ELE ME NTS OF

AV I A T I O N
ENGINES
By JO H N B . F . ISAGON PH , . B .

''

i
I n s t r u c t o r , E n g n e s D e p a r t m e nt
.U S S c h oo l
.

ii
o f M l t a r y A e ronaut c s i
i
B e r k e l e y , C a l fo r n a i

PA U L E LD ER A N D CO M PA N '
SAN F RA N C I S C O M C M XV III
 CO PYR I GH T . 1 9 18 , B'

JOHN B . F . BA CO N
BE R ' E L E' , C AL .

5 0 3 55 5
 C O N T EN T S

IN T R O DU CTIO N
CHAPTER I
T H E AV I A TION ENG I N E

CHAPTER I I
APPL IC ATIO N O F T H E B A SIC PR I N CI PLE
CHAPTER I I I
ENG I N E SP ECI F IC A TIO N S
C HAPTER IV
E N G I N E PAR TS
CHAPTER V
CARBUR ETIO N
CHAPTER VI
IGN ITION
CHAPTER VI I
LUBR IC A TIO N
C HAPTER VI I I
C OO L I NG
C HAPTER I X
R OTARY ENG I N ES
CHAPTER X
T H E L I B E R T Y M OTO R
I NDEX

[ III ]
 I LLU S T RA TI O N S
F A CI NG PAG E
THRU ST BEAR I NG S 2 36
D I AGRAM T o ILLU ST RA TE T H E CURTISS OX VALV E
A CTIO N
T HE M I LL E R AV I A TIO N CARBUR ETO R

A HALF S ECTIO N V IEW O F A Z E N IT H CARBUR ETO R

D I AGRAM S T o ILLU ST RA TE T H E L OC A TIO N O F T H E C O R E
I N A SHUTT L E TYP E MAGN ETO
WI R I NG D I AGRAM O F A MAGN ETO SY STE M
D I AGRAM T o ILLU ST RATE T H E PR I N CI PL E O F R EVOLV
I NG P O LES O N T H E D I X IE MAGN ETO
D I AGRAM T o ILLU ST RA TE P OSITIO N O F R OTO R I N T H E
D I X IE MAGN ETO WH E N T H E C O R E IS MAGN ETI Z E D
D I AGRAM T o ILLU ST RATE P OSITIO N O F R OTO R I N TH E
D I X IE MAGN ETO WH E N T H E C O R E IS D E MA GN E
T I ZED

D I AGRA M O F A B ATTE RY SY STE M O F IGN ITION W I T H A

N ON V I BRA TI NG C OI L

G EAR PU M P
D I AGRAM T o ILLU ST RA TE T H E OP E RATIO N O F A VA NE
PUMP .

C ENT R I FUGAL PUMP

D I AG R AM T O ILLU ST RATE T H E PR I N CI PLE O F A
R OT ARY ENG I N E
 I N T RO DU CT I O N
b e e n forc i b l y i m p ress e d w i th t h e
'

AV I N G

fa c t th at m a ny of th ose w h o ta k e up th e
stud y of a via ti on a r e n ot fa milia r with g asoline
engi n es a n d h av e little m ec h a n ica l i nc li n a tion ,

it h as b een th e end eavor of th e w riter to exp lain

in a sim p le w a y som e of th e p oi n ts th a t a pp ea r
to ca u se b egin n ers th e g r ea test a m oun t of tr ou b l e .

While it may aid th ose w h o are con scientiously

r ev iew ing th e su bjec t i t i s f a r fr om th e p u r p ose
,

of this b ook to p r ovid e a sh or t c u t to p assing

mar k s on examina ti on p a p ers .

A ll of th e i nfor ma tion h erein c onta ined h as

b een b efore the en gi neerin g p u blic a t on e time or
a n oth er . R ea lizing th a t certa in n ew d ev el op
m en ts m ust n ot a pp ear i n p rint d uring this
critica l p eri od every p r eca u tion h a s b een ta k en

to observe s tric t avoid a n ce of revea ling confid en

tia l i nforma tion .

Th e writer w ish es to exp ress his gra titud e to

th e m emb ers of th e E n gin es D ep ar tment in th e
S M A of B er k eley for th eir a ssista n c e S p ecial
. . . .

tha n k s is d u e M r Ja m es I rvin e for his sugges

.

tions w h ic h h ave r es ulted i n m a ny imp r ovemen ts .

