Pratt & Whitney R4360 from the 2010 Power-UP at the Penngrove Power & Implement Museum

Steve Phillips, curator of the Penngrove Power & Implement Museum runs the Pratt & Whitney R4360 from the Howard Hughes Spruce Goose cache of motors. This engine was restored by Steve and volunteers at the museum a few years ago. Look at our other videos for the development of the project.

[@schlutorflyer]

Beautiful...People who keep these old power plants running deserve the highest praise.

[@donallen5571]

I was a recip mech when I was in the Air Force back in 62-66 and worked on these corn cobs plus the R-2000 and the R1300. Even work on the Lycoming T-53 turbo on the HH-43B for a short time. LOVED the Radials!

[@angargoy7181]

Congratulations for putting this engine in motion is a beauty is good that people can see the mechanics of these engines a greeting

[@007TruthSeeker]

Thanks for posting this video. Hearing such a mechanical marvel do its thing always quickens the pulse and heightens the excitement level. These were used in the latest piston-powered airliners and military aircraft, before jets took over, and yet got much better fuel economy, so they may come back in special applications.

[@billietyree6139]

I didn't know till I read the comments that the B 36 had these and now I really understand why the plane was so loud. I was in Marine Corps radio school at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in 1951 when the 36 was being built and flown off the runway right next door. Our school was right next to the end of the runway and they always took off toward us and away from town. When one took off they had six of those monsters at full power, four under-wing jets also at full power and, I think it was four booster rockets firing. All communications shut down till they left.

[@NastyNixels]

Thanks for posting, Billie. Those things ARE loud! We don't have an exhaust manifold, but we also don't have the supercharger - which would make it even louder. I can imagine not being able to communicate til the B36 was off and away!

[@robboardman598]

I've never seen a B36 in the flesh, but I imagine that part of the noise would also have to do with the fact that the engines are pushers, so the exhaust would be pointing THROUGH the props. If you have ever seen/flown a Cessna 337 (push-pull engine configuration), the rear engine makes a lot more noise than the front, due to the prop blades cutting through the exhaust. If you have ever tried blowing through a desk fan, you can hear the same effect. I'd LOVE to hear a B36 taking off with 6 huge radial engines and underwing booster jets screaming too. I as in heaven last year at the Duxford air show in the UK - last flight of the only flying Lancaster (4 Merlin engines) before a 5 year rebuild - fabulous.

[@paulgracey4697]

Rob Boardman The B36 had those jet engines alright, but they were an afterthought because Convair got the contract despite going against the jet propelled faster and more efficient Northrup Flying Wing. Those jets were only used for take-off because they used the same AvGas as the 4360's as I recall. Both the speed regime and the fuel consumption, not to mention the total loss oil systems of the jet engines of that time would not allow them to be operated in cruise. The B36 did have longer range than the Northrup, probably because the jet engines of the time were such fuel hogs and the Flying Wing had been a conversion of a piston engine design. The Air Force Museum at Dayton OH has a B36 on display but alas, all Flying Wings were scrapped.

[@PeterNGloor]

Rob Boardman I have observed the same on Piaggio Avanti twins. They are too noisy for their size of engine.

[@ThePaulv12]

+Paul Gracey Yeah I read somewhere the fuel tank capacity of a B36 was about equal to a contemporary V8s fuel consumption over its life of 100000 miles. A man's plane ..

[@1955thekeeper]

It gives one wonder to pause and consider that for a very long time a very long time ago this was the top flight of cutting edge technology. There was nothing else but ICEs.

[@patmcbride9853]

You could rent this out to people who's neighbors have too many late night parties.

[@robc3056]

what the music or the engine ?? !!

[@momatomic]

I have the complete leather bound Boeing manual for the R4360 Wasp Major and also for the Wasp Minor. These include all the updates, many still sealed and with classified and top secret designations, which are, of course, now declassified. They came from a Boeing aircraft mechanic who worked there all through WWII into the late 50's. I know this engine was post war and never really found it's niche. Had it been more needed, I'm sure some of the issues it had would have been worked out. But what an impressive powerhouse! It is awesome to see and hear this engine run.

[@dwgallmann630]

The R4360 sounds realllly good. As an engineer I really appreciate the design of that motor. Timing 28 cylinders, an incredible accomplishment. I had the distinct honor and pleasure of sitting in the pilot’s seat of the HK-1. I can only imagine an HK-1 running eight of these engines all at full power for take off. It must of been absolutely phenomenal!

