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Dale_R

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  • Location (Public)
    Mesa, AZ
  • Bio
    Background is Machining, Gunsmithing and Digital Electronics

Project/Build Information

  • Plane Type
    Cozy Mark IV
  • Plans/Kit Number
    1254
  • Chapter/Area
    1

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  • Website URL
    http://

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  1. Probably beating a dead horse, but ... In the automotive industry, engine exchanges are commonly talked about in terms of "long block" and "short block". A long block is a complete engine, minus the oil pan, manifolds (induction & exhaust) and ignition; a short block is just the basic engine block with all its internal components, but no cylinder heads or oil pump. Comparing like to like, a rotary engine "short block" does, indeed, have only three moving parts (I'm not counting either piston rings or rotor seals as "moving parts"), compared to a four cylinder reciprocating count of 23. Add in the cylinder heads (which on an aviation reciprocating engine are integral with the cylinders) and the count jumps up to 55. I'd call the oil pump a wash, except the rotary has two - sort of. Coming from the John M. Browning school of engineering, what is far more important to me is what do the parts do? The eccentric shaft on the rotary is massive, compared to a crankshaft from a reciprocating engine of comparable horsepower - not impossible to break, but about as close to it as possible and still get reasonable torque. The motion of the rotor is a trochoid, which while not truely linear, proceeds with a relatively steady change of vector rather than the sudden start/stop of a reciprocating piston. If balanced to equivalent standards, the rotary assembly is less prone to vibration, and wear. Of course, there is a downside to low parts count. A failure of any of the 3 moving parts will be a flight-stopper. But then again, isn't that what will happen with the failure of any of the 23 core parts of the 4 cyl. reciprocating engine? What about failure of a pistion ring? 25% loss of power? Failure of a rotor seal is a little more taxing - 33% (loss of power on two rotor faces). Rotor side seal failure isn't quite so bad - 16% loss, but the risk increased that the rotor will wobble and eventually seize. Then there is failure in the valve train - power loss is still only 25%, IF the valve doesn't come in contact with the piston. Umm, there is no comparable failure mode for the rotary engine. Then there is the issue of "how often do any of these failures occur?" Although aviation reciprocating engines are typically behind the technology curve of automotive engines, their technology is pretty sold - provided adequate QA is being excercised. That's a big "provided", considering the recent spate of Lycoming recalls. Some folks would look at the "teething pains" experienced by some of the better-known rotary flyers, and conclude that the Wankel engine isn't any more reliable than reciprocating technology. But how many of those failures involved fundamental failures in the "long block"? In most cases (all?), catastrophic failures involved upstream failures that would have doomed a reciprocating engine as well. Of course, the only analysis that is really useful is a "systems" analysis. The standard, cert. aviation engine installation is mature and pretty much offers a predictable service life. There isn't, as yet, any real standard for rotary installations, but there is evidence [via Perry Mick, et al.] that the factory, normally-aspirated, automotive installation will work as an aviation application - and give acceptable service - essentially unmodified. What is left is cost of ownership, and that isn't just a matter of resale value. It's the total cost of all the maintenance items that will occur leading up to (and including) TBO. It's all well and good to tout getting $20K more for an airplane because it had a cert. engine. It's another matter, if it turns out that it took $20-30K more in expenses to get it to that point. YMMV, Dale R. COZY MkIV #1254 Mesa, AZ
  2. Hmmm, Considering that the cutoff date was last year, it would seem a pilot of a new EXP is in a catch-22 situation. Theoretically, by the end of the Phase I period, the hours are there, but then s/he can't have an instructor fly with her/him to verify proficiancy. Or can the instructor be considered "essential crew" rather than a "passenger"? Dale R.
  3. TANSTAAFL alert! They want both a physical address (won't take a P.O. box) and an email address. This is going to be one more source of spam, so use an email account that you don't care about. Dale R.
  4. Umm, okay ... what's wrong with having a pair of standard machinist's scales (~18") on the bottom and side of each drawing? Then each user can verify that the drawings reproduced correctly (or know exactly how much they are off)? Dale R. COZY MkIV #1254 Mesa, AZ
  5. Yes - someone on the COZY_builders list bought the only MKMGA-C set I had ready. I should have another ready by mid-January. Folks, my phone number is good, but I don't have VM on it, so the only practical way to reach me is via email. I check it several times a day, except Sundays. Dale R. COZY MkIV #1254
  6. Nat was using that as his reason for not approving alternate suppliers for parts already being made by Brock. He was only approving entirely new items like the two electric nose-lifts. Well, one exception: Dennis Oelmann's rudder pedals. The fact is, though, that the canard parts were a small part of Brock, which is also known as Santa Ana Metal Stamping (even though they've long - maybe always - been located in Stanton.) I rather suspect that Marie was just flat tired of running a business and wanted to retire. Dale R.