JOHN B F B A C ON ,. .

8 1 8t h A e ro D e po t S' uad ro n , U . S A
. .

B e rk e ley , C al .
, A ug ust , 19 1 8 .

[ VI I ]
 E LE ME N T S
OF

AVI A T I O N E N G I N E S
 ELEMEN TS
OF AVI ATI ON EN GI N E S
CHAPTER I
TH E AV I ATI O N EN G I N E
N TA' up a new subj ect it is often best
I NG

to fix clearly in mind j ust what is meant by

the name of the subj ect so in beginning a dis
,

c uss io n upon aviation engines it seems well to

start with a rough definition o f the term avia

tion engine A simple statement that an in
.

ternal combustion engine so designed that it is

capable of lifting from the ground and sustain
ing in fligh t a heavier than air flying machine
will su ffice as a definition for o ur subj ect By .

the term internal combustion engine is c o m

m only meant simply a gasoline engine because,

in such an engine the power is derived from the

force of an explosion within a cylinder This .

will make clear what we mean by our subj ect .

The question at once arises ' Why must avia

tion engines be internal combustion engines in
stead oi steam engines and why not propel
,

aeroplanes by aid o f electricity ' The answer is

Simply that maximum power and minimum
[3]
 IZLEEAEEWTS (JF l TVI AT TCHQ I flNC HDUES

weight can be best obtained with the internal

combustion engine I n the study of a er onau
'
.

tics w e ig h t is a tremendous factor and it is in ,

t e res t ing to note that not until the gasoline

engine had reached its modern development
was human flight practical O n account o f the .

unlimited use of gasoline as a motive power

and the increasing interest o f technical men in
the problems o f aviation the gasoline engine,

h as been developed to such a point that it may

deliver 1 HP for every . pounds of its
weight To a mechanical mind this seems one
.

o f the greatest achievements of the twentieth

century .

S ince gasoline engines hav e been used SO ex

t e ns iv e ly and with such marked success in
automobiles the aviation student will at once
,

involuntarily com pare the aviation engine with

that in an automobile and oftentimes he c o m
,

pares them wrongly by stating that the avia

tion engine develops a vastly greater speed
than the engine o f an automobile is capable of
attaining This is incorrect and is a poor way
.

o f comparing the two The main di fference is

.

that of lightness A viation engines are o f the

.

lightest possible construction and are designed

to ru n continuously at their highest speed .

[4]
 THE AVIATI ON ENGI NE
S eldom are the frail supporting members for
the engines in a horizontal plane and often the ,

engine is called upon to do its work while c o m

p le t e ly inverted These are conditions that the
.

automobile engine does not have to meet I n .

order to attain a construction that will fulfill

the requirements imposed u pon aviation e n
gines it is natural to expect that some sacri
,

fic e must be made This accounts for their low

.

degree o f durability When we examine the

.

heavy construction Of a 40 0 H P marine gaso . .

line engine and then regard the frail parts of a

40 0 H P aviation engine there is not the
. .

slightest doubt which engine will continue

longer in its Operations H owever Since light
.
,

construction is an absolute necessity it is use ,

less to expect much in the way of durability ,

and as a means of knowing what an aviation

engine will stand it is interesting to note that
after every seventy fiv e hours o f Operation the
-

engine should be rebuilt .

As a compact and light power plant the avia

tion engine is the highest attainment of me
c h a n ic a l genius
. I t has been developed from
the type that propels the automobiles and ,

j ust as the old types o f automobile engines d o

not resemble in appearance the types used to
[ 5]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATION ENGI NES
d ay so the first aviation engines have little
,

resemblance to those o f the present time The

.

development has been rapid and it is di fficult

,

to predict what will be the e ffect upon aviation

if the rapid strides taken during the past ten
years continue to add to the e fficiency and re
liability o f the aviation engine during the next
ten years to come .

[ 6 ]
 CHAPTER I I
APPL I C A T I O N O F T H E B A S I C
P R I N C I PL E
H E WOR' ING principle of an aviation e n
gine is identically the same as that o f the
ordinary gasoline engine I n the middle of the
.

nineteenth century it was satisfactorily proven

that the explosive force of gasoline could be
used to actuate a piston and this has given
,

rise to the adoption of a new form o f motive

power S ince that time gasoline engines have
.

been developed along two lines o ne being

,

called the two stroke cycle engine and the

-
,

other the four stroke cycle engine bu t since the

-
,

former has not been used extensively in aviation

work little attention will be given to it here .

