Mazda engines??

[Flying Librarian]

G'day everyone,

 

I got overtaken the other day by an RX-8 (mind you I was in truck!!) and all of a sudden wondered why do we not seem to use Mazda/Rotary/Wankel engines in RA. They seem to be powerful and I assume light enough. Would it be reliability or fuel consumption or some other reason??

 

 

[fly_tornado]

unfortunately, rotaries chew a lot of fuel.

 

 

[Guest pookemon]

There is actually a web site that talks about it a bit. Yes, they are very light, they are not too expensive and are very powerful. But Rotary Engines (even the modern ones) need a teardown in a very short amount of time and chew through the fuel like a 747 (despite that web sites claims).

 

 

[Flying Librarian]

Thanks for that guys. Always ask the guys that know, not the experts!!

 

 

[kaz3g]

G'day everyone,I got overtaken the other day by an RX-8 (mind you I was in truck!!) and all of a sudden wondered why do we not seem to use Mazda/Rotary/Wankel engines in RA. They seem to be powerful and I assume light enough. Would it be reliability or fuel consumption or some other reason??

Tom Wickers was fitting rotary Mazdas to his Cobra Arrow but the last one I saw crashed and burned!

 

kaz

 

 

[sleemanj]

Rotaries are great, it is not uncommon for them too be used in light aircraft, both from RX7 and more recently RX8 doners. Most recently I think I heard of a T51 with one installed.

 

The primary advantages are, of course, much improved power to weight, far fewer moving parts, and excellent failure modes (very "limpable") if it comes to that, and because no reciprocating pistons they give super smooth running.

 

They do run at high RPM which necessitates a reduction unit - of course in light recreational aircraft we are used to this by now, but those who have spent hours behind chugging lycosaurs are hesitant about these new fangled gearbox thingees ;-)

 

The tales about needing regular rebuilds, are really more based on experiences with hoodlums caning around in turbo'd RX7s at silly boosts, and early developments of apex seals, in my opinion. A modern wankel like in the RX8 is pretty reliable if treated right, apex seals have come a long way. Run premix and you don't even have to worry about an oil pump.

 

Even when it comes to a rebuild, you have to remember, wankel engines really are beautifully simple at their core.

 

They have higher fuel usage than a comparable CC piston engine, but remember, they are producing much higher horsepower than that comparable CC piston engine, so that's not really a valid complaint IMHO.

 

Here's a decent link (more about the 13B from RX7s than the RX8, but gives you an idea): http://www.dmack.net/mazda/information.html

 

Plenty of Video goodies on Youtube if you want some braaaaaap aircraft action.

 

 

[apm]

my Lightwing Speed is powered by a mazda 13b Renesis Rotary, makes noise but not flight ready yet. a great engine for aircraft use but you need to be dedicated to firewall forward development, the engine itself is extremely reliable, its the bits and pieces that make it into an airworthy powerplant that usually suffer if not designed correctly.

 

basically if your more into flying than experimenting, fly a lycosaurus!

 

got a 20b also, just got to find a airframe that will hack the pace.