Wright Cyclone was the name given to a family of air-cooled radial piston engines designed by the Wright Aeronautical Corporation and used in numerous American aircraft in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.
10-651: The Wright Aeronautical Corporation was formed in 1919, initially to develop liquid-cooled Hispano-Suiza V8 engines under license. In 1923 the Wright purchased the Lawrance Aero Engine Company , and with the purchase Charles Lawrance came to Wright as the Vice-President. Later that year the US Navy awarded Wright a contract to develop two new air-cooled radial engines. The first, called
20-736: The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company on July 5, 1929, to become the Curtiss-Wright Corporation . Their engine divisions merged in 1931. During World War II , the Paterson plant had 24,000 employees, working in three daily shifts. They made some 75,000 engines for the B-25, the Boeing B-17, and other aircraft. Wright also made engines for 44 commercial airlines and rocket engines for space travel. However,
30-613: The Mitchell Trophy Race . In May 1923, Wright Aeronautical purchased the Lawrance Aero Engine Company , acquiring Charles Lawrance 's J-1 radial engine . Lawrance became a vice president of Wright. In 1925, Wright's president, Frederick B. Rentschler , left the company to found Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company ; Lawrance replaced him as company president. Rentschler poached several talented personnel from Wright to join his new firm. Working off Lawrance's designs, Wright Aeronautical developed an air-cooled engine,
40-470: The engine configurations as follows: "R" = Radial , followed by the approximate displacement in cubic inches . Wright Aeronautical Corporation Wright Aeronautical (1919–1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Paterson, New Jersey . It was the successor corporation to Wright-Martin . It built aircraft and was a supplier of aircraft engines to other builders in
50-628: The Model J Whirlwind series. In 1925, a Wright-Bellanca airplane won the Pulitzer Trophy Race using a Wright Whirlwind engine. In 1927, a Wright J-5C Whirlwind engine was used by Charles Lindbergh in the Spirit of St. Louis when he flew from New York City to Paris . Wright engines were also used by other famed aviators, including Richard E. Byrd , Clarence Chamberlin , and Amelia Earhart . Wright Aeronautical merged with
60-557: The P-1, was a 9-cylinder single row design of 1,652 cu in (27.07 L) displacement that was derived from an earlier Lawrence design, it produced 400 hp (300 kW). The second, the P-2, had the same 1,652 cu in (27.07 L) displacement as the P-1, but was an improved design that produced 435 hp (324 kW). Neither engine entered production, with the Navy selecting
70-912: The golden age of aviation. Wright engines were used by Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh . In 1929, the company merged with Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corporation to form Curtiss-Wright . In 1916, the Wright brothers ' original aviation firm, the Wright Company , merged with Glenn L. Martin 's firm, the Glenn L. Martin Company of California , to form the Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation . In September 1917, Martin resigned from Wright-Martin and re-formed an independent Glenn L. Martin Company of Ohio (later of Maryland ). After World War I in 1919, Wright-Martin
80-515: The race. In 1920, Wright produced a canon engine for the Army that allowed shells to be fired through the airplane's propeller. In 1921, a 300 horsepower engine by Wright again came in second place at the Pulitzer Trophy Race in Omaha, Nebraska . In 1921, Wright developed a new six-cylinder dirigible engine with 400 horsepower, testing it for nine months. In 1922, a plane with a Wright H-2 engine won
90-519: The superior Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp , so in 1926 work started on the improved 1,750 cu in (28.7 L) design, which became the R-1750 Cyclone. R-1300 Cyclone 7 (1942) R-1750 Cyclone (1926) R-1820 Cyclone (1932) R-2600 Cyclone 14 (Twin Cyclone) (1935) R-3350 Cyclone 18 (Duplex Cyclone) (1937) R-4090 Cyclone 22 Note: the designations refer to
100-470: Was renamed Wright Aeronautical. It moved to Paterson, New Jersey in 1919. In February 1919, an airplane with a Wright engine broke the world's speed record at 163 2–3 miles per hour. In November 1920, an airplane with a 300-horsepower Wright engine came in second place in the first Pulitzer Trophy Race in Long Island, New York . Other planes using Wright engines came in fourth and fifth place in
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