Posted for Epijk@aol.com:
In a message dated 5/12/2002 9:28:31 AM Pacific Daylight Time, dpohl@cdh.net writes:

<<<...Jack's request that people talk to (him) "off line" serves no
purpose other than to try to kill a fledgling company...>>>

Au contraire, mon ami. First, I can't imagine, from my posting, where you get the impression that I had something negative to say. Secondly, an off-line conversation with a seriously-interested party will communicate an immense amount of relevant information with far less time and effort than that which is required to communicate in writing, without boring those on the list with a bunch of technical discussion (about which many correspondents have already complained).

<<<...As for Jack, .....I'm not sure of the reasons for his posting but
will certainly try to catch with him this week...>>>

The reason for MY posting should have been obvious, Doug: an attempt to refute some of the disinformation about the EngineAir powerplant, arising from the failure of a high-time gearbox driveshaft which, just coincidentally, happened right after the engine package was disassembled and modified by the disgruntled aircraft builder. The part which failed was the prototype, which had accumulated several hundred hours in service on several different engines and two different aircraft. It, like many other specialized aircraft parts, required knowledgeable and careful handling (a foreign concept to much of the racing community). I find it a little more than coincidental that it failed just after the owner had installed it on an engine he had just "improved" over Joniec's design. Another interesting fact about this incident is that this owner had so little concern about the potential for injury to other users of this product that he outright REFUSED to send us the broken part so that we could analyze it to see if there was a safety issue. Several people contacted him in an effort to obtain the broken part for analysis, but the only apparent concern on the part of the Las Vegas bunch was to use the part in an attempt to extort a new engine and gearbox from EA (after not even having completely paid for the first one!).

The kind of disinformation about which I am concerned is exemplified by a Schramek emission on the subject of the gearbox driveshaft:

<<<...When the main drive is about .050in. thick for 400 HP that, my friend, is a design that needs much rework...>>>

First, let me emphatically state that I'm NOT his friend. Secondly, It is clear from the above statement (and others) that these criticisms emanate from a perspective devoid of a basic comprehension of power transmission. It isn't HP that makes the loads; it's TORQUE. The EA engine produces a bit less than 500 lb-ft of torque, and the gearbox was designed for quite a bit more than that. If that critic had bothered to do a fundamentally simple calculation using not only the wall thickness of that driveshaft, but also the outside diameter as well as the torque applied to it, he would have discovered that the shaft in question is actually operating at a lower stress level than is the thick-walled shaft inside it (which carries identically the same torque as the thin wall shaft). BTW, just to demonstrate how irrelevant HP is to the discussion, a shaft considerably smaller than the one you criticize transmits 750 HP into the gearbox on the TPE-331-10 Garrett turbine engine.

The thin wall shaft, like a metal airplane wing, handles the stresses for which it was designed quite well, but is intolerant of abnormal loads for which it was not designed. It requires special handling, which is defined in great detail in the gearbox installation manual. The Las Vegas bunch, however, apparently has so much infused knowledge that they did not deem it important to obtain that information prior to implementing their "improvements".

One piece of wisdom Schramek offers, however, is right on point:

<<<...If it had lasted another 30 seconds you and the folks at EngineAir would not be trying to defend yourselves on this site but rather in a court of law...>>>


This demonstrated and pervasive inability to take responsibility for one's own actions is precisely the reason the aviation industry (and many others) are in their current sad state. Wake up and read the sign on the side of your airplane, Schramek....the one in big block letters which says EXPERIMENTAL. A guy, as a result of his ignorance, damages a delicate part and crashes his homebuilt airplane, and then wants to sue everyone in sight. Let's hear it for the Lawyer-Lottery Mentality.

Maybe Schramek will experience this phenomenon firsthand when some dimbulb incorrectly installs one of his Vortech Supercharger bolt-on kits, or some other dimbulb forgets to retighten the drive belt after 5 hours of operation, and pukes the belt and breaks something which takes the airplane down.

I also thank Schramek for his learned psychological counseling:

<<<...Jack needs to grow up...>>>

However, it tends to lose some of it's impact when preceded by stuff like:

<<<....I have met him <the drag-race guy> and he has forgotten more about engines and gearboxes than you will ever know......I wonder if you have ever won anything....>>>

(You divined this wellspring of knowledge based on one meeting with him???)

Jack Kane


[Hey guys... look at the title in the subject line.  As you all should know by now (or are painfully aware, as ever the case may be) I don't censor anything that's sent to the LML.  I do, however, jump in every now and again to try and keep things on an even keel.  This is one of those times....  I (and most of the LML membership, I'm sure) don't have any problems with observing or taking part in discussions with differing points of view... after all, if we can't talk freely among ourselves, what's the point.  It seems to me, though, that this discussion is starting to get a bit off point, and we're getting uncomfortably close to the "name calling" stage.  Please, for everyone's sake, lighten up a bit and keep it civil.  Stick to the issues and remember Mom's best advice... treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. Thanks......

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