[@UNKLDAVE]

The Hercules Hugh's (Spruce Goose) is right here in Newburg Oregon and I would kill to hear all eight of those monster engines running all at once. If you haven't had the pleasure of actually viewing the amazing aircraft up close, you just have no idea of it's enormous and massive size. Only then do you recognize the need for 8 of these monster engines. It is truly a beautiful thing to behold!!

[@dukecraig2402]

That engine looks, sounds, and sparkles with political incorrectness, I love it!!!

[@winstonsmith1284]

I have seen a lot of old warbirds at least started, and sometimes flown. The impression you get from the onlookers is, “I thought this would be cool, but it is actually more like scary:” These things were built to do a job, not sound or look pretty. Period. And the job they were designed to do was quite simple: kill people. Very sobering thinking of a crew of kids just out of high school flying off in aircraft powered by these monsters

[@HALLWILL1958]

Spruce goose had 8 of these bad boys

[@dukecraig2402]

@@HALLWILL1958 The truth be known like the Wright R3350 these really weren't very good engines, like the Wright R3350 they were plagued with problems that never really got sorted out even by the time they quit producing them, they never became anywhere near as reliable as the R2800 engine, 4 rows with the tight fitting cowlings that the engineers demanded for aerodynamics caused serious heat issues and common in flight failures with the rear cylinders. Even the Convair B36 Peacemaker with it's pusher type propeller and engine arrangement using the R4360 had issues with the carbs freezing since they weren't at the rear of the engine like in a traditional arrangement where the carbs benefitted from the heat of the cylinders helping to keep them warm at high altitudes, the first loss of nuclear weapons owned by the US was caused by the carbs icing on a B36 leading to it crashing, the design is just too much beyond what can be made reliable, they were really nothing more than a stop gap solution to more power in the years that jet engines were being perfected and could replace them. But I'd still love to have one on a stand in my backyard, I'd fire it up every morning just to drive my neighbors crazy.

[@scottcupp8129]

What an awesome piece of machinery. LOVE IT! Thank you for the post. So much history in these types of engines.

[@Vindicator58]

And just think, this was designed with ruler and pencil, no computer. Just brain power!

[@rickyhuff]

Yet another beautiful engine video ruined with music.

[@kmendez6879]

it's gone now

[@bill45colt]

to the contrary, you COULD tell which was firing and when and how. That was the job of the flight engineer. He had a panel in front of him that had many lights, each one hooked to a single sparkplug. His job during a mission, was to monitor all engine gauges so that the pilots didn't have to. He had many gauges monitoring oil consumption, and pressure, hyd pressure to needed parts and props, he watched for plugs that didn't fire or were faulty, he monitored fuel ratio and consumption and fuel pumps, and flow and tanks. He kept notes all during the flight and had control over lots of engine systems. At the end of each flight, he made recommendations as to which plug on which engine should be replaced, which magnetos needed attention, and reported on hyd systems, oil systems, and cooling issues. Mechanics depended on him greatly to do work that was needed and didn't waste time doing routine parts replacement on good components. Plugs that were working well, were not replaced. He was a very valuable guy to the whole crew. I worked with a B36 engineer after he left his military service and worked 28 years as a civilian in a research facility for missiles in Alabama.

[@macieksoft]

bill45colt You are somehow wrong bro. System was much more complicated. There was no lights connected to spark plugs. However there was a system called engine monitor. It was oscilloscope kind of CRT display. You had to switch to certain spark plug and you could identify if sparkplug was short, open or working correctly by looking at the display. Here are scans from flight manual: oppositelock.kinja.com/b-36-peacemaker-360-degree-cockpit-view-826469619 You can view entire manual on Google books.

[@griesTheGries]

yea, check out the FE position on a B36.......amazing.......

[@philr3510]

Wait, they put those things into an airplane?!

[@julianneale6128]

Phillip Ruggles yes, I think they put them in Pitts Specials. It's the only way to get a good performance...

[@mrobinson4210]

The B-36 had six of these engines and four jets.

[@goropeza101]

Thank you for the reply,"Spruce Goose"was a public nickname that Mr.Hughes hated and would've prefer aluminum had such quantity was available during the war.His epoxy-infuse birch Dura-Mold process was the first composite.That man was such a great innovator!

