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75-488: In 1936, a group of wealthy residents of Long Island, including E. Roland Harriman , approached Grumman and commissioned an aircraft that they could use to fly to New York City. In response, the Grumman Model G-21 was designed as a light amphibious transport. Grumman produced a high-wing monoplane of almost all-metal construction—the trailing half of the main wing and all of the flight control surfaces except for

150-411: A 14-cylinder twin-row version of the firm's 80 hp Lambda single-row seven-cylinder rotary, however reliability and cooling problems limited its success. Two-row designs began to appear in large numbers during the 1930s, when aircraft size and weight grew to the point where single-row engines of the required power were simply too large to be practical. Two-row designs often had cooling problems with

225-570: A 27% lesser total displacement. The Wasp Junior used many parts from the Wasp and even had the same mounting dimensions, allowing an aircraft to easily use either the smaller or the larger engine. The first run of the Wasp Junior was in 1929, and sales began in 1930. The initial version, the Wasp Junior A , produced 300 hp (224 kW). The U.S. military designated the Wasp Junior as

300-451: A 9-cylinder 980 cubic inch (16.06 litre) displacement diesel radial aircraft engine, the 225 horsepower (168 kW) DR-980 , in 1928. On 28 May 1931, a DR-980 powered Bellanca CH-300 , with 481 gallons of fuel, piloted by Walter Edwin Lees and Frederick Brossy set a record for staying aloft for 84 hours and 32 minutes without being refueled. This record stood for 55 years until broken by

375-685: A 9-cylinder radial diesel aero engine, was used in the M1A1E1 , while the Continental R975 saw service in the M4 Sherman , M7 Priest , M18 Hellcat tank destroyer , and the M44 self propelled howitzer . A number of companies continue to build radials today. Vedeneyev produces the M-14P radial of 360–450 hp (270–340 kW) as used on Yakovlev and Sukhoi aerobatic aircraft. The M-14P

450-678: A build-it-yourself kit. Verner Motor of the Czech Republic builds several radial engines ranging in power from 25 to 150 hp (19 to 112 kW). Miniature radial engines for model airplanes are available from O. S. Engines , Saito Seisakusho of Japan, and Shijiazhuang of China, and Evolution (designed by Wolfgang Seidel of Germany, and made in India) and Technopower in the US. Liquid cooling systems are generally more vulnerable to battle damage. Even minor shrapnel damage can easily result in

525-537: A consistent every-other-piston firing order can be maintained, providing smooth operation. For example, on a five-cylinder engine the firing order is 1, 3, 5, 2, 4, and back to cylinder 1. Moreover, this always leaves a one-piston gap between the piston on its combustion stroke and the piston on compression. The active stroke directly helps compress the next cylinder to fire, making the motion more uniform. If an even number of cylinders were used, an equally timed firing cycle would not be feasible. As with most four-strokes,

600-399: A few French-built examples of the famous Blériot XI from the original Blériot factory — to a massive 20-cylinder engine of 200 hp (150 kW), with its cylinders arranged in four rows of five cylinders apiece. Most radial engines are air-cooled , but one of the most successful of the early radial engines (and the earliest "stationary" design produced for World War I combat aircraft)

675-419: A loss of coolant and consequent engine overheating, while an air-cooled radial engine may be largely unaffected by minor damage. Radials have shorter and stiffer crankshafts, a single-bank radial engine needing only two crankshaft bearings as opposed to the seven required for a liquid-cooled, six-cylinder, inline engine of similar stiffness. While a single-bank radial permits all cylinders to be cooled equally,

750-677: A number of experiments and modifications) enough cooling air to the rear. This basic concept was soon copied by many other manufacturers, and many late-WWII aircraft returned to the radial design as newer and much larger designs began to be introduced. Examples include the Bristol Centaurus in the Hawker Sea Fury , and the Shvetsov ASh-82 in the Lavochkin La-7 . For even greater power, adding further rows

825-510: A power-to-weight ratio near that of contemporary gasoline engines and a specific fuel consumption of roughly 80% that for an equivalent gasoline engine. During WWII the research continued, but no mass-production occurred because of the Nazi occupation. By 1943 the engine had grown to produce over 1,000 hp (750 kW) with a turbocharger . After the war, the Clerget company was integrated in

