a rotary engine in operation for those that don't know how they work. This was shamelessly borrowed from Rob Johnson's page where more detail is available. This great animation of a rotary engine is courtesy of Real World Solutions		After careful consideration I have chosen to power this airplane with a Mazda 13B rotary engine. There are many reasons for this including reliability, cost, weight & power, but most importantly is because "I want to". The debate over certified aircraft / automotive engines is guaranteed to start heated arguments amongst pilots. These arguments are often based on "tradition & myth rather than physics & understanding". I considered using a certified aircraft engine but the idea of spending exorbitant amounts of money on a rivet-shakin, gas guzzlin, oil drippin engine based on 60 year old technology just didn't appeal to me. Why would I want to build a new, better airplane and then put an old design engine in it just because it has been 'proven'?? In a reciprocating engine you have a mass of metal traveling at over 200 mph, and in a fraction of a second it has to change direction, then go 200 mph in the opposite direction, then change direction again, doing this about 60 times every second. This design is made to break. Then up to 30% of the power it is producing is used to drive a complex arrangement of valves up & down at the same speed. A turbine is the perfect aircraft engine as it is designed to run at a constant, high rpm and is very lightweight and simple. Unfortunately they are very $$$$$$ and have very high fuel consumption. A rotary engine is a good second choice, though not without a few drawbacks but I feel that the pros far outweigh the cons. For more detailed information on a rotary installation, Ed Anderson has written an excellent article that is responsible for turning me onto this design. It can be viewed at http://www.dmack.net/mazda/information.html It is well worth the read. Another good FAQ page was written by Rob Johnson http://www.robjohnson.com/20b_faq.html Pros simplicity of design no valve train to rob power rotors operate independently, essentially two engines in one rotors go smoothly round & round instead of up & down few moving parts to wear and rob power liquid cooling means even temperature control light weight cost to build approx half that of a cert. aircraft engine very low cost to maintain & overhaul reliability - catastrophic failure is extremely unlikely low compression means detonation is almost impossible allowing use of inexpensive low octane auto fuel very low vibration means less stress on the airframe as well as the pilot powerful; 180NA - 250 reliable hp with turbocharger several discussion groups on the web to find advice for this installation Cons liquid cooling adds to weight high rpm necessitates a Prop Speed Reduction Unit (psru) adding weight and complexity noise - exhaust gases exiting at supersonic speeds necessitates a muffler, adding to weight high exhaust temperature pilots with "real" aircraft engines will think that they're superior. Van's support staff will not be able to help with info on this installation. With careful planning this installation will still be lighter than a comparable certified aircraft engine, but allot more reliable. I've really enjoyed this phase of the project with all it's challenges & rewards along with the help & enjoyment that I have received from the FlyRotary list. I'm looking forward to mounting the engine soon. I will try to keep this site up to date. Plans for this installation include EC2 ignition controller from Real World Solutions RD-1 psru from RWS Electric water pump from DaviesCraig Turbo for normalization SmartPlugs for trailing plugs Rotary Engine Power Calculator Click here to down load Ed Anderson's Excel spreadsheet for calculating rotary horsepower I'm not sure of it's accuracy, but it sure is fun to increase the boost pressure & see the HP climb! Electric Water Pump I've decided to use an electric water pump for engine cooling even though they have not been used in this application yet as far as I know. This is a subject of some controversy on the Rotary lists. Some expert opinion (Leon Promet) seems to think it will work great, while other not-so-expert opinion vehemently argues that it will never work. I've decided to find out for myself and at least one other is considering this as well. I will post all results as I progress on this page as well as on the FlyRotary list. I feel that it will give me better cooling while taxing by providing a higher flow rate while engine is at a low RPM and will save energy while cruising by pumping at a lower flow rate. Short flights probably won't make allot of difference, but longer flights should make a marked difference. Reliability should be improved as well, since only the alternator is belt driven now. Loss of an alternator belt would have a less immediate effect than the loss of a pump belt. I plan to have an auxiliary alternator which will be capable of sustaining essential loads including this pump. Weight will be reduced as the electric pump & controller weigh 2lb 10oz while the mechanical pump and pulleys weigh 10lbs! I plan to use an adapter plate to completely remove the pump housing. I made my own aluminum hose flanges as I am using a 1" hose and the kit only comes with 1.25" - 2" hose flanges. I've since changed this back to 1.25" hose as I wanted to ensure that I had the least restriction possible to ensure no heat is generated by restriction. This meant spending hours going through various hoses at an automotive store, but I found suitable shapes. I've recorded all part numbers of these hoses as I doubt I would find them again. The kit is meant to simply flow through the existing mechanical water pump after the belt or the impeller have been removed. I decided to make my own adapter plate that would allow me to completely remove the existing pump. The adapter also allows for return of the turbo coolant flow and