Radical engines never invented?

WI no one invents the radial engine?

POD in the early 1900s, Anzani never invents his 3-cylinder radial engine, so Bleriot uses some other type of engine to fly across the English Channel.
During WW1, nobody builds radial rotary engines.
In 1929, Lindbergh needs some other type of engine to solo the Atlantic.
No Wright radials to power American tanks during WW2.
No big radials to power WW2 bombers or naval fighters.
No turbo-compound radials to power the first generation of trans-Atlantic Constellations and DC-?
 
If the radical engine was never invented a lot more test pilots wouldn't have died in the 1930s as the power of radical engines propelled aircraft faster an airframe technology could handle.
But if you mean radial engines liquid cooled engines would have been more prominent in received more effort and research and production. You might even see an air-cooled in-line engine..
 
If the radical engine was never invented a lot more test pilots wouldn't have died in the 1930s as the power of radical engines propelled aircraft faster an airframe technology could handle.
But if you mean radial engines liquid cooled engines would have been more prominent in received more effort and research and production. You might even see an air-cooled in-line engine..
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotta_Fraschini_Zeta
Isotta fraschini made air-cooled inline engines, but it's just difficult to cool them.
Of course it cuts the complexity,but then you lack power and you can't cool the engine.
 
The first engine with a high enough power to weight ratio to power an airplane was a radial. The two cylinder motor cycle engines such as Harley Davidson are semi radials.
 
WI no one invents the radial engine?

Well, there is the difference from Rotary to Radial engine

640px-Felix_Millet.jpg

Patented in France in 1888

The whole crankcase rotates around a fixed crankshaft
Rotary_engine_-_animation_slower.gif

rather than radial
79Qo0.gif


Both were 'Radical' departures from other engine block designs:cool:
 

Driftless

Donor
Isn't there an awful lot of wasted energy and unusable torque with rotary engines? Leading to the shift to Radials?
 
Isn't there an awful lot of wasted energy and unusable torque with rotary engines? Leading to the shift to Radials?
Not so much wasted, as just difficult to scale up in size

Rotarys were good as they ran smoother, as the entire crankcase and prop acted as a flywheel, that made balancing easier, along with the rotary skipping a cylinder when firing, that slight delay helped with the crude ignition systems used at the time
 
WI no one invents the radial engine?

POD in the early 1900s, Anzani never invents his 3-cylinder radial engine, so Bleriot uses some other type of engine to fly across the English Channel.
During WW1, nobody builds radial rotary engines.
In 1929, Lindbergh needs some other type of engine to solo the Atlantic.
No Wright radials to power American tanks during WW2.
No big radials to power WW2 bombers or naval fighters.
No turbo-compound radials to power the first generation of trans-Atlantic Constellations and DC-?

No radials, no problems.

Already in ww1 people were using inline engines of one sort or anonther - inline 4, inline 6, V8, V12.
Lindbergh (or someone else) will use Liberty, Eagle or Hispano to cross the Atlantic.
Plenty, if not majority of ww2 bombers and naval aircraft were powered either by V12s or small radials. Having no radials means that big V12s (35-50L) are more widespread between the wars. Also W18, Y18, H16, H24, W24; we might consider X engines as radials?
Turbo-compound does not mandate having radial as generator of power, other engines will do.
DC-2 or DC-3 with V-12 is no stretch, neither is Connie with H24 or W24 engine.
V8 or V12 will power tanks, no problem. Curtiss will be more than willing to sell tank-suitable Conqueror to the US Army.
 
As everyone knows Radials can run happily with several cylinders missing whilst watercooled inlines blow up if the pilot accidentally knocks the boost lever. So this means no wars the British Empire still spans the globe, the German army still wears helmets with points on and the USA adopts the Metric system.
 
As everyone knows Radials can run happily with several cylinders missing whilst watercooled inlines blow up if the pilot accidentally knocks the boost lever. So this means no wars the British Empire still spans the globe, the German army still wears helmets with points on and the USA adopts the Metric system.

Metric System, Never!