[@davidsymalla]

Completely bad ass. Hats off to the engineers that designed that bad mofo.

[@ckelley63]

If im correct this was the largest radial aircraft engine ever produced.

[@mmichaeldonavon]

Only worked on one of these R4360's, as I recall. Was a "torque oil pressure" xmiter with its allied "banjo fitting" and capillary tubing. Seemed to me there were many, many, adel clamps holding that capillary tube from the nose case to the aft section of the engine. The xmitter was near the fire wall. Was a 26vac, 400 Hz. Autosyn Synchro style unit, with corresponding gauge. Can't remember if the gauge read in psi, or not. Was around 1969 or 1970. Nice video, thanks, N-6395T

[@ilovepopochamilermil]

Aircraft instrumentation relies a lot on 28VAC circults that are used for a variety of instrumentation and control. Fuel quantity is the big one. The fuel cells have a number of probes which are nothing more than a string of capacitors and the dielectric is either fuel or air hence a change in capacitance using a wheatstone bridge with the meter in on leg and the probes in another and fixed amounts in the other two, the instrument can tell you exactly how much fuel you have no matter whether you are flying upside down or not or any angle between. I don't want to start a class here but aircraft systems are quite interesting imagine running 28VAC to components inside a fuel tank! The CH-47 Chinook uses the wheatstone bridge to control the engines as well as fuel quantity. The OV-1 observation plane the army used to use controls the nose gear steering on the ground with a wheatstone bridge. It is a neat yet simple tool.

[@richardaanderson7559]

I worked on the 3350s and 4360s during the Korean time on C97 air craft. They made a lot of trips over the Pacific. I don't remember losing any planes back then. The engineer had a system to pinpoint the plugs that needed replacing. Can you imagine timing 7 mags to 28 cylinders. Actualy each mag only 4 cylinders to fire. and there were 2 plugs in each cylinder and 2 sets of points in each mag.

[@Zzippitydoodah]

The B-36 had 6. Talk about a symphony !

[@rcdufffy]

FYI, They have dual ignitions, 2 spark plugs per cylinder. Not for your average mechanic, the guys that worked on these were pretty awesome. In the advent of Jet engines they became few and far between.

[@gh0stmast3r]

that sounds magical!

[@mikearneson3108]

Imagine 6 of those running at the same time! You would have the Aluminum Overcast. Namely a B-36.

[@speedskiff2]

155 cu.in. per cylinder, 56 spark plugs, and averaged a couple hundred hours before overhaul. Motors weren't so much horsepower but torque they produced. Biggest problem in B-36 was cooling them at high altitude.

[@NinthDensity]

I imagine this thing is infinitely more monstrous in person, I'd love to see it.

[@TestECull]

Mmmmm, that low idle at 1:40. God damn does it sound good. I want my daily driver to make that sort of noise.

[@MrFlyboy1701]

The Pratt & Whitney Radial 4360 Wasp Major, it was their final piston engine design before moving onto jets and turboprops. NICE VIDEO!

[@er1073]

Old engines. Better than any music on earth.

[@FiveCentsPlease]

Yes, there would be exhaust collectors/headers for the exhaust to exit the engine cowling. The short stacks were primarily used for engine testing.

[@rocketman697]

And the Goose had 8 of these bad boys.... Amazing!

[@NastyNixels]

Penngrove, CA, about 45 miles north of San Francisco. Every year on the 2nd Saturday in July, the machines are run. There are still quite a few of these engines in operation on historic aircraft and airshow race planes. Wherever you are in the world, you'll probably see one at an airshow.

[@FiveCentsPlease]

No, the gearbox behind the propeller contains the propeller reduction gear as well as various gears to drive accessories such as the magnetos.

[@timmayer8723]

Because of the time it took to overhaul one of these monsters, my maintenance hanger had eight or ten of these engines completely overhauled and sealed in a huge steel canister. When we removed an engine for overhaul , we went out back and got one that was ready to go and put the old engine in the empty canister and sent it to an overhaul facility. Each engine cost Uncle Sam $100,000 brand new and burned about 200 gals of fuel per hour when cruising at 8000'.