A two stroke cycle engine is o n e in which an

-

explosion takes place in the cylinder every

time the crank Shaft makes o ne revolution A .

charge o f combustible gas is slightly com

pressed within the crank case by the piston
traveling downward N ear the bottom o f this
.

downward stroke the piston uncovers a port in

the cylinder wall allowing some o f the c o m
pressed gas to enter the cylinder Then the
.

[7]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
piston moves upward closing the port and
,

compressing the gas The charge is ignited

.

when the piston is near the end o f its upward

stroke and the result is that the force of the
,

explosion violently drives the piston down

ward An exhaust port on the Opposite Side of
.

the cylinder from the intake port is uncovered

as the piston sweeps downward and the force ,

o f the explosion starts the burnt gas rushing

out o f the cylinder The intake port having

.

also been u ncovered by this time will allow a

fresh charge to enter By using a deflector on
.

the piston head the fresh charge is hindered

from rushing straigh t to the exhaust port and
is diverted upward serving admirably to expel
,

the remaining burnt gases N ow the piston is .

ready to go upward again and the same Opera ,

tions are repeated I n this way the piston

'

makes two strokes to complete a cycle hence ,

it is spoken of as the two stroke cycle engine

-
.

S ome confusion may be caused by not

knowing the exact meaning of the word cycle ,

so it may be well to insert here a definition A .

complete series of events occurring in regular

sequence and ending so that the same Opera
tion can be repeated in the same order is called
a cycle .

[ 8 ]
 APPLI CATION OF THE B ASI C PRI NCI PLE
The four stroke cycle engine has proven the
-

more satisfactory of the two types and since ,

it is the o ne used in connection with aviation ,

it is very desirable to fully u nderstand it This .

type di ffers from the two stroke cycle in that

-

it has two distinct mechanically operated -

valves in the cylinder which o f course nec essi

, ,

tate a few more working parts I nstead o f the

.

gas being stored and compressed within the

crank case this engine draws its explosive
,

charge directly from the carburetor by opening

the inlet valve as the piston goes downward
and making use o f the suction thus exerted .

The charge is compressed by the reversal of the

’
piston s motion and the closing of the inlet
valve N ear the end o f this compression stroke
.

the charge is ignited resulting in an explosive

,

force being exerted on the piston when it is

ready to go downward again N ear the end of
.

this succeeding downward stroke the exhaust

valve is opened permitting the force of the ex
plosion to give the burnt gases their initial
outward impulse . The valve remains open
during the entire upward stroke o f the piston
to insure all of the burnt gases being expelled .

The clearing out of the cylinder is often re

ferred to as scav ag ing the cylinder G enerally
.

[9]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
the exhaust valve closes after the piston has
reached it s uppermost position This brings us
.

to the opening of the inlet valve and W ith that

the sequence o f events is repeated .

By the stroke o f the piston is meant the

movement o f the piston in one direction I t .

follows from this that the length of the stroke

is the linear distance the piston travels from
its u ppermost position to its lowest position or
V ice versa The term stroke has come to mean
.

simply the number o f inches between top c e n

ter and bottom center thus designating the
,

two extreme positions o f the piston To make .

clear the four strokes of the piston in a four

stroke cycle engine the first one in which the
,

piston goes down and draws in a charge is

called the intake stroke The next upward
.

motion is the compression stroke Then comes.

the explosion which drives the piston down

ward This is the power stroke F inally the
. .

expulsion o f the burnt gases is the exhaust

stroke and this completes the cycle
, .

I n aviation engines it is customary to ignite

the charge near the end o f the compression
stroke instead of at the beginning of the power
stroke The speed o f the engine j ustifies this
. .

