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20B Rotary Powered RV-8 Project
20-B FIRST RUN UP - October 27,
2006!!
Want to see and hear the 20B
run? Click this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=IF95pMwAWpY
(video taken by Bob Perkinson at the
2007 Rotary Roundup)
NOTE! this page is in reverse chronological
order. Latest postings are at the top so that returning dial-up folks
won't have to wait for everything to load to see the latest.
Welcome to the Official Project page for Tracy's 20B
RV-8. The engine was built by Bruce Turrentine,
and other parts are slowing filtering into the shop. We will use this page
to keep you updated on our progress.
(If all photos do not load at first, hit
the REFRESH button on your browser toolbar).
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| 3/10/07 The Peterson oil filter gives
you complete freedom to locate it in any available space. Here is is
shown with an Adel clamp mount on the gear drive adapter plate. |
Here are the two diffusers I made for the
radiator and oil coolers. The one on the right is the oil cooler and
this shape and configuration has been well proven. The rad diffuser
is a new design that I hope will work well but is not yet tested in
flight. |
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| The two round inlets on the James Aircraft "Holey
Cowl" mate up with the two diffusers. This is the Lycoming version of
the cowl. James AC also makes a cowl for the rotary which uses the
open space under the engine for heat exchanger
location. |
The exhaust header was sent to Jet Hot for ceramic
coating. I chose the Jet Hot 2000 process (good up to 2000 deg F)
instead of the more popular chrome-look version because the chrome finish
version is only good up to 1300 degrees. Rotary exhaust headers get
a lot hotter than that. This should reduce under-cowl
temperatures significantly. |
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| I used another "shoe-box" style manifold that
limits the runner length to around 11.5" If kept clean, this
still gives good results. 16" would be better but room is
always a problem. Notice the lack of throttle cable. The
throttle body is an RX-8 part and is fly-by-wire. FBW controllers
will soon be available from RWS. The black line leading to the
plenum is the manifold pressure connection for the EC2. |
Still a lot of details to clean up at this point but all the
basics are in. The vertical canister next to the Griffin radiator is
an oil accumulator. It is included in this installation to
filter out the rather harsh pressure pulses from the gear type oil pump
which can cause problems with oil coolers made from AC evaporator
cores. They are made from thin wall aluminum and there have been a
few failures due to the pulses causing metal fatigue in the tanks of the
cores. |
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| 10- 27-06: The 20B RAN as part of
the Rotary Roundup 2006 festivities. The
20B sounds VERY different compared to the 13B. (It's a GOOD
difference!) Why this should be is kind of a mystery. |
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| 4/14/2006 - Tracy is creating a LOT
of dry wall dust in the hangar- something to do with creating molds
for the cooling ducts. This is a LOT of work for a one time use
mold, but that is the plan, according to Tracy. This is the mold for
the radiator. The oil cooler mold is also complete but I don't
have a photo to post yet. |
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| January 31, 2006: Tracy gave me
this photo today. (What you can't see is all the bead board wood
fabrication that is going on just to the right of this photo. I
GUESS that is a step up from the hairspray can that we used to fly on the
RV-4). Anyway, he didn't give me any details about the photo, but
here it is.... |
| December 22, 2005
There has been a lot of progress on the -8 but most of it does not lend
itself to photos. A lot of fiberglass work (yuck), design work
on cooling system, canopy skirt trimming/fitting/trimming again/etc
(double yuck), instrument panel planning/cutting/fitting/etc (it is
now complete), firewall & fuselage insulation & sound
proofing. It isn't apparent in the photos but the engine mount has
been replaced. Originally I had planned to install an RD-1B gear
drive (left hand rotation) but change plans to an RD-1C with right hand
rotation. This required an engine mount with opposite offset.
It would have been suicidal not to make this offset change considering the
enormous P factor that the 300 HP 20B will have.
Oh yeah, my brother Barry and I also built the hydraulically
operated hangar doors on the south hangar so I'll have room to
assemble all these airplane pieces and Barry can get more use out of that
Kolb Twinstar (located behind the RV-8 in the left photo below). |
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| After looking at how the cooling ducts would be arranged in
the cowl, I decided that the James Aircraft "Holey Cowl" with
the round inlets would be much easier to work with. It is also a
little longer than the stock cowl so it will require a shorter collar
behind the spinner. Remember that the 20B is about 6 1/2 "
longer than the 13B. The cowl has only been roughly trimmed to
fit in these photos.