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900-457: A separate FAA type certificate as brand-new "McKinnon" airplanes. The first was the McKinnon model G-21C which involved replacing the original R-985 radial engines with four Lycoming GSO-480-B2D6 piston engines . It was approved under TC 4A24 on November 7, 1958, and two examples were converted in 1958–1959. In November 2007, Antilles Seaplanes of Gibsonville, North Carolina , announced it

975-704: A similarly sized five-cylinder radial four-stroke model engine of their own as a direct rival to the OS design, with Saito also creating a series of three-cylinder methanol and gasoline-fueled model radial engines ranging from 0.90 cu.in. (15 cm ) to 4.50 cu.in. (75 cm ) in displacement, also all now available in spark-ignition format up to 84 cm displacement for use with gasoline. The German Seidel firm formerly made both seven- and nine-cylinder "large" (starting at 35 cm displacement) radio control model radial engines, mostly for glow plug ignition, with an experimental fourteen-cylinder twin-row radial being tried out -

1050-478: A single bank (or row) and an unusual double master connecting rod. Variants were built that could be run on either diesel oil or gasoline or mixtures of both. A number of powerhouse installations utilising large numbers of these engines were made in the U.S. Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) built the "pancake" engines 16-184 and 16-338 for marine use. Zoche aero-diesels are a prototype radial design that have an even number of cylinders, either four or eight; but this

1125-585: A transport or luxury airliner role. Having an amphibious configuration also allowed the G-21 to go just about anywhere, and plans were made to market it as an amphibian airliner. A number of modifications were made for the Goose, but the most numerous are those by McKinnon Enterprises of Sandy, Oregon, which holds 21 supplemental type certificates (STCs) for modifying G-21-series aircraft and which also manufactured four different conversions that were recertified under

1200-661: Is a series of nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial aircraft engines built by the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company from the 1930s to the 1950s. These engines have a displacement of 985 in (16 L); initial versions produced 300 hp (220 kW), while the most widely used versions produce 450 hp (340 kW). Wasp Juniors have powered numerous smaller civil and military aircraft, including small transports, utility aircraft, trainers, agricultural aircraft, and helicopters. Over 39,000 engines were built, and many are still in service today. Pratt & Whitney developed

1275-599: Is also used by builders of homebuilt aircraft , such as the Culp Special , and Culp Sopwith Pup , Pitts S12 "Monster" and the Murphy "Moose" . 110 hp (82 kW) 7-cylinder and 150 hp (110 kW) 9-cylinder engines are available from Australia's Rotec Aerosport . HCI Aviation offers the R180 5-cylinder (75 hp (56 kW)) and R220 7-cylinder (110 hp (82 kW)), available "ready to fly" and as

1350-518: Is currently unknown. Envisioned as corporate or private flying yachts for Manhattan millionaires, initial production models normally carried two to three passengers and had a bar and small toilet installed. In addition to being marketed to small air carriers, the G-21 was also promoted as a military transport. In 1938, the U.S. Army Air Corps purchased the type as the OA-9 (later, in the war years, examples impressed from civilian ownership were designated

1425-412: Is not problematic, because they are two-stroke engines , with twice the number of power strokes as a four-stroke engine per crankshaft rotation. A number of radial motors operating on compressed air have been designed, mostly for use in model airplanes and in gas compressors. A number of multi-cylinder 4-stroke model engines have been commercially available in a radial configuration, beginning with

1500-704: The Boeing-Stearman Model 75 , which originally used other engines, have had them replaced with the Wasp Junior to provide more power or for easier maintenance, since parts for the Wasp Junior are readily available. Some museums which have Wasp Junior engines on display: Data from FAA type certificate data sheet for the Wasp Junior SB; dimensions from Pratt & Whitney (1956), p. A2. Related development Comparable engines Related lists The following Federal Aviation Administration type certificate data sheets, all available from

1575-627: The Kawasaki Ki-100 and Yokosuka D4Y 3. In Britain, Bristol produced both sleeve valved and conventional poppet valved radials: of the sleeve valved designs, more than 57,400 Hercules engines powered the Vickers Wellington , Short Stirling , Handley Page Halifax , and some versions of the Avro Lancaster , over 8,000 of the pioneering sleeve-valved Bristol Perseus were used in various types, and more than 2,500 of

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1650-794: The OA-13A ). The most numerous of the military versions were the United States Navy variants, designated the JRF . The amphibious aircraft was also adopted by the Coast Guard and, during World War II, served with the Royal Canadian Air Force in the transport, reconnaissance, rescue, and training roles. The G-21 was used for air-sea rescue duties by the Fleet Air Arm , who assigned the name Goose. A single aircraft

