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RV-4 w/Mazda Turbo (Methanol) video

Might do it faster with the cowling on? And is that an oil leak visible on the windshield as he descends?
 
Oil on Windscreen

Might do it faster with the cowling on? And is that an oil leak visible on the windshield as he descends?
The rumor is he pushed a bit too aggressively for some reason at the end, and vented some oil as a result. I wonder if it needed the cowling off in order to cool adequately when producing 600 hp. while maintaining such a high AOA at the low climb speed...

Doug
 
Thanks for sharing.

Tracy Crook had a ton of success with his rotary Rv4 and so did many others.

Does anyone know of any more contemporary rotary engine RV projects?

Charlie R.
 
RV's w/Mazda 13B's

Thanks for sharing.

Tracy Crook had a ton of success with his rotary Rv4 and so did many others.
Does anyone know of any more contemporary rotary engine RV projects?
Charlie R.

Charlie: Tracy and a KITPLANES article on his RV-4 "Otter" project in '95-6 was what got me going down the "Rotary road" for my RV-9A. I always wanted an "alternative" engine and initially thought a Porsche junkyard engine was the way to go until I reached the price of replacement parts and found a single valve was about the same as a Lycoming price! For me, if there were no cost savings then I wasn't going to do all the extra work. We have a small group of Mazda RV guys who are flying to include a flying RV-10 w/Super-charged Renesis, RV-9A w/Renesis, a handful of RV-6/7's w/Renesis & 13Bs, Tracy's 4&8, etc. There also are a handful still under construction like my 9A (which hopefully will finally fly in the Spring of '20), some 7's and 8's. If interested you can lurk on the "Flyrotary" list and keep up with those flying and building, and many are RV guys. http://mail.lancaironline.net:81/Lists/

Doug Lomheim
RV-3A renovated / sold
RV-9A Mazda 13B / FWF
 
What Doug said. :)

My wife and I try to host an alt engine gathering at least once a year, here at Slobovia Outernational (MS71) in MS. It's been fairly common to have 5 or 6 rotary powered a/c in attendance, from as far away as Wyoming. We usually have at least a couple show up for our annual Pumpkin Drop in November each year.

I've got a Renesis installation almost complete on an RV-7. If you're really interested, sign up for Flyrotary, as Doug suggested, and ask questions.

Charlie

edit: Doug mentioned Tracy Crook's -8; it's truly impressive. It's running a 20B (3 rotor) with a monster 3 blade fixed pitch prop. IIRC, somewhere around 3500fpm climb rate. He built it for high altitude cross country work, with extended wing span by around 15" on each side. He elected to use the 3 rotor (somewhat derated at sea level) instead of a turbo'd 2 rotor for extra HP at altitude without the complexity of a turbo.
 
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Good to see there are a few more Wankel powered RVs coming along. I'd love to see some more pix and performance numbers from Tracy's RV8. Sounds very cool. The ROC is about double mine- nice!
 
Renesis Genesis

Doug,
I visited Tracy’s Suwannee river airstrip/shop/home many years ago when the 8 was under construction. We had completed our 4’s in FL at the same time, his 13B powered-4 being a revolutionary experiment.
He was perfecting his commercial reduction drive and fuel injection system at that time and the 8 progress was slow, but steady. Despite the completion date seemingly far away, when he crunched the thrust to weight numbers with the 3 rotor, we both smiled. I could already hear big the Mazda hum..

The garage build Everyman P-51 is a reality...
V/R
Smokey

PS: The 4 featured in the time to climb has several HR2 mods. One of many challenges in my HR2 was high cowling temps. With great power comes great temperature...hence the cowl-less flight.
 
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Tracy's RV-8 w/20B

Doug,
I visited Tracy?s Suwannee river airstrip/shop/home many years ago when the 8 was under construction. We had completed our 4?s in FL at the same time with vastly different test period results, his Mazda-4 being a true revolutionary?Experimental. He was perfecting his commercial reduction drive and fuel injection system at that time and the 8 progress was slow, but steady. Despite the completion date seemingly far away, when he crunched the thrust to weight numbers with the 3 rotor, we both smiled. I could already hear big the Mazda hum..

The garage build Everyman P-51 is a reality...
V/R
Smokey

PS: The 4 featured in the time to climb has several HR2 mods. One of many challenges in my HR2 was high cowling temps. With great power comes great temperature...hence the cowl-less flight.

Smokey: In 2007 Tracy hosted a fly in drive in at his home in Florida and this video of his 20B engine run was made...sounded great then; and I still hope to see it fly in person some day! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF95pMwAWpY
 
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