Some differences, Lester...
Wankel is "internal" and has no pistons
(obviously), but like a piston engine
turns a crankshaft (albeit differently!:).
WW1 rotary engines had 7-9 external
pistons and the entire motor revolved
around a fixed crankshaft and thus,
the constant gyroscopic (torque) changes
with speed and/or changes in aircraft attitude.
Aircraft so engined could make very
tight right hand turns wherein the
aircraft had a tendency to overbank
and descend.
Left hand turns were against the
gyroscopic force of the motor and so,
the aircraft had a tendency to roll
opposite to the direction of turn
and climb.
In a descent at higher than straight and
level cruising speed, the aircraft had
a tendency to roll left. In a climb at lower
than cruising speeds, it went the other
way. Sharp movement of the stick in
transition to either configuration was
greeted with a sharp tendency to roll,
one way or the other.
To make it more fun, there was no such
thing as "differential" aileron to counter
adverse yaw (tendency of an aircraft to
yaw in a direction opposite to the
direction of turn). They (and all WW1 types) were primarily "rudder"
aircraft.
There were no trim tabs. The aircraft,
when "militarily" loaded with 1/2 gas
capacity was "rigged" for "cruise" taking
the weight of the pilot into account after
a few test flights, and even than, you
had to fly it all the time....
......no "hey Mom, no hands"
as this could quickly become "hey Mom,
no life".
Like flying an older heliocopter. :):)
There was no real throttle. There were
two engine controls. One for gas, the
other for air. The pilot controlled the
mixture which in a way, controlled
rpm to some small extent. Some rotary
types were equipped with a device which
would cut 2-3 cylinders for reduced
power for slower cruise speeds 'cause
these engines were basically "on"
(and operating at full power) or "off".
You had to remember to turn the fuel
off for these cylinders before the spark
and vice versa when you wanted them
back. Otherwise, the motor could blow
up and you'd flame yourself. Allied pilots
had no parachutes in WW1.
They also had a "kill" or "blip" switch
wherein power could be cut completely,
momentarily. With a series of "blips"
you could slow it down for landing.
If you held the blip switch for too long,
the engine blew up (you killed yourself
again) as the blip switch cut spark only...
the fuel kept right on going, filling the
cylinders.
Real "fun" to fly...kept you busy and
really "focused"! You never took your
eye off it for very long as it was always
trying to crash and kill you.
Like flying a heliocopter! :):)
Cap'n. Bob
'60 :{)
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