[@crosscoupled]

I've always wondered how the hell these things were oiled?I know its got to be a pressurized system with a pump and all,but theres no oil pan or sump?Is it like a dry sump with scavenging pumps and an external tank?And another thing.The mass of the rod piston assembies must be tremendous so is it limited to only a few thou on RPM?Just curious as I'm a gearhead and would understand any answer from a mechanic who worked on these.

[@tailwheelflier]

The most powerful double axle trailer ever

[@mikemoore9757]

More power, Mr. Scott!

[@NastyNixels]

@AtariFTW Yes, it's a corn cob engine - four banks of seven cylinders slightly rotated to allow airflow to cool all the cylinders.

[@ilovepopochamilermil]

I never got to work on any recip larger than the R-1820- 103 we used in my CH-21C Helicopter. I was lucky enough to be assigned as a procurement inspector at a civilian facility in Japan and part of that assignment was the test cell. that was in 1960-62 I was a CE on the "flying banana" in 1958-60.

[@Enrhike1991]

It is engine laborious to maintain and manufacturing. The United States had been operating several thousand pieces of this. It's a great industrial power.

[@chuchyboy]

Great video-Thanks ! Awesome piece of machinery.

[@NastyNixels]

@CFrench78 Air cooled - that is why it has a "test prop" so that air flows through the corncob and cools all the cylinders.

[@FiveCentsPlease]

There are surplus yards in the Western US that may have props available. There are also Trade-A-Plane and Barnstormers for parts or the air tanker operations with grounded old planes. Finding a prop to cut down will probably be easier than finding a vintage test cub. You would probably want a prop if you want variable pitch control.

[@GlideYNRG]

Be awesome to see at night.. Thanks very much for posting.

[@MarttiSuomivuori]

Am I seeing four rows of seven cylinders? What might have been the reliability of these engines, meaning how many hours you'd expect one engine to run faultlessly? Were the six engines needed for the power or to get the crew back? Just curious...transatlantic flights with two jet engines only is quite a recent thing.

[@timmayer8723]

I flew as a mechanic crew member in the four engine C-97 cargo plane. We flew ten flights a week to Hawaii from California in various C-97s . That is a ten hour flight over water, one way, at 8000 ft above sea level with full loads at 300,000 lb. Other than replenishing the engine oil tank and tinkering with the prop synchronizer at Hickam field in Hawaii the R-4360 was a bullet proof power plant. At night the huge ring shaped exhausts would glow cherry red in the darkness. There massive power rang every rivet in the aircraft.

[@ilovepopochamilermil]

28 cylinders. These engines were also installed on a C-124 which the USAF called the "aluminum overcast" and I do not know if it was true but at the time (Circa 1960) The R4360 was replaced with the R-3350 which also had exhaust gas turbines that transferred power into the accessory gears and did a better job than the much more complex 4360. The 3350 only had 18 cylinders in two banks of 9. I would imagine that there are still some R-3350 engines still in use today. I doubt if that is true with that 4360 monster.

[@vector6977]

How long can that run off the forklift sized propane tank?

[@superskullmaster]

@gorrammit If your refering to the crank speed, they all crank slow. If you are refering to the failed starts, then its kind of up in the air on that one.

[@paralleler]

In answer to are there any R-4360's still flying, there are still a few. Generally two or three show up at the Reno Air Races held in September in a Goodyear F2G Super Corsair and the Sea Furies "Furias" and "Dreadnaught." Unfortunately one was lost on 8SEP2012 in North Dakota when Bob Odegaard went down with his. Do a KZbin search for Goodyear F2G. Aircraft with R-4360 on static display in northern California include the Castle Air Museum (B-36, B-50, C-119) and Travis Air Museum (C-124).

[@TheCorezero00]

Not sure why it wont let me reply directly, but how to figure the firing order on the R-2800 18 cylinder radial is actually a question on the FAA Powerplant rating written test (the P in A&P)......it's add 11 subtract 7.....so 1, 12, 5, 16, 9, 2, 13 etc....

[@powerhungrytoo]

can you speed it up or will it take off for flight?

[@scottcupp8129]

PS. I never really understood the crankshaft of one of these things...How are the con rods connected? Is there one stationary conrod or what? Very ingenious though

[@andrewhall1670]

I am helping someone get a r4360 running and I am in need of a prop or test club do you know of a source I can get one from.

[@alvintsang2024]

A little late to the party but imagine how amazing 8 of these running at once would have sounded on the Spruce Goose?

