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AIRCRAFT PROPULSION
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A Review of the Evolution of Aircraft Piston Engines

Volume 1, Number 4 (End of Volume) NATIONAL AIR AND SPACEMUSEUM 0 / \ SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

SMITHSONIAN

INSTITUTION

NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

SMITHSONIAN ANNALS OF FLIGHT
VOLUME 1 . NUMBER 4 . (END OF VOLUME)

AIRCRAFT PROPULSION A Review of the Evolution 0£ Aircraft Piston Engines
C. F A Y E T T E T A Y L O R

Professor of Automotive Engineering Emeritus Massachusetts Institute of Technology

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION PRESSCITY OF WASHINGTON • 1971

Smithsonian Annals of Flight
Numbers 1-4 constitute volume one of Smithsonian Annals of Flight. Subsequent numbers will not bear a volume designation, which has been dropped. T h e following earlier numbers of Smithsonian Annals of Flight are available from the Superintendent of Documents as indicated below: 1. The First Nonstop Coast-to-Coast Flight and the HistoricT - 2 Airplane, by Louis S. Casey, 1964. 90 pages, 43 figures, appendix, bibliography. Price 60ff. 2. T h e First Airplane Diesel Engine: Packard Model DR-980 of 1928, by Robert B. Meyer. 1964. 48 pages, 37 figures, appendix, bibliography. Price 60^. 3. The Liberty Engine 1918-1942, by Philip S. Dickey. 1968. 110 pages, 20 figures, appendix, bibliography. Price 75jf. The following numbers are inpress: 5. The Wright Brothers Engines and Their Design, by Leonard S. Hobbs. 6. Langley's Aero Engine of 1903, by Robert B. Meyer. 7. The Curtiss D-12 Aero Engine, by Hugo Byttebier.

For sale by Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price $1.75

Contents
Page
FOREWORD ACKNOWLEDGMENTS EARLY ATTEMPTS AT PROPULSION EARLY INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINESvn vm 1 8

Wright Brothers' Engine 1903 Langley Engines 1900-1903
ENGINES 1903-1909 ENGINES 1910-1918
PISTON ENGINES AFTER 1918

9 15
19 27
35

Liquid-Cooled Engines Air-Cooled Engines Air Versus Liquid Cooling
UNCONVENTIONAL ENGINES

35 41 53
57

Barrel- or Revolver-Type Engine Fairchild-Caminez Engine Sleeve-Valve Engines Diesel Aircraft Engines Two-Cycle Gasoline EnginesUnconventional Cylinder Arrangements
RELATED TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS

57 57 57 59 60 62
63

Valves and Valve Cooling Fuels and Combustion Altitude Performance and Superchargers Vibration Control Propellers Reduction gears Other Developments Ignition Systems Carburetion Fuel Injection Starting Bearings and Lubrication Engine Instruments

63 65 67 73 75 78 79 79 81 81 81 82 83

SUMMARY OFPISTON-ENGINE DEVELOPMENT

85

Table 1—Engines of Historical Importance Table 2—Credits, by Country, for Engine Developments .
FOOTNOTES

88 90
91

APPENDIX—The Rotary Radial Engine
BIBLIOGRAPHY

93
95

(Expanded and arranged by Dr. Richard K. Smith, from material furnished by C. Fayette Taylor) Bibliographies and Indexes History and Technology of Aircraft and Flight (Publicationsprimarily concerned with aircraft development, but incidentally containing valuable material on aircraft propulsion, or with theory and technological practice) Aircraft Powerplants (Descriptions and technical data: under Engines, dates refer to date of publication) Aircraft Power Before 1900 Engines 1900-1913 Engines 1914-1919 Engines 1920-1924 Engines 1925-1929 Engines 1930-1934 Engines 1935-1939 PistonEngines 1940 and After Steam Engines Diesel Engines Jet, Rocket, and Turbine Engines Related Technical Developments Altitude Performance and Supercharging Cooling, Cowling, and Radiators Carburetors, Carburetion, and Fuel Injection Instruments and Accessories (Engine instruments, fuel-supply and exhaust systems, ignition systems and spark plugs, starters and starting) Fuels and Combustion,...