TBS is correct. I believe this was on a Sopwith Triplane meaning it's a Clerget 9B or 9Z engine. The crankshaft is fixed and the cylinders rotate around it. The intake is through the crankcase (since there's no way to attach a manifold to the spinning cylinders) and lubrication is a total loss system much like a small two cycle engine. Castor oil was the preferred lubricant of the day, hence the comment below the photo.
Both Radial and Rotary are valid descriptors in the physical sense, but it's more common to refer to the rotating cylinder engines as rotary and the fixed cylinder engines as radial.
4 comments:
Radial, not rotary.
Steve P: The crankshaft is stationary and the engine turns around it.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgTwKPg7Obo
TBS is correct.
I believe this was on a Sopwith Triplane meaning it's a Clerget 9B or 9Z engine. The crankshaft is fixed and the cylinders rotate around it. The intake is through the crankcase (since there's no way to attach a manifold to the spinning cylinders) and lubrication is a total loss system much like a small two cycle engine. Castor oil was the preferred lubricant of the day, hence the comment below the photo.
Both Radial and Rotary are valid descriptors in the physical sense, but it's more common to refer to the rotating cylinder engines as rotary and the fixed cylinder engines as radial.
Whoops! That's an Avro, not a Sopwith. Still a Clerget though. Looks to be the 9B, producing 130 hp.
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