Running your own business is more work than working for someone else. That is indeed true. You have to wear all the hats. One big plaque on your desk reads: Human Resources, Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Payroll, Product Development, Web Design and Maintenance, Building Maintenance, Shipping, Receiving, and Marketing.
I doubt many of the companies at Oshkosh actually have engineers on staff save for ones that it really is a necessity. I worked for an "engineering" company for many years. Not once in my entire time there were there any actual licensed engineers on staff. It was a common joke amongst some of the employees. Thankfully, they are not in aviation.
I look at much of what I see at Oshkosh and other places with a very suspicious eye. But that is just how I am. And partially because of places I have worked and things I have seen done. There are others who get excited by the hard sell and perfectly displayed parts, and figure it's experimental anyway, so what the heck, I'll risk my life on it.
I am sure the attitude of some of the companies at Oshkosh and other areas is, why should we hire outside engineering analysis and work hard on getting it right, when we can just sell it to you and let you give us feedback....if you live. First, let's have you sign off on this disclaimer sheet. Cash, check or charge.
Back to the alternative engine topic. Let's hope that Guy Marcotte, Autoflight, and others, who have successful product designs, look to the future and do what they need to in order to keep the products available for future generations to see, understand, and improve upon. No sense having to reinvent the wheel every generation.
I was following the 4 cylinder Subaru for quite a while. But then the wave of discontent gradually built up on that, and what looked very promising and workable in the beginning, wound up getting a very bad reputation. Not the engine itself, but systems added to it for flight. And here is where the customer service bit and how you approach business becomes very clear.
Coming up with completely new aviation specific engines is without a doubt terribly expensive. And then you are forced to compete on price with Lycoming and Continental who have economies of scale and lots of staff and experience.
The converted auto engines are great if they work consistently and reliably. But the availability of them and spare parts is up to whatever the auto maker does. Corvairs are no longer produced. And nobody is casting engine blocks for them. So you have a limited supply that will eventually get scarce. Same with the Mazda rotary. Finite number of units. Casting of the main body of the rotary is highly specialized. So the shop down the block is not going to be producing them ever. Admittedly, it may take many decades. But eventually it will happen, supply will run out. New auto engines will be considered for conversion as time goes on, and more posts on who can make a psru for it and round and round it goes. No consistency.
That is where being a old dinosaur like Lycoming and Continental have a distinct advantage. It's old, boring, and not exactly high tech. But it works, and continues to have parts availability, plenty of knowledge coast to coast as to how to inspect, maintain, and fix them. They are not the latest and greatest, but they continue to chunk them out, year after year, relatively unchanged since production began long ago, when dinosaurs roamed the planet. Now if we could just get that with new technology at half the cost.
I know...a pipe dream.