1725-552: The R-985 , with various suffixes denoting different military engine models. However, Pratt & Whitney never adopted the R-985 designation scheme for its civilian Wasp Juniors, identifying them simply by name and model (e.g. "Wasp Junior A"). Pratt & Whitney followed the Wasp Junior A with more powerful models in the "A series". These had higher compression ratios , greater RPM limits, and more effective supercharging, and they led to

1800-532: The Rutan Voyager . The experimental Bristol Phoenix of 1928–1932 was successfully flight tested in a Westland Wapiti and set altitude records in 1934 that lasted until World War II. In 1932 the French company Clerget developed the 14D, a 14-cylinder two-stroke diesel radial engine. After a series of improvements, in 1938 the 14F2 model produced 520 hp (390 kW) at 1910 rpm cruise power, with

1875-638: The SNECMA company and had plans for a 32-cylinder diesel engine of 4,000 hp (3,000 kW), but in 1947 the company abandoned piston engine development in favour of the emerging turbine engines. The Nordberg Manufacturing Company of the United States developed and produced a series of large two-stroke radial diesel engines from the late 1940s for electrical production, primarily at aluminum smelters and for pumping water. They differed from most radials in that they had an even number of cylinders in

1950-672: The Wasp Junior T1B2 , had improved performance at low level, being able to sustain 450 hp (340 kW) up to 1,500 ft (460 m) while still matching the SB's power at high altitudes. The SB and T1B2, and later versions of these with similar performance, were the most popular Wasp Junior models. One later development of the T1B2, the Wasp Junior B4 , was especially designed for vertical mounting in helicopters. During

2025-499: The Westland Lysander , Bristol Blenheim , and Blackburn Skua . In the years leading up to World War II, as the need for armored vehicles was realized, designers were faced with the problem of how to power the vehicles, and turned to using aircraft engines, among them radial types. The radial aircraft engines provided greater power-to-weight ratios and were more reliable than conventional inline vehicle engines available at

2100-625: The "B series". The first B series model was the Wasp Junior TB , which could maintain 420 hp (310 kW) at sea level and could reach 440 hp (330 kW) for takeoff. The TB was tuned for best performance at sea level; it was soon joined by the Wasp Junior SB , which was tuned for best performance at altitude and could sustain 400 hp (300 kW) at altitudes up to 5,000 ft (1,500 m), with 450 hp (340 kW) available for takeoff. A still later model,

2175-830: The 1930s. It was selected for the Lockheed Model 10A Electra twin-engined airliner, as well as for other small twin-engined civil transports like the Lockheed Model 12A Electra Junior , the Beechcraft Model 18 , and the Grumman Goose amphibious aircraft . It was also used in single-engined civilian utility aircraft like the Beechcraft Staggerwing , the Howard DGA-15 , and the Spartan Executive . As World War II arrived,

2250-619: The American Pratt & Whitney company was founded, competing with Wright's radial engines. Pratt & Whitney's initial offering, the R-1340 Wasp , was test run later that year, beginning a line of engines over the next 25 years that included the 14-cylinder, twin-row Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp . More Twin Wasps were produced than any other aviation piston engine in the history of aviation; nearly 175,000 were built. In

2325-607: The American single-engine Vought F4U Corsair , Grumman F6F Hellcat , Republic P-47 Thunderbolt , twin-engine Martin B-26 Marauder , Douglas A-26 Invader , Northrop P-61 Black Widow , etc. The same firm's aforementioned smaller-displacement (at 30 litres), Twin Wasp 14-cylinder twin-row radial was used as the main engine design for the B-24 Liberator , PBY Catalina , and Douglas C-47 , each design being among

Grumman G-21 Goose - Misplaced Pages Continue

2400-618: The British Avro Anson and Airspeed Oxford twin-engined trainers. The demands of World War II led to the production of many thousands of Wasp Juniors. Until the end of the war, the Wasp Junior's closest competitor was Wright Aeronautical 's R-975 Whirlwind . However, during the war, the Wasp Junior was far more widely used in aircraft than the R-975, and Wright ceased production of the R-975 in 1945. After World War II, many military-surplus aircraft with Wasp Junior engines entered