I bought the custom exhaust manifold in the interest of actually
getting this thing done. (thanks to Kevin Lane). |
View through the left side cooling inlet.
No, it wasn't snowing in my hangar. That's fiberglass trimming
residue on the exhaust manifold. Tape covered all engine ports
during this operation. After working with the RV-4, the -8 is pure
pleasure with all that room. The 20B looks kind of like an O - 540
with all the cylinders removed. Plenty of room for oil & water
coolers on the sides. Oil cooler will go on this side. |
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| View through right side cooling inlet. The single
Griffin radiator will be mounted parallel with the motor mount
tubes. The air duct will be a wedge shape routing air to the outside
of the rad. Rad is a GRI-2-28185-X ordered from Summit
racing. I know it will cool a 13B and I'm hoping it will do well on
the 20B. |
Front view of the "Holey Cowl". The Lower
inlet for the Lycoming carb has been amputated and the lower chin-line of
the cowl cleaned up. That lower scoop on the cowl is the only thing
on an RV that isn't pure visual poetry (IMO : ) If you are using the
stock cowl, order the IO - 360 version which does not have the scoop. |
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| January 24, 2004: Truly a
momentous day in my book - Tracy resumed work on the RV-8
today! I bucked a few rivets and now wing 1 is on the bench for
closure. Tracy's decided to make Sunday "RV-8 Day". One
day a week is certainly better than zero! He also trial fit a Renesis
crank angle sensor on the 20B. Fits perfectly and 2 lbs lighter than
the 13B set up. |
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| December 30, 2002: Engine Update:
The modified Conversion Concepts engine mount is fitted and
installed. An oil pan solution has been developed - Tracy plans to
use the 13B oil pan with modified engine mount. The 20B intake
manifold has been developed and is under constructions, including the fuel
rail. |
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| Plane Update: Interior floor skins
are in (including the dreaded nut plates). Canopy frame is fitted and
installed. Landing gear installed. Canopy is trimmed (don't ask how
much plastic dust this created), cut and drilled to the frame. |
| September 22, 2002: Tracy has the front
rudder cables hooked up and has basically completed the fuselage floor and
walls, with the exception of the rear rudder pedal assembly (good thing I
asked him about that... he "forgot"!). He's been working
on perfecting the curve for the front luggage compartment (I LOVE that
phrase!) lid. Looking good so far! |
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| September 3, 2002: I was working on the
web site when I detected the familiar sound of a "come along"
being used in the hangar to hoist something really heavy. I grabbed
the camera - ran down the stairs and found Tracy with the 20B as seen
below. He'd just received a drawing of the proposed engine mount
plate from Fred Breese; made a wooden template and was fitting the
template to the engine. |
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| September 2, 2002: Barry and Tracy finally
removed the 13B from the "donor mobile" (that project only took
8 months!). The best news is that the spare RX-7 is now in the
hangar and out of the yard. |
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| August, 2002: Back on the RV-8R after
Oshkosh. Tracy is making progress on the floor and wall skins.
