Message-ID: <381B1741.A678FB62@regandesigns.com>
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1999 09:05:21 -0700
From: Brent Regan <brent@regandesigns.com>
To: Lancair List <lancair.list@olsusa.com>
Subject: RE: LPE  ZEHRBACH ENGINES
Mime-Version: 1.0

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<<<Fred, the customer posted his results on the lancair list.  Dick is a
high
time very experienced airlines pilot.  Call him up and tell him he is full
of it and doesnt know how to run a test.  Let him explain why his
independant test got the results that it did.  rlperry@juno.com>>>

Dick didn't run a test. He simply reported that he has seen a drop in fuel
flow for the same MAP and RPM. We do know that he is using a different prop
(prop strike on the old one), a rebuilt engine and the atmosphere has gotten
cooler. A test  is where you change one thing while keeping everything else
the same.

<<  The problem is of integration into mass assembly lines.  It does not
readily adapt itself to
that area.  >>

Are you saying that you can coat the parts from any engine someone sends you
in a box yet this cannot be done in mass production? Why not??

<<Also if you are absolutely right then why does the new Continental Top
Care
kit pistons have the solid lubricants on the skirts.  Why did Federal Mogul
introduce last year bearings with the solid lubricants on them and a line
of pistons for remans with the solid lubricants on them.  Must be a major
scam, right  Fred?>>

Sounds like a marketing scam ;) Actually the solid lubricants do have a
purpose at startup and break-in when oil lubrication is minimal.

<<More independant tests.  Request NASA Lewis Research Center Tech Brief
LEW-16512  "Tests of Thermal Barrier and Wear Coats".  Under conclusions

#1.  "Using TBC (thermal barrier coating)----reduced the SFC by 16.1%">>

I found the abstract for this Tech Brief at the Glen site (formerly LeRC).
Apparently these tests were done on a charge cooled rotary engine c. 1997.
Where were the tests done and who wrote the report? Charge cooled rotaries
are horribly inefficient. I characterized a 40 Hp OMC engine in 1985 on a
calibrated dynamometer. It was clear from those tests that small changes in
the rotor heat flux would yield relatively large improvements in BSFC.

<<#5   "The TBC coating remained intact and in good condition ---">>

....after all those other times when it came off in chunks.

Data Data Data. Without it you you have no credibility when making claims
such as these.

Experimental aircraft have enough of an image problem with the general
public. Aligning ourselves with people who make unsubstantiated claims hurts
everyone. It would please me greatly if there was a magic bullet for a 15%
performance improvement and that this innovation started in experimental
aircraft. All I need is proof.

Science and religion are basically the same thing except that one requires
faith.


Regards
Brent Regan


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