A press release just rolled through the inbox indicating that Mistral has stopped development of the rotary for aircraft.
Here's our small blurb on it.
Link to the Mistral site.
Here's our small blurb on it.
Link to the Mistral site.
I always thought they made a huge mistake not going with peripheral ports. They could have made 240 HP at 6000 eccentric shaft RPM with a naturally aspirated two rotor engine. That would be perfect to replace a IO360, you could derate the power as needed. Turbocharge the same and you have a IO540 output in a lighter package. No need for an expensive three rotor. They didn't seem to understand that Mazda's porting was all about meeting emission standards. They did a lot of good engineering, but missed the boat on the fundamentals of what makes a Wankle so strong: Volumetric Efficiency over 100% for gobs of power in a small, lightweight package. A three rotor engine should make 360 HP NA and 540 HP turbocharged.
That said, their FADEC, bell housing, accessory mounting, and planetary reduction unit were all top notch.
Hans
Hans you said it correctly in the last line. Too bad they didn't recognize that a new alternate engine needs to cost LESS not more than a Lyc or Conti.
Bill Jepson