[@stanhathcoat920]

These were the engines on the Hercules, ala Spruce Goose. The 4360 was also experimentally placed in some Corsairs, to provide faster fighters against kamikazes, but there wasn't enough gain in speed to make the mod feasible. The B29 could have been better served with the 4360 instead of the Wright 3350, IMOH.

[@hoshiluthi8451]

Please, where is this museum located? (Might wish to consider becoming involved as a volunteer myself). Also, are any of these engines still used in air worthy aircraft (actually still flown) anywhere on this planet today? Thanks.

[@FiveCentsPlease]

Dry sump oil system with an external tank, which is typical for the piston aero engines. And with the heavy mass of the rotating assembly, these engines were limited to a max of 2800-3000 rpm or they would come apart.

[@ilovepopochamilermil]

But these engines were designed to have some load and a high enough rpm without a load is bad (underboost) and on the CH-21 in my opinion this was the cause of the high rate of failure of engines that caused the army to phase th em out.

[@rosewhite---]

the question really is: what simpler, cheaper alternative V or H engine could have been made in those years? 4360 had huge number of precision parts while a V12, 16 or H24 could have a lot less?

[@timmayer8723]

Rose White during those years there weren't any inline multi row engines that could develop the three thousand or more horse power needed to power the heavy planes that needed massive horse power to lift really heavy loads and fly them around the world such as the C-97 and other heavy cargo planes. Radial engines also don't need radiators as they are air cooled by a four bladed 13' prop.

[@2008FORDF450V8]

where is the starter exactly

[@gorrammit]

were radial engines like this always this difficult to start or is this one just old?

[@ilovepopochamilermil]

Part of that is the procedure you must use. If you do not adhere, you might screw up that big expensive engine. Start up (for example) on the CH-21 was simple Use the preflight check and when you get to engine start, find a pilot. His instructions were Mixture idle cut off fire guards posted rotor guard posted crew chief on the intercom battery on ready to crank clutch disengaged throttle full closed against the override. mag switch to both on, start cranking and add a little prime to see if it will fire, if not a bit more prime do not even think about moving that mixture control or you are gonna get an overrev and the crew chief will be really pissed at you. He had to replace his engine last week because of an over rev.Aha I heard a cylinder fire and there is a puff of smoke. Crank some more Sir! Ah there it goes now you are runnin along on prime. OK slowly Throttle still off increase the mixture to lean. Let her warm up a little now mixture a little more toward rich signal for clearance to engage rotor blades OK engage blades make sure engine and rotor rpm needles match. engage clutch to jaw. signal chocks to be removed and we are ready to taxi. Easy peasy Our biggest problem was impatient pilots that did not understand running that R-1820 with only a cooling fan for a load. Without that rotor engaged the only load on that engine was that cooling fan that engine could run past 2500 2700 to 3000 or more and that meant engine change again. You could change out an engine in a half a day if you had one built up but that took about three days. 24 hours minimum just to soak the carburetor. To take an engine out of the shipping container and get an engine mount on it and then the cooling shrouds and the exhaust pipes and fan and cowlings and spark plugs mags carburetor and controls etc. If you were lucky and had all you needed and it wasn't 30 below (as it seemed to be in Korea a lot) but I had the hangar queen and it took me a MONTH just to get the maintenance officer to stop authorizing other mechanics of using my helicopter as a parts source. Way too long. I loved that job and I hated that job. Sun morning dawn take off that you just found out about at midnight as I was finishing my whiskey and water. 3hours sleep 3AM trying to get the ice off the rotors trying to get engine warmed so it would start Bleary eyed pilots. I suppose they want to find something wrong so we don't have to go. Not this time that airforce sergeant at that mountaintop posthad a heart attack we gitta get him. and we went and we saved his life That felt good. That was the good stuff. Other times it did not go as well. Vietnam was different. we had to fly 1400 hours a month If we didn't someone would be hurting a little more because we couldn't get it done. We Never wanted to hear about failing and because of it so many extra died. That is when we sweated blood. It was personal then. I never had a civvy job that was in that kind of pressure. .

[@luketroyer7620]

That trailer is OP AF

[@R5H4D0W]

Beautiful restoration! May I ask how are the engines stored? I'd assume emptied of engine oil and stored dry with a coat of lube oil/preservative on all the moving parts? I'm a gun collector, not an engine mechanic, so my guess of using cosmoline is anything but practical on an engine

[@andrewhall1670]

what grade of fuel are you using? 115/145 ?