2475-635: The Centaurus and rapid movement to the use of turboprops such as the Armstrong Siddeley Python and Bristol Proteus , which easily produced more power than radials without the weight or complexity. Large radials continued to be built for other uses, although they are no longer common. An example is the 5-ton Zvezda M503 diesel engine with 42 cylinders in 6 rows of 7, displacing 143.6 litres (8,760 cu in) and producing 3,942 hp (2,940 kW). Three of these were used on

2550-448: The FAA's Regulatory and Guidance Library : Radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is called a "star engine" in some other languages. The radial configuration

2625-745: The German single-seat, single-engine Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger , and twin-engine Junkers Ju 88 . In Japan, most airplanes were powered by air-cooled radial engines like the 14-cylinder Mitsubishi Zuisei (11,903 units, e.g. Kawasaki Ki-45 ), Mitsubishi Kinsei (12,228 units, e.g. Aichi D3A ), Mitsubishi Kasei (16,486 units, e.g. Kawanishi H8K ), Nakajima Sakae (30,233 units, e.g. Mitsubishi A6M and Nakajima Ki-43 ), and 18-cylinder Nakajima Homare (9,089 units, e.g. Nakajima Ki-84 ). The Kawasaki Ki-61 and Yokosuka D4Y were rare examples of Japanese liquid-cooled inline engine aircraft at that time but later, they were also redesigned to fit radial engines as

2700-617: The Gnome and Le Rhône rotary powerplants, and Siemens-Halske built their own designs, including the Siemens-Halske Sh.III eleven-cylinder rotary engine , which was unusual for the period in being geared through a bevel geartrain in the rear end of the crankcase without the crankshaft being firmly mounted to the aircraft's airframe, so that the engine's internal working components (fully internal crankshaft "floating" in its crankcase bearings, with its conrods and pistons) were spun in

2775-513: The Japanese O.S. Max firm's FR5-300 five-cylinder, 3.0 cu.in. (50 cm ) displacement "Sirius" radial in 1986. The American "Technopower" firm had made smaller-displacement five- and seven-cylinder model radial engines as early as 1976, but the OS firm's engine was the first mass-produced radial engine design in aeromodelling history. The rival Saito Seisakusho firm in Japan has since produced

2850-533: The Jupiter. Although other piston configurations and turboprops have taken over in modern propeller-driven aircraft , Rare Bear , which is a Grumman F8F Bearcat equipped with a Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone radial engine, is still the fastest piston-powered aircraft . 125,334 of the American twin-row, 18-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp , with a displacement of 2,800 in (46 L) and between 2,000 and 2,400 hp (1,500-1,800 kW), powered

2925-478: The R-985 Wasp Junior as a smaller version of the R-1340 Wasp to compete in the market for medium-sized aircraft engines. Like its larger brother, the Wasp Junior was an air-cooled, nine-cylinder radial, with its power boosted by a gear-driven single-speed centrifugal type supercharger . Its cylinders were smaller, however, with a bore and stroke of 5 + 3 ⁄ 16  in (132 mm), giving

3000-620: The U.S. military chose the Wasp Junior for the Vultee BT-13 Valiant and North American BT-14 basic training aircraft and for the Vought OS2U Kingfisher observation floatplane . Military versions of existing Wasp Junior-powered civilian aircraft were also produced, such as the military derivatives of the Beech 18, Beech Staggerwing, Grumman Goose, and Howard DGA-15. The Wasp Junior also powered some versions of

3075-758: The United Kingdom the Bristol Aeroplane Company was concentrating on developing radials such as the Jupiter, Mercury , and sleeve valve Hercules radials. Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union started with building licensed versions of the Armstrong Siddeley, Bristol, Wright, or Pratt & Whitney radials before producing their own improved versions. France continued its development of various rotary engines but also produced engines derived from Bristol designs, especially

Grumman G-21 Goose - Misplaced Pages Continue

3150-504: The animated illustration, four cam lobes serve all 10 valves across the five cylinders, whereas 10 would be required for a typical inline engine with the same number of cylinders and valves. Most radial engines use overhead poppet valves driven by pushrods and lifters on a cam plate which is concentric with the crankshaft, with a few smaller radials, like the Kinner B-5 and Russian Shvetsov M-11 , using individual camshafts within

3225-676: The civilian market. New designs based on the Wasp Junior were also introduced, such as the Sikorsky H-5 helicopter, the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver , and Max Holste Broussard bush airplanes , and agricultural aircraft such as the Snow S-2B and S-2C , Grumman Ag Cat , and Weatherley 201 . Pratt & Whitney ceased production of the Wasp Junior in 1953, having built 39,037 engines. Many Wasp Junior engines are still in use today in older bush planes and agricultural planes, as well as in antique aircraft. Some antique aircraft, such as