I f ignition were to take place when the piston

[ 10 ]
 APPLI CATION OF THE B ASI C PRI NC I PLE
was at top center o r a little afterward the ,

force of the explosion would be exerted u pon

the piston head at such a late time that the
piston could not deliver it s maximum impulse
to the crank shaft When the piston is nearing
.

bottom center its e ff ectiveness fo r transmitting

force is negligible Consequently by opening
.

the exhaust valve at the end o f the power

stroke instead o f at the beginning of the ex
haust stroke the force o f the explosion serves to
,

start the burnt gases rushing outward withou t

losing power The exhaust valve is generally
.

held Open until the beginning of the intake

stroke This aids in s c av ag in g the cylinder as
.

it permits more time for the operation and the

,

danger of retaining some of the burnt gases

is avoided since the out going exhaust will
-

possess a certain amount o f inertia D i fferent

.

makes of engines have di ff erent times for Open

ing the intake valve O n some there is a
.

small interval between the closing of the

exhaust valve and the Opening of the inlet
valve as is the case with the Curtiss O X and
,

the H all S cott This perm its t h e downward

-
.

motion o f the piston to establish somewhat of

a r are fic at ion within the cylinder so that when
,

the inlet valve is opened there will be a ten

[ 11 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
d e nc y for the gas to enter more promptly .

The closing o f the inlet valve occurs at the b e

ginning of the compression stroke The gas
.

passing through the manifold will have some

inertia which will maintain a flow into the
Cylinder during the first part of ensu i ng up
ward stroke By thus keeping the valve open
.

past bottom center a larger amount of gas is

placed in the cylinder .

The question often arises ' Why are not two

stroke cycle engines used for aviation work o n ,

account o f the decrease in weigh t due to the

less number o f working parts the more fr e
,

quent power impulses and the need o f an

,

engine that will do its best work when running

at top speed ' The two stroke cycle engine ful
-

fills all the requirements demanded o i an

aviation engine except for the fact it will not
ordinarily run satisfactorily at low enough
speeds to allow the propeller to idle S ince a
.

successful aviation engine must be able to run

Slow enough without stopping to allow the
plane to glide it can be easily seen that the
,

present form of two stroke cycle engine is

-

poorly suited for aviation work .

S o far in explaining the di fferent Operations

involved in a cycle only o ne cylinder has been
,

[ 12 ]
 APPLI CATION OF THE B ASI C PRI NCI PLE
considered I t is advisable to have frequent
.

power impulses and to avoid vibration as

much as possible This is accomplished by
.

using a number o f cylinders which decreases

the weight of the reciprocating parts .

V ibration is due to the shifting o f the cen

ters o f gravity o f pistons and connecting rods .

I n a Single cylinder engine o f required power

turning at a Speed suitable to drive a propeller ,

the amount of vibration would be prohibitive .

The greatest bearing pressure in an engine at

high speeds comes n ot so much from the ex
plosion but from the e ffort o f starting and
,

stopping the weight Of the piston and connect

ing rod T o decrease this reciprocating weight
.

it is necessary to resort to the basic law of

volumes and areas I f we make a body half the
.

dimensions o f another it will have but o ne

,

quarter o f the area and only one eighth o f the

-

weight This c a n be applied to pistons Thus a

. .

piston can be replaced by fou r smaller ones half

as large and the area of the four will equal that
,

o f the larger one . H owever these four pistons

,

will weigh practically o n e half as much as the

-

original single piston This illustrates the way

.

reciprocating weight is lessened and shows pl ain

ly the demand for a larger number of cylinders .

[ 13 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
The way the cylinders are arranged serves as
a means o f classifying aviation engines I f the .

cylinders stay in a fixed position in respect to

the crank Shaft it is spoken o f as a fixed c y lin
,

der engine bu t if the cylinders revolve abou t

,

the crank shaft it is called a rotary engine .

V arious di fficulties in construction are e nc o un

t e r e d when the number o f cylinders is increased ,

so fix e d cylinder engines are n o t confined to

-

the vertical style bu t are often built in a V

form to permit a Shorter crank shaft A p e c u .

liar style o f fix e d cylinder engine is that with

-

an additional row of cylinders between the

two rows that go to make u p the V This is the .

design o f the S unbeam E ngine A nother style .

O f fix e d cylinder engine is one in which the

-

cylinders radiate from the crank case allowing

the force o f all explosions to be exerted u pon
the same crank pin The A nzani engine is of
.

this design The rotary engines have not so

.

many variations A s a means o f increasing the

.

number o f cylinders a second bank o f cylinders

is often added which o f course necessitates
,

two throws o n the crank shaft R otary engines

.

are limited to those having o ne and two banks .

