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Hello,

My name is Rafael. Im in Central FL. Iam about to to start building my Cozy IV. My serial is #1760.  I have lots of composite experience in the auto and boat world. I also have a BS in Aviation and Aerospace from EU in Florida.  I have been thinking about an auto conversion, like the 13b. My friends have a lot of racing experience with this motor. My only issue is that I see 2 camps on this motor. The one that had it for a while and gave up for a bunch of reasons and the camp that swears by this conversion. I need to study this more but I have a way to go before I need a motor. I had a 30x30 building put up in my property and as soon as the inside is done I will start working on my Cozy. I will share my website that will have my progress as soon as it is up. If anyone has any suggestions, tips, or anything please let me know. Anyone that is in FL and wants to help, I welcome you and free beer will be provided.lol Talk to you guys later and thanks in advance

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6 hours ago, TioLoco said:

the camp that swears by this conversion...

Other than Perry Mick, who has (at last count, anyway) under 1000 hours on his plane in 25 years or so, please name some other members of the "canard aircraft with Mazda engines who swear by the conversion" camp.

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Hi Rafael, welcome.

I too was very interested in a 13B powerplant. I researched and learned as much as I could for several years. Theoretically, it should be ideally suited, in reality, it seems few achieve acceptable performance. And, it's an old design that, while still popular, maybe be more difficult to support in the future. Plus, loud and thirsty.

I'm still interested in using an auto-conversion when the time comes, but it will be reciprocating, require minimal modification (besides the necessary PSRU and ECU of course, but ZERO changes to the internals), and have a good history of prior use in aircraft (not necessarily canards, which are an increasingly small part of the homebuilt fleet).

Your experience and education may save you time in airframe construction. You'll probably soak that up and more with an auto conversion, though, especially a complicated one like a rotary. But please share and discuss your progress, ideas, etc. as you go for the benefit (and entertainment!) of other users here! 😉

 

18 minutes ago, Marc Zeitlin said:

Other than Perry Mick, who has (at last count, anyway) under 1000 hours on his plane in 25 years or so, please name some other members of the "canard aircraft with Mazda engines who swear by the conversion" camp.

John Slade may have before his passing, but then again he never resolved his cooling issues, probably due to the suboptimal cooling design he was convinced to use. It seems a lot of Lycoming powered canards live with cooling issues as well, though!

Aerocanard (modified) SN:ACPB-0226 (Chapter 8)

Canardspeed.com (my build log and more; usually lags behind actual progress)
Flight simulator (X-plane) flight model master: X-Aerodynamics

(GMT+12)

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17 hours ago, TioLoco said:

Hello,

My name is Rafael. Im in Central FL. Iam about to to start building my Cozy IV. My serial is #1760.  I have lots of composite experience in the auto and boat world.

3

Welcome Rafael, your composite experience is a bonus.  That, a 30x30 building (nice!) and any tablesaw/woodworking experience is more than enough to get going (a working shop and wife/partner support are critical IMO).

I was once in the Rotary "camp" after a few years I became convinced to go with an aviation engine for my Cozy.  If you choose the rotary, or any auto-conversion for that matter, you basically have two MAJOR projects:

  1. Build an airplane
  2. Build an aircraft engine

Both are monstrous on their own and my budget of time does not include the efforts required to educate myself on becoming a one-off engine designer/builder.  Maybe you can hire your friends for the hundreds/thousands of hours it will take to build the engine, but personally, I would rather be flying by that time.

Regardless, welcome aboard!  I'd love to see pictures and updates on what you're doing to setup shop.  I'm resetting my own so that I can build year-round here in the Northeast USA.

Jon Matcho :busy:
Builder & Canard Zone Admin
Now:  Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E
Next:  Resume building a Cozy Mark IV

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Welcome Rafael! I'm in pretty well the same boat you are, minus your education and experience with composites. What could possibly go wrong? LOL

I want to echo the other guys sentiments on the Mazda rotary. I loved that engine in my RX-8, but years of running down internet rabbit holes has taught me that it's probably just not meant to be a viable aircraft engine. A lot of the auto conversion guys in the Vans world either tried and failed at it, or found out that it was more trouble than it was worth, and that was back when there was a community! They always came in heavier than a suitable (if not comparable) lycoming after the gearbox, liquids, and radiators were factored in, and they seem to run hot. Plus there's no support out there anymore. Even Mazda doesn't make them anymore! PSRUs are hard to come by, ECU issues abound, etc. I had read that Atkins Rotary might still put together a FWF kit if you want to take the chance, but I can't confirm that.

Good luck with your build and keep us updated with how it's going!

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I stopped in the Engine Tent at Sun-n-Fun and spoke with a Rotary guy involved with the recent FAI time-to-climb record, which was set by a 600+ HP turbo-charged Mazda rotary.  The feat and story are both amazing, but was a reminder why I came to the same conclusion as you Quinton.  The story alone behind how they acquired a suitable PSRU should be enough to turn people away.  They somehow randomly connected with some old piece of military equipment where they were able to adapt the PSRU.  Once the record was set they have no plans to fly the plane anymore because it's just too much effort to keep in the air and the overall TBO is probably 50 hours.  The specific concern was that someone would kill themselves.

The Cozygirrrls are carrying the torch on this, but at best I'd expect -- and I only speculate -- that they MIGHT produce a PSRU but I doubt it.  There is no more any good community support for rotary aircraft engines, at least at the level that would work for me.  Someone that had engine experience and a machine shop might have results, but not me.

Jon Matcho :busy:
Builder & Canard Zone Admin
Now:  Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E
Next:  Resume building a Cozy Mark IV

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