3300-460: The compression stroke, this liquid, being incompressible, stops piston movement. Starting or attempting to start the engine in such condition may result in a bent or broken connecting rod. Originally radial engines had one row of cylinders, but as engine sizes increased it became necessary to add extra rows. The first radial-configuration engine known to use a twin-row design was the 160 hp Gnôme "Double Lambda" rotary engine of 1912, designed as

3375-502: The crankcase and cylinders revolved with the propeller. It was similar in concept to the later radial, the main difference being that the propeller was bolted to the engine, and the crankshaft to the airframe. The problem of the cooling of the cylinders, a major factor with the early "stationary" radials, was alleviated by the engine generating its own cooling airflow. In World War I many French and other Allied aircraft flew with Gnome , Le Rhône , Clerget , and Bentley rotary engines,

3450-572: The crankcase for each cylinder. A few engines use sleeve valves such as the 14-cylinder Bristol Hercules and the 18-cylinder Bristol Centaurus , which are quieter and smoother running but require much tighter manufacturing tolerances . C. M. Manly constructed a water-cooled five-cylinder radial engine in 1901, a conversion of one of Stephen Balzer 's rotary engines , for Langley 's Aerodrome aircraft. Manly's engine produced 52 hp (39 kW) at 950 rpm. In 1903–1904 Jacob Ellehammer used his experience constructing motorcycles to build

3525-408: The crankshaft takes two revolutions to complete the four strokes of each piston (intake, compression, combustion, exhaust). The camshaft ring is geared to spin slower and in the opposite direction to the crankshaft. Its cam lobes are placed in two rows; one for the intake valves and one for the exhaust valves. The radial engine normally uses fewer cam lobes than other types. For example, in the engine in

3600-486: The early 1920s Le Rhône converted a number of their rotary engines into stationary radial engines. By 1918 the potential advantages of air-cooled radials over the water-cooled inline engine and air-cooled rotary engine that had powered World War I aircraft were appreciated but were unrealized. British designers had produced the ABC Dragonfly radial in 1917, but were unable to resolve the cooling problems, and it

3675-566: The fast Osa class missile boats . Another one was the Lycoming XR-7755 which was the largest piston aircraft engine ever built in the United States with 36 cylinders totaling about 7,750 in (127 L) of displacement and a power output of 5,000 horsepower (3,700 kilowatts). While most radial engines have been produced for gasoline, there have been diesel radial engines. Two major advantages favour diesel engines — lower fuel consumption and reduced fire risk. Packard designed and built

3750-474: The flaps were fabric-covered. It was powered by two 450 horsepower (340 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engines mounted on the leading edges of the wings. The deep fuselage served also as a hull and was equipped with hand-cranked retractable landing gear. First flight of the prototype took place on May 29, 1937. The fuselage also proved versatile, as it provided generous interior space that allowed fitting for either

3825-630: The four-engine Boeing B-29 Superfortress and others. The Soviet Shvetsov OKB-19 design bureau was the sole source of design for all of the Soviet government factory-produced radial engines used in its World War II aircraft, starting with the Shvetsov M-25 (itself based on the American Wright Cyclone 9 's design) and going on to design the 41-litre displacement Shvetsov ASh-82 fourteen cylinder radial for fighters, and

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3900-618: The high-revving engine to drive a propeller at suitable speeds, hence the "-G" suffix. Aviator Jacqueline Cochran flew a special Model D-17W Beechcraft Staggerwing with this engine in 1937, setting a speed and altitude record and placing third in the Bendix transcontinental race . However, the SC-G never got past the experimental stage. Early versions of the Wasp Junior were used in various small civilian and military utility aircraft, but only in limited numbers. The type became more popular later in

3975-620: The largest-displacement production British radial from the Bristol firm to use sleeve valving, the Bristol Centaurus were used to power the Hawker Tempest II and Sea Fury . The same firm's poppet-valved radials included: around 32,000 of Bristol Pegasus used in the Short Sunderland , Handley Page Hampden , and Fairey Swordfish and over 20,000 examples of the firm's 1925-origin nine-cylinder Mercury were used to power

