Atta’ boy, Mark!
Let them know that most of the time we
keep those rotary engines loafing in order not to embarrass our Lycoming
powered friends. Doesn’t hurt the reputation of the rest of us rotary
fliers as word gets around. Of course, we’ll have to spread the word ourselves
as you can be certain they are not going to tell their friends about this
strange Wankel engine which ate their lunch {:>). It may be immature, but I
loved the tale!!! And, heck, I’m just a kid at heart, so I guess it’s
Ok to gloat a bit.
Ed
From: Rotary motors in aircraft
[mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] On
Behalf Of Mark Steitle
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009
4:16 PM
To: Rotary
motors in aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] BBQ Run
Since I've passed the 100 hr mark on my n/a 20B Lancair ES with no
significant issues, I'm feeling more comfortable with its reliability and
performance. So, I thought I would pass this story on for the benefit of
those still building, and those that are contemplating using a rotary in their
project.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. So, the wife and I
decided to fly to Llano, Tx from Lockhart,
TX (78 NM) to have
some BBQ. We were accompanied by another buddy in
his RV-7A, also from Lockhart. His has a very nice RV-7A (powered by
a custom-built Lycoming IO-360). He always flys at wide-open
throttle, flying on ahead and landing ahead of the rest in the group.
Well, I thought that two could play that game, and so once I leveled off
at cruise altitude (4500msl), I didn't pull back on the throttle but kept
the power in. I was cruising along about 192 mph (I usually cruise at
170-175) and I looked off the left wing and there he was, sneaking up on
me. So, I opened the RAM AIR, tweaked the mixture for full-power,
and re-set the M/T constant speed prop to bring the RPM's up from "economy
cruise" to "racing speed". I picked up about 18 mph,
which brought my TAS to 210 (according to the EM-2) and sure enough, when
I looked to my left, my buddy was nowhere to be seen. The 20B rotary was
purring along at 6000 rpm and could have done it all day long (or until I ran
out of gas). Shortly thereafter, he got on the radio and
started quizzing me about my groundspeed, TAS, IAS, engine
rpm, etc. Needless to say, I landed first. Man, that felt
good!
I really showed him... fuel burn went from 11 gph to 15.8 gph, but since mogas
is half the price of 100LL, it's no big deal. However, I doubt
he will make wise cracks about the rotary engine any time soon.
I think there's a P-port 3-rotor in my future.
Still wearing the rotary grin. ;->)