Ignition Control Module for Renesis or 16X
 

Hi everyone,

I'm building an airplane (Mustang II seen at www.mustangaero.com). I'm planning on putting a Mazda rotary in it (Renesis or 16X). A couple of questions...

1) I know about/of the Renesis, and have seen some bits about the 16X, but I don't really know anything for sure about the 16X. What's the difference?

2) I need an ignition control unit. NOT an engine control unit, just something to make the spark plugs fire. Something dead reliable (because if it's not reliable I could end up dead). The engine will have mechanical fuel injection (no power required). I'll have a tach, MAP sensor, and a crank position indicator to work with. So...what's out there that would work?

Thanks in advance!

Dustin
Rockford, IL

Well, the 16x is just a prototype at this point for starters. I am not sure how you plan on operating a Renesis without a PCM to control oil injection, aux valves, etc., etc.

He can run it in a completely mechanical fashion if he is good at fabrication.

I'd suggest, however, simply using a Motec engine management system to take care of everything.
I'll be dropping a Renesis in a first-gen RX-7 in a while and that is how I plan to handle it.

Hi There

I know of two planes that use the Renesis RX8 engine in them.
One is a Mustang replica and one is a Australian kit called the Cobra Arrow.
Both of these planes have been built in New Zealand. I know with the Mustang kit, they ended up throwing away 90% of the kit and building it themselves.
My father built the Cobra Arrow kit, but unfortunately passed away before he managed to get to fly it.
With the Cobra Arrow, they used a NZ Link ECU to power up the engine, so basically it is a standard RX8 engine that runs through a reduction gearbox and has the rpm limited to 6000rpm.
Because in a plane situation the engine is usually run at a more constant rate, the OMP is set to supply a constant amount of oil and is not controlled by the ECU on this plane.
Anyway thats a little bit of info for you.
If you would like any more info or would like me to pass on the details of the company that is working on these two planes, then feel free to contact me by email :- miura@ihug.co.nz

Regards

Roger

Oil injection, I'm planning on premixing 2 stroke oil.
Aux valves....I can't recall, either they get closed or blocked open, one of the two.

I will have two redundant systems for ignition. It becomes a lot easier if you're only switching ignition and not all the other functions...

If you plan on just premixing then plan on having to rebuild the motor sooner than later. The oil injectors also aid in cooling, not just lubrication. The SOHN adapter was built for aviation purposes. It will supply 2 stroke from a separate reservoir and you have the option of letting the RX8 ECU control that (or aftermarket) or you can install the adjuster and set a fixed amount.

I might do that too, haven't yet decided. Thanks!

If I were to go with an aftermarket automotive module, what would people recommend? I think that my electrical engineer friend and I could design/build a circuit board to switch between two ECUs so that I could have redundancy yet.

Sensors available:

MAP
RPM/Tach
Perhaps TPS
Note lack of O2 sensor....

Would need it to control:

Ignition (timing and firing the sparkplugs)
EFI (whatever injectors work best)

Thoughts?

Epic...

Does anyone here have any comments about the MegaSquirt when used in an RX-8? Thinking about having 3 of them for redundancy, the cost is certainly right...

Pretty cool, but hardly Epic. It's been done before.

I don't want to sidetrack the thread, but I must say, I would love to see that first gen RX-7 once you're done with that project.

I'd love to see the Mustang II once it's done, too!