james@alberta.UUCP (James Borynec) (02/24/86)
Has anyone heard about the Rotary Twin engine. There is a writeup about it in the current Sport Aviation. They apparantly have a two stroke, 12 cylinder engine that puts out around 85 horsepower, and weighs only about 45 pounds (no kidding). It works by having two "blocks" (actually cylinders) each containing 6 cylinders, rotating at an angle of about 135 degrees to each other. There are 12 Solid pistons in the middle, and ....I Give Up. You really need a picture to understand how it works, but once you look at it, you can't understand why someone didn't make something like it sooner. The makers of the engine claim that it has much better fuel economy and develops great horsepower at low RPMs (~2000). They also claim that its torque curve is (almost) a straight line. They are working on a 300 horsepower version, that should weigh about 150 pounds. Just the thing to quicken the pace of your boring volkswagen powered airplane. The author (Dick Cavin), a fellow whom I have a deep respect for, relates that there is great POTENTIAL in this new engine. J. Borynec ( ihnp4!alberta!james )