  7. Dunno about "completely redesigned". The displacement is the same; the rotors and rotor housings are physically interchangeable (need to match counterweights to rotors); the rotor housings are still cast with the legend "13B". The biggest difference is that the exhaust has been relocated from a pheripheral port to a side port - so the end and center housings are all new. Now the _induction_ system was redesigned, but not in a way that you'll likely get to use, unless you drop in the complete factory system, like Perry Mick did with his (unducted) DUKT. Nothing wrong with that, it certainly speeds up development time - but the factory setup is unnecessarily heavy. The base engine will give you the dependability. Put your research effort into the support systems: fuel supply, ignition, air induction - those are where the problems have come from. Reliable ignition is readily available from a number of sources. Arrange your induction so that if little pieces do come loose, that they can't be sucked into the engine (no bolts, nuts, clips/retainers _inside_ the air path.) Mistakes in your fuel system can kill you - rotary or Lycosaurus. Redundancy, the ability to recognize (impending) failures, and an _easy_ to implement switching system are high-priority considerations. Good building Dale R.
  8. Ed, Two things: [A] if you're expecting a 40% improvement in fuel efficiency, I'm afraid you'll come away very much disappointed. Mazda isn't getting the additional HP for free. The 240 mark occurs at 8000+ RPM. More RPM == more air == more fuel. I don't have the link handy, but the horsepower curves for the original 13B and the Renesis 13B are very similar at the RPM that we'll operate (5000 - 7000 RPM), especially after all the smog equipment is removed. Unless you have some radical porting done, you can expect to get about 180-200 HP from your NA Renesis at ~6300 RPM (~2890 Prop RPM). Dale R.
  9. That was funny to read. However, actually implementing that way would ignore the multiplicity of sounds that english represents with two or more characters/dipthongs. How would they spell the sound we write as "Ch" or its vocalized cousin "z" (as in "azure"). Will we expand the alphabet, similar to Russian? And the "c" wouldn't have to be _dropped_; it could be used the same way it is in Czech: "ts". Keyboards will get bigger; we'll need to re-engineer humans to come standard with 6 digits per hand. Dale
  10. Actually, Tracy has very specifically stated that he is not interested in providing a FWF (or FWA) package. He provides certain high-tech components - Reduction Drive, ECU, EMU - and information, with which one may craft hir own solution. OTOH, there is beginning to be a core of somewhat standardized components, from which a package can be assembled: Engine mounts from Conversion Concepts, GM ignition coils, engine wiring harness from Bob White, Davies-Craig water pumps, et al. A couple more years, and one should be able to buy nearly everything needed from a "menu" of off-the-shelf components that are known to work together. The absolute best place to keep up-to-date on these developments is the FlyRotary list: Homepage: http://www.flyrotary.com/ Regards, Dale R. ......................|......(___.......| COZY MkIV-R13B #1254 .........|----==(___)==----| Ch's 4, 5, 9, 16 & 23 in progress ..o/ | \o http://www.canardzone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1388
  11. Jon, Yes, I'm still at it. The backlog has all been filled now. I also don't have any time, to speak of - so I'm not accepting any orders, for the moment. I certainly hope the "day job" schedule gets back to normal soon. I do have a couple of semi-finished MKMGA-C mount tubes that I expect to have finished by the end of the month, after I get back from an out-of-town assignment. I'll make an announcement, then, of what parts I have that are available for delivery. Thanks for asking, Dale R. COZY MkIV-R13B #1254 Ch's 4, 5, 9, 16 & 23 in-progress
  12. The first photo is "glass row" on Thursday; the second is Friday morning. The organizers seriously underestimated the canard participation and "glass row" filled up by 08:30 Friday. They had to start squeezing the canards in whereever they could among the RVs. Dale R. (___ COZY MkIV-R13B #1254 |----==(___)==----| Ch's 4, 5, 9, 16 & 23 in progress o/ | \o http://www.canardzone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1388
  13. Jon, I started doing that with the CS50-D's, but my supply of spares got quickly depleted. I even sold the ones I hadn't already pinned into the tubing. I'll start making "shelf stock" of the MKMGA-C sleeves as soon as I catch up with all the orders I've already received! (next month?) I gotta be careful, or I'll be spending all my time making parts instead of building my airplane. Or maybe, I'll have to quit my "day" job (now THERE's a thought ...) Dale R.
