WIX Archives

Re: After a week away..(long - but varied and interestin I hope)

Posted by Jim White on Sun Nov 11, 2001 12:31:07 PM

In reply top After a week away..(long - but varied and interestin I hope) posted by Paul McMillan on Sun Nov 11, 2001 12:11:49 PM

As I understand it, most rotaries have a fixed Crankshaft attached to the firewall. This is hollow, and air, fuel and oil - always castor as it does not mix with the fuel- is drawn through a crude carburettor at the cockpit end of the crankshaft. Depending on the type of rotary, this mixture is then partially compressed in the sealed crankcase which is of course rotating and then released into the cylinders either through a valve in the piston crown,up tubes in front of the motor to the popet valve head or up the side of the cylinder and allowed into the cylinder as the piston passes a port in a similar way to a two stroke.
For a more accurate description, Bill Gunstons book 'The development of the piston aero engine' provides a very interesting read
: g: While on the subject of Clasic Wings.. There is an arti
: cle on flying the Sopworth Camel.. Gene de Marco who flys
: the example at Ole Rineback got me thinking.. This bird ha
: s an original 160 BHP Gnome rotary. Gene explained that th
: e cylinders rotate (as you would expect in a rotary engine
: ) and saying how there is no exhaust mechanisim as there i
: s no place to put it on a rotary.. But this got me thinkin
: g.. How did the fuel get to the cylinders in the first pla
: ce.. There cannot be fixed hoses as this would not allow t
: he engine to turn. Can someone please explain to me in sim
: ple english how this was achieved. The same with the oil..
: Unless this was self contained.. Ignition would not be a
: problem as all that would be needed was something like a r
: otary arm in a car distributor to control the timing.. But
: how go you get the fuel into the cylinders when the how m
: echanism has to move?? I hope someone can answer this ques
: tion and also
:

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