mounting ports for RTD temp sensors. One of these is required for the pump controller. The controller is equipped with an internal trim pot to adjust the coolant temp. I removed this and wired in a small dash mounted trim pot. This will allow me to make fine adjustments while in flight. A little hotter for better fuel economy. A little colder for more power. I've built my own small aluminum header tank with a 18 - 21 psi cap. This was to allow me to build a unit that would fit above the highest point of the block, yet still fit below the cowl. It is located on the firewall, inches away from the engine coolant exit. This makes it work quite well. The pressure relief is plumbed to my old coolant header tank located lower on the FW, which now functions as a reserve tank. Ceramic Coating I had the 3 faces of both rotors ceramic coated to reduce heat absorption. The company that did them claims that I will see a small HP increase from this. I have my doubts about this, however if it reduces heat absorption by the rotors which are cooled internally by engine oil, which in turn is cooled by air through a large oil radiator, then I can reduce the airflow through it, which creates less drag, which is equal to free HP. If I get any actual HP from this, I will consider it a bonus. Muffler The issue of mufflers has been a challenge and many on the FlyRotary list have been working on this problem for some time. Most mufflers designs last less than 10 minutes due to the high temp & pressures produced by the rotary. The Rx7 car uses a cast iron muffler which is unsuitable to aircraft use. Mike Callahan found a new muffler on an off-road site called Spintech. After some discussion on the list & contact with Spintech, a suggestion was made to have list members donate $20 to a test fund. Response was overwhelming and it was decided that Tracy Crook from Real World solutions was the best person to test this for us. Spintech quickly made a muffler to Tracy's specifications and Tracy installed it on his rotary powered RV-4. Results so far are better than anybody expected. It has held up well & adequately silences the bark of the rotary. A more detailed report on this muffler can be found at http://www.rotaryaviation.com/muffler_experiment.htm I have since made my own version of this muffler and so far it has held up very well and sounds good. I'm very pleased with it's performance. Engine Mount I wanted a special mount called a "float mount" that is available from Van's which has gear mounts for a taildragger mains & a nose wheel. Van's charges $1125 usd for this mount and it is designed for a Lycosaurus. So I was able to find out that mounts are produced by Custom Components in Tacoma. I was spoke with the owner, Bruce and was able to get a partial mount made. This mount has all gear mounts & firewall attachments, but no engine mounts. He also included 18' .049x3/4 tubing to finish the mount. He then sent it down to Van's to be shipped in my finish kit. All for $376 usd. I am very impressed with the quality of workmanship. After a few weeks planning on a CAD program, I finally welded up my mount. I am very pleased with the results. The normal procedure for building an engine mount is to suspend the engine over a "dummy firewall" and fit in the structural members after securing the engine in a stable position. I did it backwards. I sat the engine on a few blocks on its flywheel end. I then mounted my partial mount to a piece of plywood that was marked with a small hole on the thrust line. I then built a sturdy wooden frame to hold the "firewall" above the engine at the proper distance. A plumb bob was suspended through the small hole on the thrust line which was lined up with the e-shaft. Small holes were drilled in the frame to insert string which was used to make a grid around the engine. This ensured all was square. A level was used to square the firewall to the thrust line and plumb bob was left in place to ensure thrust line remained lined up. Then all the structural members were tack welded in place. At this point I removed the mount from my jig and TIG welded all joints. When mount was completely welded, I put it back on engine and jig. This took a little effort as it had pulled out of alignment. Once back in place, I applied heat to all of the joints and once it cooled it was still perfectly aligned with no stress on any of the joints. After painting it was mounted on the "real" firewall where it fit perfectly. Then the engine was lifted into place where it was easily mounted into place.
The RV-9 is only rated for 160hp, as it has a Vne of 200mph. I expect to be doing allot of flying from high altitude bush strips and glaciers, so I want 180hp for take-off & climb only. A turbo is the best solution, however a Nitrous Oxide system would be the easiest & cheapest. A turbo also has the advantage of normalization.
This is my engine as I found it at the autowreckers. It had been removed from the car and stored in a dry shed for years. I wasn't sure about it so I offered $160 cdn. Turned out to be a great bargain.	The bare block with all accessories removed
Engine completely disassembled with parts in order, ready for marking. Engine passed inspection easily. It appears to be a low-time engine.	I failed to take any pictures during the rebuild process, mostly 'cause I always had grease on my hands and didn't want to touch the camera. I purchased Bruce Turrentines video tape on rebuilding the 13B. I have a small TV/VCR in the shop and worked along with the video tape, as he walks the viewer step by step through the teardown, inspection & rebuild. I highly recommend this to anyone considering their own rebuild.
The basic block rebuilt and put on stand. The stand is homemade but works very well. It mounts the engine quite unlike a conventional engine stand.
Real World Solutions EC2 This is the Ignition/Injection that I am using.
Real World Solutions RD-1A prop speed reduction unit.
Davies Craig electric water pump