  14. Canardians, I am a machinist by avocation. I'm making as many of the parts for my COZY as I possibly can, which is pretty much everything that doesn't require welding (and it may not be much longer before that is no limitation.) Whatever I've already made, or already have the tooling set up to make, I've offered to make for anyone else who is having a problem with Brock - either their delivery schedules or their QA (or, rather, lack thereof) - or just likes the features of my parts better than the "stock" item. A home machinist for over 20 years, I got my start, nearly 40 years ago, as a machine operator in an aerospace shop, to supplement my meager Air Force pay. I spent a little over a year as an apprentice in a shop that made aerospace fasteners (SPS-Western, 1970-71) hoping to become a tool and die maker. A slump in the aerospace industry redirected my primary career into the computer industry. Bear in mind, my shop equipment is state-of-the-art ... for 1942. No CNC here, so I'm doing this for love, not money ['though you might not think so from the prices - however, on one project, I discovered - after the fact - that I'd been working for about $2.50/hr. <:0 ] I hope you'll forgive me for being so verbose in this, but I included the introductory material so that you'll have some idea of where I'm coming from. Here's what I have to offer, so far - [#1] Ch. 16: 4 variants of control rod inserts - all are 1.375" long overall (my originals were longer than really needed to insure that the HM-4/MM-4 shafts wouldn't bottom on the rivets); have 1/4-28 threads that are at least 2 * diam. deep (1/2"); have 1/2" diam. heads that are 1/4" deep: PN: Material: Step diameter: ---------------------------------------------------- CS1-C 2024 AL 0.441" (for 0.028" wall tubing) $6.25/ea. CS1-D 2024 AL 0.427" (for 0.035" wall tubing) $6.25/ea. CS50-C 304 SS 0.441" (for 0.028" wall tubing) $7.50/ea. CS50-D 304 SS 0.427" (for 0.035" wall tubing) $7.50/ea. The AL parts have swaged threads (internal equivalent of external rolled threads) rather than cut. Also, the AL parts are primarily intended for EZ builders who are using 2024 control tubing up front. They are not recommended for use in the engine compartment - per Burt Rutan (however, if you have a fire back there that is hot enough to melt your control rods/ends, you probably won't have control _surfaces_ long enough to get back down safely anyway.) If you have special needs (e.g. tubing that is just a skosh too thick or thin) I can make them a little smaller or larger for the same price. Lead time is about a week. [#2] Ch. 9 - Main Landing Gear Someone asked me if I could supply MKMG-4 bushings. Yes. Then matters got very involved. I sent bushings made to the maximum spec (0.502"). I was told they were too loose. Long story short, I ended up making a set of bushings .002 _undersize_ in order to fit this party's undersized MK100 studs (and match the smaller diameter of the TAPERED (probably made with a worn-out reamer) MKMGA bushings, which were 0.501" at the outer end but only 0.497" - 0.498" at the inner end.) The result is, I now have a set of reamers that allow me to custom fit bushings to your needs. MKMG-4 Bushing 0.501: inner diam. (Standard bushing +/- 0.001" $17.00 ea. 0.502: inner diam. (fits everything, but at maximum clearance) $18.00 ea. 0.500: inner diam. (minimum diam. of spec. - may not fit some $18.00 ea. heavily plated MK100 studs. 0.498: inner diam. (for MK100's that have been shaved down to $19.00 ea. fit undersize or tapered-hole MKMGAs) Special lengths (longer or shorter than the 1" plans spec.) $19.00 ea. [#3] Then came the announcement about the two failures of main gear mounting sleeves. Now I see why - with the entire load of landing being born by the inner end of the tapered bushings, that's where all the stress will be inside the sleeve. Following Bob Oertel's lead, I'm toolingup to produce a one-piece replacement for the MKMGA ass'y, but from 304 SS, instead of 4130. This price will last as long as I can continue to get a "friendly" price on the 304 bar stock: MKMGA-C Sleeve (still in development - no delivery date yet) $50.00 ea. [#4] Ch. 13 - Rudder Pedals These are basically the same actuators that I made for Brian DeFord: http://www.deford.com/cozy/chap_13-3.html They will look a little different, because I'm using a different production method. BAFHP - Brake Actuator $70.00/pair connecting rod from hanging pedal to brake master cylinder, with slotted fork. Prices include USPS shipping to anywhere in the USA. As I add items, they will be posted to this page on my builder's web site: http://members.cox.net/rogersda/Products.htm I am open to making parts that I haven't yet made for my airplane, but I won't know how to price them other than to ask whatever Brock is, unless I find that I can produce them more easily than the price would indicate. Some parts, such as the stamped items, I don't anticipate offering for sale, because I can't make them economically enough to be worth the effort. Others, such as the billet nose gear fork ass'y I'm working on (I don't like castings), I will not offer until my airplane is flying and their durability has been thoroughly proven. I am also open to special requests. That is how the BAFHP came into being. Dale Rogers, COZY MkIV-R13B #1254 rogersda [at] myway [dot] com !!! Please put the word "canard" somewhere in the subject line, so that my SPAM filter won't flush your message. !!!
  15. The mating bushings (MKMG-4 in a COZY IV) run about $18 each. The two in the MKMGA tube are included in the price when one buys the tube. The price is worth it, based on my experience making my own and some for another builder. The bushings take some fair attention - or some darned expensive CNC equipment - to stay within the spec. Plus the reamer for the hole (they need to be that smooth, just boring them won't cut it) has a limited life ... at least it *should* have a limited life in a responsible shop, where it would be replaced as soon as the taper approached .0005"/in. (Reamers wear in a taper - front end first.) A decent reamer for this is $20. With a good coolant /lubricant [such as "Edge" ®] it should be good for at least 100 bushings. Regards, Dale R. (___ COZY MkIV-R13B #1254 |----==(___)==----| Ch's 4, 5, 9, 16 & 23 in progress o/ | \o
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