I n both the fix e d cylinder and the rotary types

-

the growing demand for an increased number

‘

[ 14 ]
 APPLI CATI ON OF TH E B ASI C PRI NC I PLE
of cylinders has resulted in the adoption of e u
gines o f the designs j ust referred to for aviation
work .

[ 15 ]
 CHAPTER I I I
EN G I N E S P E C I F I C ATI O NS

S A S o f compari ng avi atio n engi nes

BA S I

certain specifications are used I t must be .

remembered that all engines are no t called up

on to do the same work and furthermore that
,

they are not all designed by o ne man o r even

by a group of men holding the same views on
various mechanical problems This will a c .

count for the wide range in specifications I n .

order to become familiar with the points where

engines di ffer a few items will be taken up here
, .

The first point to consider is whether the

engine has fixed cylinders or is a rotary I f it .

is a fixe d cylinder engine the arrangement of

-
,

the cylinders Should be noted Generally .

speaking rotary engines are used for very fast

,

but brief flights while fix e d cylinder engines

,
-

serve better for long flights where speed is not

s o important .

The horse power of an engine is probably the

-

matter of greatest interest A ll planes are not

.

of the same size and weight s o there is need ,

for engines o f different power O ne horse .

power is the power required t o lift

[ 16 ]
 ENGI NE SPECI FI CATION
pounds a distance of one foot in one minute .

The horse power necessary to Operate a plane

-

is calculated by multiplying the total air r e

sis t a n c e o f the plane expressed in pounds by
, ,

the speed in feet per second then by 60 s ec ,

o u ds in a minute and dividing the product by

,

The ac t ual horse power that an engine

-

develops is spoken o f as brake horse power -

.

I t may be found by measuring the torque

exerted by the engine running with a propeller
attached By torque is meant the moment of
.

tangential e ffort o r to put it more roughly a

, ,

force tending to produce rotation The torque .

is allowed to be exerted upon an arm which

delivers the force to a platform balance By .

multiplying the force in pounds by the dis

tance in feet through which it acts in o n e revo
l ut io n by the R P M and dividing the product
. . .

by the actual horse power is obtained -

.

The distance through which the force acts is

the circumference o f a circle having the power
arm as a radius This distance will be
.

times the arm s length so if we make the arm

’

exactly 54 feet long the distance through

1
,

which the force acts will be 33 feet This per .

mits us to reduce o ur fraction to the lowest

terms making the denominator
, instead
[ 17 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATION ENGI NES
of The horse power can then be ob -

t aine d by multiplying the torque expressed in

pounds by the R P M and then dividing by
. . .

which Simply amounts to moving the

decimal point three places to the left .

The weight o f an engine is of great import

ance for it determines the engine s fitness A s
,
’
.

has been said before aviation work requires,

maximum power for minimum weigh t L ight .

ness is the keynote of the whole engine so the ,

aviation engine is devoid of all unnecessary

equipment S elf starters are seldom used on
.
-

account of their weight and mu fflers never on ,

account of their weight and resistance also .

Aviation engines avoid the use of a fly wheel -

,

on account o f the large number of cylinders '

and also o n account of the s t e ad y ing e ffe c t of

the propeller I n speaking o f the weight of an
.

engine the weights of tanks and radiators are

,

not included nor does o il or water enter into

,
’
the engine s weight By dividing the weight
.

by the horse power the weight per horse power

- -

is Obtained This is a very significant figure

.

and is widely used in comparing engines The .

most modern types of aviation engines range

from two to three pounds in weight for every
horse power developed
-
.

[ 18 ]
 ENGI NE SPECI FI CATION
The speed of most aviation engines is gener
ally about . R P M being a compromise
. .

between the most e fficient propeller Speed and

the most e fficient engine speed A n ordinary .

propeller will do its best work when turning

from 900 to R P M I f it is driven con
. . .

s id e r a b ly faster than that it will caus e what ,

is known as cavitation which means that the

,

blades are working in an unfavorable medium

so far as their usefulness is concerned This .

will Show the undesirability of having pro

p e lle rs turn at speeds which a high grade auto -

mobile motor c a n easily attain Consequently .

since the speed of an engine is normally

greater than 900 or R P M it is a d v is . . .

able to compromise by driving the propeller a

little faster than it ough t to turn and running
the engine at a reduced speed The e fficiency .

of an engine which roughly speaking is the

,

proportion between the energy received as

work and the energy supplied as fuel c an be ,

increased if the engine is permitted to run

faster than R PM
. S ince the propeller
. .

