"Circular Logic" Designing an optimum rotary.

William, I take it you are looking for ideas and maybe to improve one or two things with your rotary engine. Okay. I hope the following will give you some ideas to talk with your friend. What I would have done different in the design of a rotary engine for aircraft are as follows.
I would build the entire engine out of modern metals.
Replace the bolts that hold the cylinders on with a stronger metal bolt made with modern metals.
Increase the compression ratio to at least 9 to 1 for increased H.P.
Polish the intake and exhaust ports for increased H.P.
Improve on existing carburator, or design a new one, so the engine could be set at any r.p.m. from idle to full power. This giving the pilot better control for landings and take off and for setting cruise settings for best performance and fuel consumption.
Replace the caster oil lubrication system with a modern oil having a higher viscosity than caster oil for longer engine life and also, so the pilot doesn't get the runs from breathing the caster oil from the engine.
A water injection system for injecting a spray of water into the cylinders creating steam and boosting the h.p considerably, to be used for short periods of time only, like when you need extra power to out climb, or catch up to the enemy, or to be used in any emergency situation where extra power would save your bacon. The same system was used on the P-47 and other aircraft in WWII and proved very sucessful.
A turbo charger of some sort is a must for high altitude. I believe in WWI they were experimenting with getting the necessary air to the carburetor by having a compressed air tank in the plane and having either a line to the carburetor, or a line to within an inch of the air intake, or the surrounding area of the carburetor. A release valve opened by the pilot and being controlled by the pilot would allow air to come to the immediate area where needed for the engine to run smoothly at high altitudes.

Happy Landings
David1