4050-447: The late-war Hawker Sea Fury and Grumman F8F Bearcat , two of the fastest production piston-engined aircraft ever built, using radial engines. Whenever a radial engine remains shut down for more than a few minutes, oil or fuel may drain into the combustion chambers of the lower cylinders or accumulate in the lower intake pipes, ready to be drawn into the cylinders when the engine starts. As the piston approaches top dead center (TDC) of

4125-487: The massive, 58-litre displacement Shvetsov ASh-73 eighteen-cylinder radial in 1946 - the smallest-displacement radial design from the Shvetsov OKB during the war was the indigenously designed, 8.6 litre displacement Shvetsov M-11 five cylinder radial. Over 28,000 of the German 42-litre displacement, 14-cylinder, two-row BMW 801 , with between 1,560 and 2,000 PS (1,540-1,970 hp, or 1,150-1,470 kW), powered

4200-479: The mid-1930s, Pratt & Whitney developed a still greater improvement of the Wasp Junior, the "C series", with an even higher compression ratio and RPM limit. The only type produced in this series, the Wasp Junior SC-G , could sustain 525 hp (391 kW) at an altitude of 9,500 ft (2,900 m) and could produce 600 hp (450 kW) for takeoff. It also included reduction gearing to allow

4275-548: The opposing direction to the crankcase and cylinders, which still rotated as the propeller itself did since it was still firmly fastened to the crankcase's frontside, as with regular umlaufmotor German rotaries. By the end of the war the rotary engine had reached the limits of the design, particularly in regard to the amount of fuel and air that could be drawn into the cylinders through the hollow crankshaft, while advances in both metallurgy and cylinder cooling finally allowed stationary radial engines to supersede rotary engines. In

4350-595: The production leaders in all-time production numbers for each type of airframe design. The American Wright Cyclone series twin-row radials powered American warplanes: the nearly-43 litre displacement, 14-cylinder Twin Cyclone powered the single-engine Grumman TBF Avenger , twin-engine North American B-25 Mitchell , and some versions of the Douglas A-20 Havoc , with the massive twin-row, nearly 55-litre displacement, 18-cylinder Duplex-Cyclone powering

4425-409: The rear bank of cylinders, but a variety of baffles and fins were introduced that largely eliminated these problems. The downside was a relatively large frontal area that had to be left open to provide enough airflow, which increased drag. This led to significant arguments in the industry in the late 1930s about the possibility of using radials for high-speed aircraft like modern fighters. The solution

4500-465: The same is not true for multi-row engines where the rear cylinders can be affected by the heat coming off the front row, and air flow being masked. A potential disadvantage of radial engines is that having the cylinders exposed to the airflow increases drag considerably. The answer was the addition of specially designed cowlings with baffles to force the air between the cylinders. The first effective drag-reducing cowling that didn't impair engine cooling

4575-486: The time. This reliance had a downside though: if the engines were mounted vertically, as in the M3 Lee and M4 Sherman , their comparatively large diameter gave the tank a higher silhouette than designs using inline engines. The Continental R-670 , a 7-cylinder radial aero engine which first flew in 1931, became a widely used tank powerplant, being installed in the M1 Combat Car , M2 Light Tank , M3 Stuart , M3 Lee , and LVT-2 Water Buffalo . The Guiberson T-1020 ,

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4650-492: The ultimate examples of which reached 250 hp (190 kW) although none of those over 160 hp (120 kW) were successful. By 1917 rotary engine development was lagging behind new inline and V-type engines, which by 1918 were producing as much as 400 hp (300 kW), and were powering almost all of the new French and British combat aircraft. Most German aircraft of the time used water-cooled inline 6-cylinder engines. Motorenfabrik Oberursel made licensed copies of

4725-402: The uppermost one in the animation, has a master rod with a direct attachment to the crankshaft. The remaining pistons pin their connecting rods ' attachments to rings around the edge of the master rod. Extra "rows" of radial cylinders can be added in order to increase the capacity of the engine without adding to its diameter. Four-stroke radials have an odd number of cylinders per row, so that

4800-559: The world's first air-cooled radial engine, a three-cylinder engine which he used as the basis for a more powerful five-cylinder model in 1907. This was installed in his triplane and made a number of short free-flight hops. Another early radial engine was the three-cylinder Anzani , originally built as a W3 "fan" configuration, one of which powered Louis Blériot 's Blériot XI across the English Channel . Before 1914, Alessandro Anzani had developed radial engines ranging from 3 cylinders (spaced 120° apart) — early enough to have been used on