The RV-8 has a "double walled" fuselage, which is really nice,
but involves installation of a LOT of nut plates. He also installed
the flap linkage and actuator. |
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| June 23, 2002: Even if nothing else is getting
done on this project, we're doing a good job spending money on equipment for the mythical
rotary powered RV8R. We are now the proud owners of a Blue Mountain
Avionics (www.bluemountainavionics.com)
"glass cockpit". I continue to be amazed at the number of
hours that can be spent admiring new equipment instead of actually working
on the plane :) |
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| The Blue Mountain arrives. |
The only difference between the men and the
boys is the cost of their toys! |
| May 3, 4, 5 2002 : Bernie Kerr, Rob Kermanj,
Bob Brumwell, Barry Crook and Donna Crook all pitched in (with
doughnut delivery support from my Dad and step Mom) to help get the walls
up on the hangar and the floor painted. We can't thank them enough
for coming the "Hangar Building Party". See the results
below. (This was Bernie's idea but there may be method in his
madness. He is putting a rotary in an RV-9 and maybe, if the hangar
gets done, Barry can start working on the long awaited RWS engine
mounts... starting with the RV-9/6/7 series aircraft). Now.. how long will
it take before we get the doors installed? |
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| Hanger wall #1 ... completed |
Note "swinging" design to all for
flood water flow through and painted floor. |
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| Barry, Donna, Rob, Bob, Tracy & Bernie |
Bob and Rob on the move |
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February 2, 2002: More progress on the hangar - the roof is complete
(see photo below). The tiny figure in the photo is me - that provides an
idea how large the building is. Looks like it will be a wonderful
location for the annual Fly In this year. Tracy also completed the
wing extension on wing #1, plus fabricated all the parts for the extension
of the 2nd wing. |
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January 20, 2001 - When you build more planes, you have to build
more places to store them. Tracy focuses on the new hangar for
much of December, but went back to giving the RV-8R the attention she
deserves this month. He is making excellent progress on the wing
extension on wing #1. |
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12/25/01 - New hangar in its "modern
Stonehenge" phase. |
The wing was extended 1 additional rib bay as shown
here. The added length is 12.75 inches per wing. |
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Wing spar extension |
The RV-8R as she looks today. (Shop getting crowded) |
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November 25, 2001 - Finally completed the last piece of the tail
feathers and ready to start the wing lengthening project. Also
making progress on putting up another building at Shady Bend to store the
various airplanes that won't fit under the house. (Laura's Note:
I've decided Tracy has a really rough life... too many airplanes to
store!!!! What do I have to do to get too much jewelry to store :)) |
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September 9, 2001: Completed the vertical stabilizer tonight
and hung it up to keep the horizontal stabilizer company. On to the
elevators. Will be posting the rationale behind extending the wings
in an upcoming update. |
October 21, 2001 Completed Right Elevator (this
"interior" picture was taken for our builder's log.
Elevator is now assembled... and a thing of beauty, I might add) |
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September 2, 2001: Completed the horizontal stabilizer. I set
my first rivets on the plane last weekend, and, considering I had not
riveted since we built the RV-4, I did a good job! They even passed
the Otter Inspection. |
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Horizontal stabilizer completed. |
Tracy's "zoot" lightweight landing gear.
It sure cost a lot of money to save 12 pounds! |
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August 19, 2001 Progress has been slow on the
RV-8R primarily due to the oppressive Florida summer heat. Gee,
seems like in the winter, progress is always slow due to the cold.
Does anybody besides me, see a problem here? Like.. why didn't Tracy
build a heated/cooled workshop? Anyway, we've also had a huge
response to the EC2 upgrade offer, which is taking Tracy's time. He
is also wrapping up 2 magazine articles - one for KitPlanes and one for
CONTACT! Below are the latest updates from
Tracy. |
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The horizontal stabilizer mounted on the jig.
Ready for skins. |
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| Skin dimpled and primed - ready to assemble |
Original shipping carton - "High
Value" is right! |
| July 11, 2001 Apparently our
kit was truly on a slow boat from China - or maybe the Philippines - but
it finally arrived today! Laura was in Atlanta working, so no photos
were taken of the truck arrival or the team of 4 friends and neighbors who
helped with the unloading process (unfortunately). Laura has already laid
down the law - THIS time there will be no airplane parts in the living
area of the house (Yeah - right. How long will that last?). Now the
REAL fun begins... |
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| Airplane in a box. |
Uncrating the RV-8R as the RVotter
looks on. |
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| Looking at the
internal structure brings back memories of building the RV-4. The RVotter
looked like this after about 2 years of steady work. |
Contemplating the first mod to
the RV-8R. The wings will be stretched 1 foot each. |
February 25, 2001: 1st parts of the RV-8R (the name of
Tracy's RV-8) completed
February 6, 2001: Both the engine and the empennage kit
arrived on the same day. Tracy's brother Barry is also building an RV-8,
and his empennage was also delivered.
December 26, 2000: We did it!! The
RV-8QB has been ordered. Laura wrote the big check on Christmas day - she
required a glass of wine to get her through the trauma (and this from a girl who
probably only drinks 4 glasses of wine in a year).
Engine Installation Drawings
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Real World Solutions, Inc