Flow tests using a mag tube	Flow test ing GM cores vrs. Ford cores
Coolant header tank with 18-21psi cap	Cooling system can be seen here. EWP is located on firewall behind gascolator

This is the style of muffler that I will use	My own version of the "SpinTech". So far it has been working great.
Exhaust Pipe with knuckle joint	This picture shows how muffler is located in housing (with cover off)


This is the "Float Mount" that is available from Van's for $1125. It has the TD main gear & TG nose gear mounts with Dynafocal engine mounts.
This is the mount that I had made by Custom Components. It has gear & firewall mounts only. I will finish the rest to fit a Mazda rotary engine.

I have built 4 sub-mounts to bolt to the engine which will provide me with 4 symmetrical mount points for the main mount





I have combined the water pump adapter plate with the upper left motor mount.
This sub-mount has now been changed. See alternator mount below.	This sub-mount has also been changed, see electric water pump above

Although I have great confidence in the electric water pump approach, I did want to have a way to go back to the mechanical pump should it be necessary, without having to rebuild my engine mount. To accomplish this I have made an extra sub-mount which is sandwiched between the water pump and the block as shown below.
			This is my final mount design. Click here to download a CAD of this mount
relieving the stress in the jig

		Turbocharger I decided that I really did want to have a turbo, primarily for normalization purposes, but also for improved take off & climb while flying in the mountains. Sooo, I have installed a turbocharger from an '88 13B. The later models are actually better but more expensive as well. With this model the internal wastegate is far too small, so this required porting which was easy to do. It is also equipped with a switching valve on the inlet which is unnecessary as well as heavy with its actuator, so it was removed. I've decided to use an intercooler to reduce the possibility of detonation, which is slightly higher due to the fact that I'm still using the 9.4:1 compression rotors. Intercooling along with limiting my manifold pressure to 32"hg will reduce this risk. The additional weight was hard to accept (40lbs), but I feel it will carry it's own weight well.
Wastegate is quite small, but has been ported
This is my current boost control system. It works well, however I will continue to work towards designing an absolute pressure actuator control system for normalization

		Intake Manifold Use of the turbo will allow for the use of "brute force" to deliver the intake charge. It would still be better to have a tuned intake, but this allows for a lighter, more compact manifold. I welded this with .100 5052 aluminum. The intake flange is .250 aluminum. I bought injector mounting bosses which are epoxied into place on manifold. They could be welded, however Devcon has proven itself to be extremely durable and will allow removal in the future if I decide to build a new manifold. The original throttle body was also heavy, bulky & unsuited to my needs, so off I went to the auto wreckers. I found the perfect throttle body from a Ford 5.0 liter Triton engine. Only the linkage required a little modification.
Original configuration of intake manifold	Intake manifold modified to provide better mounting of throttle body While making this mod I also welded in baffles into intake manifold to provide runners in the same way as required for tuning of a NA manifold. The turbo should compensate for any lack of runner lenght.
		Injector Rail Originally there was 2 separate injector rails for the primary and the secondary injectors. Since my intake was placing them so close to each other, I was able to make one rail to feed all injectors. This was done by cutting the secondary rail in half and welding it onto the ends of the primary rail. The mounts were also removed from the secondary rail. A long bolt was used to hold all parts in alignment for welding.
		Alternator Side Mount The original alternator mount is on top of the engine, however this requires a "bubble" on top of the cowl to provide clearance. I bought an alternator from a Geo Metro which is smaller with a higher output (63 amps), but it was still very close to the cowl. The original mount is on the top of the waterpump which I'm not using either so I needed to make a mount for it regardless of where I decided to mount it. The right side was perfect and it also helps to balance the weight of the turbo on the left side. The upper left engine mount was rebuilt with a slightly different design to incorporate the aft alternator mount. The pulley end of the mount also has the tension arm. I used a 30", 3 groove serpentine belt. I found a 3 groove main pulley at the autowreckers (I have no idea what kind of car it came off) that required a little machining to fit my e-shaft, but it is far better and lighter than the original pulleys. As can be seen in the pic, clearance is tight but it does not seem to be an issue. This alternator was equipped with an internal regulator which was replaced with an external regulator, after it failed during taxi testing. More details on this on the avionics page.
Throttle cable mount on top of engine		Back to Front Page - C-FSTB May 31, 2005
Stock Mazda oil cooler	Oil cooler intake duct on bottom & intercooler intake duct on side	So far engine ground tests have been very promising. I'm very pleased. I will report in greater detail as testing nears completion
			Tach Divider to convert hi-res signal from EC2 for use with a conventional tach.
Engine right side Engine left side