4875-412: Was carried out in the US, and demonstrated that ample airflow was available with careful design. This led to the R-4360 , which has 28 cylinders arranged in a 4 row corncob configuration. The R-4360 saw service on large American aircraft in the post- World War II period. The US and Soviet Union continued experiments with larger radials, but the UK abandoned such designs in favour of newer versions of

4950-420: Was commonly used for aircraft engines before gas turbine engines became predominant. Since the axes of the cylinders are coplanar, the connecting rods cannot all be directly attached to the crankshaft unless mechanically complex forked connecting rods are used, none of which have been successful. Instead, the pistons are connected to the crankshaft with a master-and-articulating-rod assembly. One piston,

5025-493: Was developed in 1922 with Navy funding, and using aluminum cylinders with steel liners ran for an unprecedented 300 hours, at a time when 50 hours endurance was normal. At the urging of the Army and Navy the Wright Aeronautical Corporation bought Lawrance's company, and subsequent engines were built under the Wright name. The radial engines gave confidence to Navy pilots performing long-range overwater flights. Wright's 225 hp (168 kW) J-5 Whirlwind radial engine of 1925

5100-404: Was introduced with the BMW 801 14-cylinder twin-row radial. Kurt Tank designed a new cooling system for this engine that used a high-speed fan to blow compressed air into channels that carry air to the middle of the banks, where a series of baffles directed the air over all of the cylinders. This allowed the cowling to be tightly fitted around the engine, reducing drag, while still providing (after

5175-435: Was not considered viable due to the difficulty of providing the required airflow to the rear banks. Larger engines were designed, mostly using water cooling although this greatly increased complexity and eliminated some of the advantages of the radial air-cooled design. One example of this concept is the BMW 803 , which never entered service. A major study into the airflow around radials using wind tunnels and other systems

5250-524: Was not until the 1920s that Bristol and Armstrong Siddeley produced reliable air-cooled radials such as the Bristol Jupiter and the Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar . In the United States the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) noted in 1920 that air-cooled radials could offer an increase in power-to-weight ratio and reliability; by 1921 the U.S. Navy had announced it would only order aircraft fitted with air-cooled radials and other naval air arms followed suit. Charles Lawrance 's J-1 engine

5325-620: Was restarting production of the turbine-powered McKinnon G-21G Turbo Goose variant, now identified as the Antilles G-21G Super Goose. Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 turboprops flat-rated to 680 shp (510 kW) would have replaced the original PT6A-27 engines, and the airframe systems and especially the avionics (aviation electronics – i.e. radios and navigation systems) would have been updated with state-of-the-art "glass panel" instrumentation and cockpit displays. However, as of 2009, Antilles Seaplanes' manufacturing center has been foreclosed and sold at auction. The fate of new Goose production

5400-545: Was the Salmson 9Z series of nine-cylinder water-cooled radial engines that were produced in large numbers. Georges Canton and Pierre Unné patented the original engine design in 1909, offering it to the Salmson company; the engine was often known as the Canton-Unné. From 1909 to 1919 the radial engine was overshadowed by its close relative, the rotary engine , which differed from the so-called "stationary" radial in that

5475-709: Was the British Townend ring or "drag ring" which formed a narrow band around the engine covering the cylinder heads, reducing drag. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics studied the problem, developing the NACA cowling which further reduced drag and improved cooling. Nearly all aircraft radial engines since have used NACA-type cowlings. While inline liquid-cooled engines continued to be common in new designs until late in World War II , radial engines dominated afterwards until overtaken by jet engines, with

5550-876: Was used briefly by No. 1 Air Ambulance Unit, Royal Australian Air Force in the Mediterranean.[21] After the war, the Goose found continued commercial use in locations from Alaska to Catalina and the Caribbean . A total of 345 were built, with about 30 known to still be airworthy today (although around 60 are still on various civil registries, many of them are known to have crashed or been otherwise destroyed), most being in private ownership, some of them operating in modified forms. Data from United States Navy Aircraft since 1911 General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Related lists Pratt %26 Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior

5625-474: Was widely claimed as "the first truly reliable aircraft engine". Wright employed Giuseppe Mario Bellanca to design an aircraft to showcase it, and the result was the Wright-Bellanca WB-1 , which first flew later that year. The J-5 was used on many advanced aircraft of the day, including Charles Lindbergh 's Spirit of St. Louis , in which he made the first solo trans-Atlantic flight. In 1925

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