But Army and Marines liked the points too
product_image_8855_4463.jpg
USMCbandHelmet1.jpg
 
Gentlemen-
Back in 1902 Charles Manley temporarily blinded himself brazing the water jackets on his five cylinder static radial engine for the inadequate Langley airplane (which he flew thru structural failure -twice on two separate launch attempts).

The 52 BHP Manley radial was amazingly lightly constructed and demonstrated the highest power to weight ratio of any aircraft engine over the next 12-13 years. It was also capable of lengthy demonstration runs (tens of hours).

In my opinion this engine was a major milestone in the development of manned flight... sorry no one remembered it.

Dynasoar
 
Gentlemen-
Back in 1902 Charles Manley temporarily blinded himself brazing the water jackets on his five cylinder static radial engine for the inadequate Langley airplane (which he flew thru structural failure -twice on two separate launch attempts).

The 52 BHP Manley radial was amazingly lightly constructed and demonstrated the highest power to weight ratio of any aircraft engine over the next 12-13 years. It was also capable of lengthy demonstration runs (tens of hours).

In my opinion this engine was a major milestone in the development of manned flight... sorry no one remembered it.

from the wiki
Stephen Marius Balzer (c. 1864 – September 29, 1940) was a Hungarian-born American mechanic and inventor. He was the founder of the Balzer Motor Company and later donated one of his cars to the Smithsonian Institution, which was the first car in its collection. An engine he created for pioneering aviator Samuel Pierpont Langley was heavily modified and used in a craft that has been considered one of the earliest heavier-than-air aircraft.

Born c. 1864, Balzer immigrated in the 1870s from the Kingdom of Hungary to the United States. He apprenticed as a watchmaker at Tiffany & Co.. When he started his own business in 1894, a machine shop, he already held several patents for mechanical devices, among them a device for making milling cutters and his rotary engine. In the same year, he completed his first prototype automobile, a motorized quadricycle with a tube chassis, less than 3 by 6 feet (0.91 by 1.83 m).[1] It had a rotary, air-cooled, 3-cylinder engine, mounted vertically in the rear and revolving around a fixed crankshaft. Turning with the crank case was a stub shaft. It further had a 3-speed manual transmission with no reverse. One lever engaged speeds and clutch. Each front wheel had its own bicycle fork axle which were connected by a bar which was operated by a tiller.[2]) By 1897, he had built three cars. Balzer would later recount that he was required by an officer of the New York Police Department to have one of his early test-model cars, which could be driven at a maximum speed of no more than 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h), accompanied by someone walking in front of the car waving a red flag.[3]

On May 16, 1899, Balzer donated his prototype to the Smithsonian Institution, the first automobile in its collection.[1] This was the first car given to the Smithsonian. It is currently in collection.

He developed also 5-cylinder rotary engines. When Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel Pierpont Langley learned about these vehicles and their engine in 1898, he contacted Balzer, ordering one for his experimental airplane. Balzer had challenges completing this engine, delivering finally not earlier than 1900. For proper use, Langley's technical assistant, Charles M. Manly had to modify it heavily.[4] The engine became known as the Manly–Balzer engine, the first purpose-built airplane engine, with credit largely given to Manly, who was later awarded a medal for his innovations on the engine by the United States Congress.[3]
 
marathag wrote:
in 1898, he (Langley) contacted Balzer, ordering one for his experimental airplane. Balzer had challenges completing this engine, delivering finally not earlier than 1900. For proper use, Langley's technical assistant, Charles M. Manly had to modify it heavily.[4] The engine became known as the Manly–Balzer engine, the first purpose-built airplane engine, with credit largely given to Manly, who was later awarded a medal for his innovations on the engine by the United States Congress.[3][/QUOTE]

The "heavy" modifications of the Balzer engine consisted of discarding the components and much of the design of the five cylinder air cooled rotary engine- which did not deliver the specified 12 HP for 100 LBS- Langley was originally planning a twin engine aircraft- and hot-rodding the Balzer rotary-now cooled with wet cloths wired to the cylinders to about 18HP at 700+ RPM.

Manley designed and largely built an engine which shared only the five cylinder configuration with Balzer's. No longer an air cooled rotary, the water cooled static radial demonstrated more than four times the power originally specified by Langley for the same total weight limit. Lengthy hyperlinks on request.

Dynasoar
 
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