DSC_1868 - Radial Engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is called a "star engine" (German Sternmotor, French Moteur en étoile) in some languages. The radial configuration was very commonly used in aircraft engines before turbine engines became predominant.
Wright's 225 hp (168 kW) J-5 Whirlwind radial engine of 1925 was widely acknowledged 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 1, or WB-1, which was first flown in the latter part of that year. The J-5 was used on many advanced aircraft of the day, including Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis with which he made the first solo trans-Atlantic flight.
In 1925, the American rival firm to Wright's radial engine production efforts, Pratt & Whitney, was founded. The P & W firm's initial offering, the Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp, test run later that year, began the evolution of the many models of Pratt & Whitney radial engines that were to appear during the second quarter of the 20th century, among them the 14-cylinder, twin-row Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp, the most-produced aviation engine of any single design, with a total production quantity of nearly 175,000 engines.
DSC_1868 - Radial Engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is called a "star engine" (German Sternmotor, French Moteur en étoile) in some languages. The radial configuration was very commonly used in aircraft engines before turbine engines became predominant.
Wright's 225 hp (168 kW) J-5 Whirlwind radial engine of 1925 was widely acknowledged 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 1, or WB-1, which was first flown in the latter part of that year. The J-5 was used on many advanced aircraft of the day, including Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis with which he made the first solo trans-Atlantic flight.
In 1925, the American rival firm to Wright's radial engine production efforts, Pratt & Whitney, was founded. The P & W firm's initial offering, the Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp, test run later that year, began the evolution of the many models of Pratt & Whitney radial engines that were to appear during the second quarter of the 20th century, among them the 14-cylinder, twin-row Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp, the most-produced aviation engine of any single design, with a total production quantity of nearly 175,000 engines.