The Cozy Rotary 13BT Installation Guide
Introduction
This site is a “recipe” that can help you install a Mazda Rotary engine in a Cozy MKIV aircraft. There are some excellent resources available online for rotor-heads and Cozy enthusiasts alike, but no consolidated how-to guides. That's the gap I'm trying to fill with this site: consolidating all of the information and guidance I relied on during my own install into one, organized, chronological guide to install a PARTICULAR engine configuration in a PARTICULAR aircraft.
This is NOT a Bible. This is merely ONE way to do it, one that worked for me and that might work for you. Let me warn you in advance that there may be portions that are incomplete because I forgot about them. (You'll have to fill in the gaps.) There may be portions that are incorrect, or even dangerous. And there may be things that could have been done better. All I can promise that you'll get if you follow this guide is “what I got… or worse”.
Is a Rotary Right for Me?
If your idea of a good time does NOT include soldering, welding, brazing, cutting, grinding, tweaking, lurking in forums, scouring eBay, cursing, busting your knuckles, and scratching your head, just install a Lycoming and go flying. But if you enjoy those things, installing this engine is a great way to experience them all!
On a more serious note, while I may make the occasional joke about “Lycosaurs”, there are more flying Lycomings than flying rotaries. LOTS more. Make no mistake: the rotary is going to require some innovation. Some essential components are produced by very few suppliers - several by only a single person. They can be hard to source on short notice, you may need to do some fabrication, and you'll DEFINITELY need to do some innovation.
Still, the process is rewarding, and the final result is an excellent combination. The choice to install an auto-conversion in a Cozy has been a long-running and near-religious debate, and I'd prefer to leave it to others to do the proselytizing. Figure out for yourself whether the rotary is right for you. Then come back here and I'll tell you how to do it!
