Radial Engines

[Small Clanger]

..............

[markc123]

Missed that blimp yesterday, must have been flying around before I got home from work.

Radials are amazing, but I still love the sound of a merlin at full chat :-).

[flymo]

very cool. Take a look at this baby, every house hold should own one of these. A very trusting spectator crowd though, I dont think I would stand that close to the side of a running propeller.

pEbDlNeMtLM

[timwilky]

I love rotarys. That huge mass spinning. A reverse radial where the crank is static and the cylinders spin around it.

[Sid Squid]

That Bristol is also sleeve valve, which is a complexity all of its own - great VE though.

Now go look for rotary, (but not Wankel) engine.

Also:
Wankel
Split single
Napier Culverin, Napier Deltic and Napier Sabre
Commer TS3

Then see this page: Click me! (http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/POWER/unusualICeng/unusualICeng.htm)

All ways of making fractions of crude go 'pop' - wonderful!

[Spank86]

I love unusual engine configurations, Any engineer trying something new has my vote.

[timwilky]

Sid
You missed out the engine of my youth, the opposed piston, or specifically in my case the Leyland L60. 2 cranks, 6 cylinders, 12 pistons, 2 stroke, multi fuel, a couple of blowers and as unreliable as hell. Pity I cannot find any animations.
http://histomobile.com/histomob/internet/techniqu/121-6.jpg

Edit, damm I should have read your list, the Napier Culverin is similar.

[markc123]

Opposed piston may be making a comeback. There was also a prototype motorcycle motor that worked in a similar fashion to a dual expansion steam engine - 2 small primary pistons where the explosions happened and a central larger piston which could extract more energy from allowing the exhaust gasses from either cylinder to expand further.

[jambo]

That Bristol is also sleeve valve, which is a complexity all of its own - great VE though.

Now go look for rotary, (but not Wankel) engine.

Also:
Wankel
Split single
Napier Culverin, Napier Deltic and Napier Sabre
Commer TS3

Then see this page: Click me! (http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/POWER/unusualICeng/unusualICeng.htm)

All ways of making fractions of crude go 'pop' - wonderful!
Empty, from this very forum once wasted about 20 minutes trying to get me to understand a Napier Deltic engine while we were sat having a coffee in Soho. Finally settling on "I'll send you a picture". It was the first time I'd met a motor with multiple cranks, and facing pistons. Once you've got your head around that most others are just about possible!

I'd not seen Cam engines either:
http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/POWER/unusualICeng/cam-IC/cam-IC.htm
Thankfully these are animated :)

Jambo

[flymo]

I'd not seen Cam engines either:
http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/POWER/unusualICeng/cam-IC/cam-IC.htm
Thankfully these are animated :)

Jambo

Very similar in principal to the Ducati desmo valve mechanism.

[daveangel]

Thanks for putting the clip of the Bristol Hurcules up flymo. The Hurcules was used almost through the war and for about twenty + years after in various uprated forms but was always overshadowed by the RR Merlin & Griffon. War Digs with Harry Harris on Discovery last Sunday evening dug up the remains of 4 Hurcules engines from a WW2 Short Stirling bomber crash site, as expected they were mostly smashed to pieces. Luckily the crew all baled out safely.

[yorkie_chris]

That Bristol is also sleeve valve, which is a complexity all of its own - great VE though.

I hear one similar large capacity sleeve valved engine described as a swiss watch running at 2000hp due to the myriad gears to drive the sleeves :)


Also worth having a read about turbo-compound engines which used basically half a turbo to recover exhaust energy as motive power. Very interesting.


Also saw a really cool one where one bloke in a shed was making a 5 cylinder radial from VW top ends for a homebuilt aircraft :)


What next, X-16 layout quad-charged vulture-busa... would be very interesting!

[Sid Squid]

I hear one similar large capacity sleeve valved engine described as a swiss watch running at 2000hp due to the myriad gears to drive the sleeves :)
Hercules sleeve gear drive system:

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTllVJQ9lKIjjxerytL05aZKl1P55hnF EsNhCwl9-7MHD_UC_ihf557hB_Vqg

[LankyIanB]

If you want a BIG radial look up P&W 4360. Four rows!!! Bit of a nightmare to cool the cylinders at the back.
http://www.enginehistory.org/r-4360.shtml or http://www.geocities.com/pentagon/quarters/4980/engine9.html

As used in Boeing Stratocruiser and B-50 superfortress (uprated B-29)

The best thing about big radials is the sound and smell when they start up, they rarely run on all cylinders at first so rattle, pop and belch lots of white smoke. About 15 years ago I managed to stand under the wing of a Lockheed Constellation as it started up (4 x P&W 3350 - 3 row, turbo-compound). Absolutely glorious!

[Sir Trev]

Empty, from this very forum once wasted about 20 minutes trying to get me to understand a Napier Deltic engine while we were sat having a coffee in Soho.

Are these the engines that were used in the Class 55 locomotoive? No wonder they were known as being "very efficient, but a maintenance menace."

[jambo]

Are these the engines that were used in the Class 55 locomotoive? No wonder they were known as being "very efficient, but a maintenance menace."

That's the one, useful animation here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Deltic)

Jambo

[LankyIanB]

Deltic - more stuff here : http://pigeonsnest.co.uk/stuff/deltic/deltic.html

Including the gearing required to couple the three crankshafts....

[Quiff Wichard]

I like fire engines

[tactcom7]

i prefer steam engines.

[Sid Squid]

I had a drive of a 1932 Dennis fire engine a few years ago.

I hope no one was in need of the firemen too soon - it's slooooooowwww.

But huge fun.