[@GpunktHartman]

for me is it strange to see 3000hp turning a cuttet prop ... can't belive that the crank an the powertrain does like it .... where is the engine whit the reverse turning bladeprops ... does one still exist ?

[@turboslag]

Is it possible to know if all cylinders are firing when there are this many?!

[@keithbrescia9893]

The flight engineer had instruments for monitoring them. For this exhibition run on a test stand it would be hard to tell.

[@shospulecolupis9718]

Cool, but too bad the video went from it trying to start to roaring. Wasnt sure if it was suddenly running or if there was a sudden tornado in the area

[@Jungleland33]

I wonder is it actually possible to know if a cylinder is misfiring?.... I'd imagine it's impossible to hear a misfire.

[@smokeymccray6868]

WHAT WAS THAT? HEARING PROTECTION? WHAT DO I NEED THAT FOR?

[@jimstepan3038]

huh?

[@cutter043]

could this egine be re made .... a foundry actually recasting every component and remade ??

[@2008FORDF450V8]

hi how much fuel does this P&W R4360 burn per hour

[@samuelbitner6848]

??? My ears aren't tuned for these engines yet, but I do here what sounds like a faint knocking??? Also, why did you go headerless? wouldn't it run stronger with long tube headers? Just some questions, I don't know much about these engines yet...

[@NastyNixels]

This engine was stored for 60 years in a can. When the Penngrove Power & Implement Museum got the engine, Steve Phillips created a non-static display engine designed to educate people about the largest production reciprocating engine manufactured. It is run for a total of about an hour a year on show days in 5 minute increments. The tube header that P&W designed for this engine obscures much of the 28 cylinders from view. Lacking the proper header for this early production model 4360 became an asset. Putting short stacks was a way to feature the cylinders and sound. Loss of power is not a concern as the engine is run at idle for very short periods of time and it is a demonstration, not a work-related effort.

[@samuelbitner6848]

oh, ok.

[@samuelbitner6848]

thanks.

[@vet6822]

+Samuel Bitner balance weights...normal sound.

[@505197]

+vet68 Are you sure those are balance weights? I thought they were designed to remove harmonics. There was a small block racing harmonic damper that used the same tech, it was called the Rattler. When I read about the design in aircraft engines it surprised the hell out of me. Engineers that can figure this stuff out just blow my mind. First they have to invent the machines that help them diagnose and pin point what needs to be done where, and how much.

[@johngrauberger1421]

Iv'e heard horror stories from old Airforce mechs that had to change spark plugs on, I think it was the C-97 aircraft. Four of these engines with 27 cylinders each, with two spark plugs per cylinder. Then, when you removed the spark plugs from the lower cylinders the oil would run out and down your arm. That's a long day.

[@24preacherboy]

This engine made at least 100hp right?

[@wolfboxcarsystems]

They made at least 35x that :P

[@staciehiggins3682]

From one piston

[@helthuismartin]

3500HP

[@wildbill6976]

+Leroy Hogwash it's not about the HP, it's the torque... I've seen dyno runs of them varying anywhere between 8,000-10,000ft/lbs

[@rogertycholiz2218]

Around 3600BHP. The corncob engine - 1st bank-cool, 2nd bank-warm, 3rd bank-hot, 4th bank-cookin!

[@josias1941]

Incrível!!!! 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@ecwhite3621]

It was 4 rows of either 7 or 9 cylinders. Total: 4x7=28 or 4x9=36 cyls.

[@robboardman598]

4 rows of 7 cylinders. 28 in all.

[@jimfling2128]

Howard Hughes wanted the R4360 for the Spruce Goose but it was not available when the plane did the famous "Taxi Flight" The had the plane had the same engine as the B-29 at that time. It never flew with the R-4360.

[@collateralpigeon2151]

I dont know where you heard this but it is false. The H-4 never had an engine change and the R4360 was available in 1944. The H-4 (spruce goose) was flown for the first and final time on November 2 1947. Early B-29's were fitted with the Wright 3350 but suffered from a lack of power and later changed to the R4360. The engines you're referring to did not have the horsepower required to make the H-4 fly, thus the R4360, the most powerful at the time, were chosen.

[@kennethhowitt4988]

matthew bruce It was called the B50, and had a larger tail, and yes, 4 R4360's.

