this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2024
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Anyone who calls it a "rotary" engine is physically incapable of having fun. Plus rotary engines are reciprocating engines that powered early WW1 fighter planes, where the whole engine spins with the propeller for reasons I'm too modern to understand.
Air cooling, spin the heads so they get a whole lot of fresh air at all times and they're lighter than the alternatives.
They're called rotaries because they have rotors.
They're called wankels because it's a much funnier word.
They're called Wankels because one of the contributors was Felix Wankel and his last name happens to have humorous connotations.