Speed has limitations engines running at ,

higher speeds must have a gear reduction re

garding the propeller This is ordinarily ac
.

com plished by driving a j ack shaft carrying

[ 19 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATION ENGI NES
the propeller by spur gears o n e above the
other S ometimes internal gears are used and
.

then the propeller will turn in the same d ire c

tion that the engine turns .

The disadvantages o f a geared propeller are

that more weigh t is added and a slight amount
o f power is consumed by the gears .

The direction of rotation of an engine should

be considered When standing directly in front
.

o f the propeller and noting that it turns coun

ter clockwise the engine is spoken of as having

-
,

a normal rotation S hould the propeller turn

.

clockwise the engine has an anti normal rota -

tion O ne reason for building both normal and

.

anti normal engines is that in case a plane has

-

two engines as is sometimes the case with

bombing planes then normal and anti normal
,
-

engines are used to equalize the torque e ffect .

The number o f cylinders and their bore ,

meaning the internal diameter is an important ,

item The stroke of the piston which has been

.

mentioned before is often spoken of in connec

tion with the bore V arious engines use di ffer
.

ent strokes with di fferent bores but for the ,

sake o f illustration the stroke averages abou t

,

one and o ne quarter times the bore I f both

-
.

the bore and the stroke are large there will be ,

[ 2 0 ]
 ENGI NE SPECI FI CATI ON
a tendency to d evelop heat on the compression
stroke providing the compression chamber is
small The total piston displacement is c a lc u
.

lated by squaring half the bore multiplying by

,

then multiplying by the stroke and ,

finally by the number o f cylinders The resul t .

will be in cubic inches The horse power per

.
-

cubic inch o f piston displacement which is ,

obtained by dividing the horse power by the-

displacement is a figure o f much interest

, .

E fficient motors will give from 1 7 to 2 7 H P

. . . .

for each cubic inch of displacement .

I gnition carburetion and cooling enter into

, ,

the specifications of an engine but since separ

,

ate chapters are devoted to them later they ,

need not be dealt with here .

[ 2 1 ]
 C HAPTER IV
E N G I N E PA R T S

u p all the parts o f an engine and

T A' E

describe them fully would be a big u nder

taking and migh t not prove interesting to
,

those beginning this subj ect Consequently .

only the principal parts will be included and

dealt with in a very brief manner .

The cylinders o f a gasoline engine are vari

o u s ly constructed They may be made as in
.

d ividual u nits or several may be cast in block

, .

The advantage o f the former method o f c o n

struction is that more complete j acketing c a n
be accomplished while rigidity is the ad v an
,

tage o f the latter type I n case an engine had.

four cylinders cast in block and o ne became

damaged then the three good ones would have
,

to be discarded in order to replace the one

cylinder that caused the trouble This waste .

is not encountered when each cylinder is a

Separate replaceable u nit H owever from the .
,

standpoint of compactness the block c o n st r uc

tion is by far the more preferable I ndividual .

cylinders are made of cast iron semi steel and ,

-
,

steel When cast in block their material is

.

[ 2 2 ]
 ENGI NE PARTS
usua lly aluminum alloy A peculiar form o f
.

construction is that used in the Curtiss c y lin

ders where each cylinder is o f cast iron with a
,

band of some non corrosive metal such as

-

monel metal to act as a water j acket The .

cylinders o f the H ispano S uiza are unusual in

-

design being steel thimbles that screw into an

,

aluminum alloy water j acket designed to hold

four cylinders The S turtevant cylinders are
.

interesting in that they are Of aluminum alloy

cast in pairs with a steel liner shrunk in to act
as a cylinder wall .

The location of the valves determines the

shape o f the cylinder head I f the valves Oper
.

ate in extensions o n Opposite Sides of the com

b us t io n chamber the cylinder is said to have a
T head Since its shape is that o f a T This c o n
, .

struction necessitates two independent cam

shafts besides being rather bulky s o is o f little
,

importance from the standpoint o f aviation

work I f a cylinder has only o n e extension in
.

which a valve or valves work it s Shape will

,

resemble that of a G reek letter gamma or s im

ply a n inverted L I t is therefore calle d an L
.

head When a cylinder has no extensions o n

.

either side but has two valves located in its

head it is called an I head cylinder This type
, .

