Whenever the topic comes up about adding a turbo
to a Rotary I go back to what was the reasoning I used when making the decision
to go Rotary in the first place.
My reasoning was to eliminate as much mechanical
complexity as I possibly could. If I added a turbo then the level of complexity
(and weight) went up.
I reasoned that if I needed (or just plain wanted)
additional power, I would just add another rotor. That actually gives me more
power that the turbo for where I need it most and the weight comparison is
negligible for the trade-off in power/complexity.
I believe that a 2 rotor (using Mistral Engines as
a benchmark) produces 190hp N/A (291 lbs) vs. 230hp Turbo (328 lb). The three
rotor generates 300 hp @ 375 lb so yes, it’s it’s roughly +50 lbs but +70 hp as
well without a significant increase in complexity.
I opted for the 3-rotor solution. Less things to
go wrong (which is important to me.)
T Mann