kenmemphis

I'm going to the aircraft spruce open house in Atlanta Saturday May 19th 2007 and plan to place my order for the first several chapters of material. Maybe I'll get lucky and win the raffle for the Garman GPSMAP 396 Retail value $2195

I have most of the tools now for a low budget home shop: I need: cleo pliers, cleos, decimal tape measure, brush, X-acto razer saw, 1/2" 100deg piloted countersink, machinist rule, 5/8 CB w 1/4 pilot & 10"shank Disston Abrader(snickered once I knew what is was), hotwire saw (yes I know I do not have to have most of it to build the bulkheads but, as long as other things hold me up I at least feel like I'm doing something buying the down the road tools) I don't have any of the consumables for glass foam or epoxy yet but will get that with my first order. If any single item is holding me up its without a doubt the shop completion and cleanup... I am honestly afraid of electricity I ran all the wire I need for the walls but, when it comes to putting it into my service box I will pay someone to do it. My electrical box has no master to shutoff (inside or outside) so the box is always hot. I have 5 (4 bulb) 4' florescent fixtures for the drop ceiling I'm installing that still need the runs put in. Anyone that wants to tell me just how easy it to work in a hot electrical box can come over and show me:D I know its easy:scared: I have tons of stuff that belong to my family in the room 27' x 24' I plan to work in. I'm thinking of ordering a dumpster (yeah its a lot) in order to get rid of it all. I'm not going to ask anyone what they want to keep or I'd only need a paper sack rather than a dumpster. I'd rather they were upset after the fact than arguing over crap we MUST keep;)

I'm very frustrated with my lack of progress. I've had my plans a couple of months now and do not see light at the end of the pre build tunnel yet. I pay as I go:D 90% tools purchased I thought I had plenty of basic tools until I got my hands on my plans and started pricing everything that will be needed. I went through a lot of money just buying tools and reached the realization that unless I slow down my preparation purchases I'll have lot of tools a nice shop an no material or money. I don't think I could sit still for having everything ready to start and no money to begin. I was not planning on opening the boxes that some of my larger purchases came in but just had to do something so I unpacked and assembled my new radial arm drill press. Or at least started to... it seems to be missing a bag of bolts and a set screw. I plan to get some case hardened replacement bolts as the ones missing attach the press to it's base. With this wakeup call I unpacked the Harbor Freight 4 speed band saw the Cozy girls recommended and assembled it too. I elected to go with cheap drill bits and a drill doctor rather than spend a lot on bits. I snagged a Fien Multimaster XL kit which comes with a number of blades; I hope they last well as the blades are expensive. I still have a few hundred dollars worth of tools to buy but all the major purchases have been made. 80% basement shop & layup room I have to clean the shop soon if I'm ever going to get the drop ceiling in with the 5 4 bulb 4 foot long florescent fixtures I bought. Garage Still have my boat in one of the garage bays, if my brother does not come get the boat soon I'm going to sell it (he gets if free if...). 0% table and cabinets (may convert an old fridge for the expoxy cabinet) Feels like I've got a rich mans taste and a poor mans wallet. Distraction: In the middle of all this I have to buy a welder (MIG) to finish another project. Some felllow with no insurance hit my 66 Impala so I'm doing a chop and reskin on the drivers side rear quarter. I know a lot of people use flux wire welders but they honestly are crap compared to a mig. Flux in the weld, a lot of dirty splatter and lower quality to boot. I know I could go cheaper but my long term plans call for a true gas shield mig. Replacement motor for my washing machine arrived damaged so had to buy another one to expidite repair. Sending the damaged one in for credit

I hope you will share (step by step with lots if pictures) your 20B installation firewall forward experience since there is no turnkey solution. It would be great if everyone knew of an installation plan that would eleminate all the trial and error effort we have seen to date. I think I'd like to see a rotary installation thread for each engine on the forum to help flatten the learning curve in the future.

The three-rotor 20B-REW was only used in the 1990-1995 Eunos Cosmo. It was the world's first volume production twin-turbo setup featured in both 13B-REW & 20B-REW form. It displaced 1962 cc (three 654 cc rotors) and used 0.7 bar (around 10psi)of turbo pressure to produce 300 hp (224 kW) and 300 ft.lbf (402 Nm). It was at the time the highest torque output engine of any Japanese vehicle manufacturer. The 20B is similar to the 13G (racing engine) which was the first 3 rotor engine from Mazda. the difference is the 13G uses a factory peripheral intake port and the 20B built for the Cosmo uses side intake ports. The Cosmo was not sold in the the US so the 20B is a little harder to come by and cost a bit more in the US. If your considering a rotary engine expect the firewall forward installation will cost as much as using an aircraft engine. Oil cooling is as important as water cooling to cool the engine. Many people spend a lot of time resolving cooling issues on rotary engines for aviation with extensive modification to the ducting, cowl, radiator(s) and oil cooler configuration to optimize the installation for aircraft use. It has been done but there is no current firewall back solution on the market for the rotary engine that has reached the plug and play stage for the pusher market. I'd suggest you research pusher rotary engine installations and testing done by other builders before you jump into a rotary. A couple of people got so tired of spending all their time experimenting and are now converting to aircraft engines. That being said if you are successful and get the bugs worked out you will then have the issue of the incompatibility with 100LL leaded aviation fuel which burns out the expensive O2 sensors. The lead is also bad for the seals and can cause compression loss. A fuel lead scavenger additive and using mineral oil or its equivalent is a must from what I've read. I do not have any direct experience with a rotary firewall forward installation, I'm just sharing what I've learned researching rotary aircraft issues in consideration of my own engine choice. I also am considering an alternative engine choice as aircraft engine overhaul is much more expensive than automotive engines when its time to rebuild them. If I'm incorrect on any point here folks please share!

Larry, We in the IT industry know to protect our investment it is always best to maintain our archive copies of our software backups off site. That way if anything happens we know the software is safe and can be reloaded when needed. If you would like me to maintain an off site backup archive copy of your software I would be more than willing to help. You can send me the origanals for archive creation or an archive disk if one has been created. Ken

Hi just saying hello Just joined the forum but have been reading it for a bit. I thought this might be a good place to discuss m m m modifications. By Others, "I":envy: would never do such an evil thing:D Unless, you include considering; a rotary engine, forward opening canopy, retracts, wider cockpit, longer nose, more storage capacity, greater fuel load..... lower fuel burn, pressurized cabin faster say mach II (in atmosphere only)... and a star drive..... Evil? Seriously I've made the commitment to build a canard aircraft and have the plans for a Cozy IV.... But wouldn't an XZY IVJ be a nice bird. Have not committed to mods yet just considering the options that one can ponder if they extend their build time by say..... 10 additional years. Test picture forum 1 XZY-IVJ

I'll see your evolution and raise you a COLOR="GREEN"].."Where can we find alternate economical materials that meets or exceeds spec. at a lower price point?"[/color]