[@2008FORDF450V8]

@FiveCentsPlease could you do a video f how it cranks the engine thanks

[@darkevilapie]

why the music?

[@rexluminus9867]

Could be this person watching too many movies???

[@kc97chief]

The KC 97 tanker that SAC had in the 1950's had four of these. They were very good engines ,but the jets took over and they were retired.

[@2008bikey]

Restored? Where's the collector ring and turbo?

[@KingOfAllAnimals]

I have been up close to one of these beasts! I literally wanted to wrap an airplane around it just to see how fast I could get it to go!

[@jimstepan3038]

@Nonov Yerbusiness , pretty much what was done with the Hawker Sea Furys by fitting with 3460s to compete in the Reno Unlimited piston engine class, and the "Dreadnaught" won the 2019 race!

[@Flies2FLL]

This engine must be different from an engine on the B-36, which used pusher propellors. A pusher will of course, push the engine from the front. A typical use, such as a "tractor" as in the B-50, the prop will pull the engine. That means that the bearings at the front of the engine are probably different. ?

[@llatimer2]

The strength of AMERICAN engineering!!!

[@FiveCentsPlease]

@2008FORDF450V8 The starter will be attached at the rear accessory section on the back of the engine.

[@Woffo]

where can i get the music? it's beautiful

[@lsswappedcessna]

Just imagine the wail of eight of these buzzing overhead. We need to get the H4 flying again, just to hear her scream overhead.

[@FISHH00KS]

Thank you

[@romandybala]

I think it has a miss on cylinder 11

[@crobulari2328]

Could be 11 but if you count carefully it may be No. 10. It`s making that little put! put! sound !!.

[@keithbrescia9893]

Your ears are better than mine.

[@jimstepan3038]

👂😂🤣🤦‍♂️

[@carguy67b]

That's Really Kool!!!

[@rickyhuff]

Why the music on an engine video?

[@jerryv.815]

A Very Big Engine __ 6 Turning & 4 Burning, Is what we called the R4360 s On The B36.

[@F.A.A.F.0]

There is a 4360 on a Hawker Sea Fury Race plane named Furious. Videos here on youtube.

[@FiveCentsPlease]

There aren't many flyable aircraft that are using the R-4360s. It requires a lot of maintenance.

[@aspyromilios]

Beautiful

[@hoplite46]

Thats a beast

[@mel63613]

Isn't this the engine used in the B-36???

[@bcstechnologylimited896]

+Melvin Goddard: Yes, and also in the Boeing Strato-Cruiser airliner.

[@mel63613]

MAACHIIINE! !!!😈

[@leonardchapman8373]

..also the C-124 Globemaster...or "Old Shaky" when I was working on them 1957-60..Hickam AFB, Hawaii.

[@betterthanbrad]

Be hard to tell if all the cylinders were firing!

[@ilovepopochamilermil]

If your job was to listen all the time, you could tell. I know it is hard to understand it but you could tell. Your ears got tuned before they were pretty much destroyed by that noise - maybe not so much the reciprocating engines but the gas turbines - get close to one of those and they would make your ears hurt!

[@timmayer8723]

douglas mccullough each engine was wired up to a cockpit mounted oscilloscope which showed all 56 of the plugs in one engine and how they were firing. By turninng a switch

[@rosewhite---]

I hadn't realised the engine had a sheet metal cowl around the cylinders!

[@AtariFTW]

Is that the "corn cob" engine?

[@Glen48m]

Had a XY GT in Aussie I use to run on 115/145 only trouble was the 850 DP Holley would turn purple from the fuel.

[@ilovepopochamilermil]

I burned the valves out on my old '50 Dodge running 100/130 (green btw) The avgas burns too hot for automobiles. If I had only known. It is a simple fix. Just add a little oil into the avgas and you are good to go. BTW this was way back in 1955.

[@juanasanelli6831]

Una joya de la mecanica 36 cyl ,72 bujias 72 valvulas 4 magnetos 4 codos el cigueñal 4 bielas maestras 32 bieletas Que cosa taan compleja ! Cuantos gal de aceite gastaba por hora? y bebia gasolina a garganta abierta. Me hubiera gustado mucho estar con ellos ... Ya que lo mas grande que vi en motores aeronauticos a piston fue el R3350

[@fighterace0]

That's why the cylinders are offset instead of inline.