Quest for Power Part 1: Cylinders! Inlines, V, H, W, and X-Engines!

[@Tom-Lahaye]

Napier was known for their uncommon cylinder configurations. Not mentioned in the video was the W12 Lion engine with 3 banks of four that powered fighter aircraft in the interwar period, some of these engines were fitted in land speed record cars which survive and I have seen them in action. Another complex design, although not an aircraft engine but a marine engine for patrol boats and torpedo vessels, later also used in the famous British rail class 55 Deltic locomotives was the 3 bank opposed piston Deltic diesel engine. Not to be confused with the opposed cylinder aero engines in this video, they had three banks of 6 cylinders each arranged in a triangular shape with a crank shaft at each corner. In each cylinder 2 pistons are facing each other with the space between them as combustion chamber. It's a headless engine, think of 3 V engines with the heads removed and then the open cylinder blocks bolted together. It was a 2 stroke using ports as there were no heads to fit poppet valves into.

[@haroldbrown1998]

Great video 👍.

[@worldofwarbirds]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@andygray9285]

Only one sound better than a Merlin and that's 4 Merlins.

[@allangibson8494]

A Griffin has more impact…

[@Paul-ls1qo]

Miss Budweiser Unlimited Hydroplane ran Griffons for a while

[@get2dachoppa249]

1:51 The FAA has the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic award, given to licensed aircraft mechanics upon reaching 50 years of experience (provided you’ve never had your license suspended or revoked for any reason). I’ll be eligible for mine in another 18 years.

[@worldofwarbirds]

That’s great! That’s a lot of wrench turning! 🫡

[@petewinter7759]

Well done another great video 👍

[@worldofwarbirds]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@grahamwhite2316]

Good video but a number of errors crept in, e.g., the sleeve valve diagram shows a R-R Crecy 2-stroke and the line drawing which is supposed to show a Sabre is in fact a R-R Eagle 22, etc.

[@localenterprisebroadcastin5971]

You forgot about the German H opposed piston diesel 2 strokes…very cool design

[@worldofwarbirds]

This may come up when I discuss the various fuels used!

[@thomastims9583]

Great video ! How do the inverted engines maintain oil to the crank ? I’ve always wondered that.

[@worldofwarbirds]

It was a dry sump system. The oil is pumped to the lube points and is recovered through channels similar to the channels that supplied it. This oil is then pumped to a separate oil containment tank and then pumped back into the bearing surfaces.

[@paulgibson490]

I think you'll find the fastest snieder trophy aircraft was the supermarrine se5 with a Rolls Royce v12 engine.

[@deck614]

Why do you ignore France? Antoinette V8s, Bariquant & Marre (used by the Wrights in France), Hispano Suiza V8s on Spads (even in the USA), Gnome and/or Rhone rotaries, Lorraine-Dietrich Ws, Renault inlines?

[@worldofwarbirds]

The French rotaries will be in the next one!

[@deck614]

@@worldofwarbirds Yeah you will talk of things that did not work for long. Antoinette! Hispano!

[@briansteffmagnussen9078]

I understand that the x configuration shares the same crank to save weight, But just one misfiring cylinder will shoot the rod to hell.

[@neildelaney5199]

Super video, I don't know if this is possible, but can you find out the fuel consumption of these huge beast? I have read somewhere that a Rolls Royce Merlin burns something like 2 gallons of petrol per minuet ? many thanks

[@MisterOcclusion]

What is displacement? Only that there is no replacement.

[@worldofwarbirds]

Thank you. I really enjoy making them.

[@paulabraham2550]

At about 5 minutes in you claim that the number of cylinders is always even. I suppose at this stage we're excluding radials and rotarys where the number is invariably odd but even then there are certainly some 5 cylinder inline engines out there - perhaps not aero engines?

[@allangibson8494]

Actually car engines exist with every number of cylinders from one to six (including three and five). I haven’t seen a seven but eights were common. Three cylinder radials were used for the earliest Piper Cubs. Even numbered radials have been made but weren’t common.

[@worldofwarbirds]

Yes, I should not have used the "always" and used "usually". In this field there seems to be at least one exception!

[@paulabraham2550]

@@worldofwarbirds It's not so much that, though, as the suggestion that even numbers are needed for balance. I don't think there's anything inherently unbalanced about odd numbers of cylinders.

[@robinsparkes-u1l]

Great presentation,no AI and no stupid talk.

[@KennethScharf]

Inline engines don't have to have an even number of cylinders. There have been 3 and 5 cylinder inline engines.

[@worldofwarbirds]

Yes, you are correct. I should never use absolutes in these videos as there are ALWAYS exceptions. (Oops I did it again)

[@g54b95]

You show a radial engine at the end but say radial or rotary, as if they are the same thing. A radial engine has many cylinders arranged around in a circular pattern. A rotary engine is a completely different animal, altogether.

[@allangibson8494]

Both have cylinders located radially. A rotary rotates around the stationary crankshaft while in a radial the crankshaft rotates while the cylinders remain stationary. Rotary’s are limited to about 150hp because of issues with the rotating mass of the engine.

[@hardyharhar9]

Yes there the gnome which was a rotary radial.

[@worldofwarbirds]

The whole next episode is on this topic and I do make the distinction between the two.

[@RemusKingOfRome]

I'm asking "How do you cool it !" a double wasp seems the limit for cooling. "X" engines seems like a disaster from the start.

[@worldofwarbirds]

Actually cooling systems would be a great addition to this series. Thanks for the idea!

[@allangibson8494]

X-Engines are still in service. The Russian Armata tank has an X12-engine. The WW2 X-engines had problems with cooling that probably could have been solved but weren’t because the far simpler gas turbines arrived just as they were getting the bugs solved. If you want to try complex there was the five bank 30 cylinder tank engine developed by Chrysler and fitted to the M4A4 Sherman tanks.

[@worldofwarbirds]

Interesting comment! Thanks!