Interesting indeed, Al.  Two things catch my attention - the inside looks a bit complex - is reliability and how you get rid of the internal heat. But, it looks like they are aware of the challenges and have identified durability and heat management as two challenges.

However, I must agree -  the chances of it seeing production are slim and non.  I mean even with the resources of a Mazda/Ford company - its still appears to me that the future of even the rotary is not for certain.

Ed




----- Original Message ----- From: "Al Gietzen" <ALVentures@cox.net>
To: "Rotary motors in aircraft" <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2008 11:10 AM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Rotary within a rotary


Forward:

A very interesting engine concept.  BSFC of .28 - wow.  Be sure to checkout
the animation.

Subject: REFLECTOR: Engine Answer?

We've seen so many too-good-to-be-true alternative engine technologies that
we roll our eyes whenever we see the next one. One that has potential to be
a bit different is the legacy engine effort, being worked on at Oak Ridge,
TN with technical support of Oak Ridge National Lab and University of
Tennessee and some decent (if inadequate) money behind them.  It has aspects
of a rotary engine and Wankel but is designed to run of heavy fuels, such as
kerosene.  Hallmarks:

*  An increase in efficiency of approximately 16% over an equivalent
crankshaft engine
*  Potential for greater than 1.6 hp/lb
*  Potential for 200 hp/ft3 of installed volume

While the efficiency improvement over a crankshaft/recip engine is modest,
its biggest asset for aircraft (which they have not even thought about) is
the energy density.  A 300hp unit would weigh 188# and be about 15" diameter
and about 15" long.  As can be seen from the website,
http://www.legacyengine.com/home/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

they are as much into finding partners and investors as they are about
explaining the technology--not a good sign, but also not unusual for a start
up.  They don't intend to manufacturer the engine, simply develop and
license the technology.

Anyhow, I would give it a 2%-3% chance of ever seeing the light of a
commercial day, but if it did, even if it fell a tad short of its
performance specs, what an awesome aircraft engine--using heavy fuels at
that.




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