[ 2 3 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
of cylinder is the most popular for aviation
engines because it does away with an ir re g u
,

lar ly shaped combustion C hamber I n the case

-
.

of a T o r L head cylinder the space above the

valves may be regarded as a pocket and very
,

often it is di fficul t to scavage these pockets .

The placing o f both valves in the head permits

the combustion chamber to be made sligh tly
spherical in order to reduce the surface area
and lessen the amount o f heat carried away at
the time when an explosion takes place .

S ome cylinders are made s o that the head

may be removed without disturbing its base .

This is known as a detachable head and has

the advantage o f providing an easy means o f
removing carbon and working upon the valves .

H owever a little more material is required in

,

this construction and it brings into account

,

compression leaks and also water leaks since

the cylinder heads must be j acketed .

The crank case is generally d ivided into two

parts ' the top section serving as a base fo r the
cylinders and the bottom section c arrying a
supply o f O il The sump is that part which
.

holds the o il A s a rule crank cases are alumi

.

num castings and in case the motor is a V type

,

great care is taken to strengthen the upper sec

[ 2 4 ]
 ENGI NE PARTS
tion by means o f partitions or webs to prevent
the strain exerted by explosions o n opposite
banks from cracking the upper section The .

crank shaft bearings are generally held in the

upper section S ometimes the lower halves o f
.

the bearings are held in partitions in the lower

section of the crank case as in the H ispano
,

S uiza. The di fficulty in this construction is

that the lower section c a n not be removed
without disturbing the crank shaft As a .

means o f retaining the o il in the sump when

the engine is momentarily inverted splash ,

pans are placed in the lower section They do.

not retain all o f the Oil but aid in reducing the

,

amount that would otherwise rush into the

cavities of the pistons The vents o n crank
.

cases are called breathers These maintain

.

atmospheric pressure in the crank case even

though compression leaks are present .

T h a t p a r t Of the engine which is driven

~

downward within the cylinder by the force o f

an explosion is the piston P istons have r e
.

c e iv e d as much if n o t more attention by de

signers than any other part Of the engine and ,

the result has been to secure satisfactory Oper

ation at high speeds and at high temperatures .

The material used in piston construction is

[ 2 5]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
generally aluminum alloy although cast iron ,

is sometimes used The use of aluminum as .

piston material serves to lessen vibration and

increase the speed lessening the weight o f r e
,

c ip ro c a t in g parts A nother reason for its use

.

is the rapidity with which it conducts heat .

The piston head may be either convex flat o r , ,

concave and all of these shapes are in use at

,

present The convex o r d o m eh e ad brings into

.

accou nt the ability o f an arch to withstand

strain G reater strength for a given amount of
.

material is O btained by using a convex head .

The flat head is the common type By having a .

flat su rface less area o f the piston is exposed to

absorb heat This results in a slightly cooler pis
.

ton which is a big advantage as it is impossible

, ,

to C ool the piston in the same way that the cyl

inder is cooled The concave head has been ex
.

t e n s iv e ly used o n rotary e n g i nes because it

permits a Shorter cylinder and thus lessens the
centrifugal force This Shape o f piston head al
.

lows the combustion chamber to assume a spher

ical form By the bosses are meant the two
.

proj ections within the piston that hold the wrist

pin and it follows that the u pper end o f the c o n
,

n e c t in g ro d m u s t fit between the two bosses .

The lower portion Of a piston is termed the skirt .

[ 2 6 ]
 ENGI NE PARTS
D ue to more material at the head and also
on account of the top surface coming in direct
contact with the heat o f each explosion it will
,

be seen that the upper part o f the piston will

expand more than the skirt This necessitates
.

allowing more clearance between the cylinder

wall and the piston at its head than at its
skirt S ome idea o f this di ff erence can be had
.

by pointing out that a fiv e inch piston may be

-

cleared 0 2 0 inch at the Skirt and as much as

.

.0 2 7 at the head .

T o prevent compression and the force of an

explosion from passing down between the pis
ton and the cylinder wall piston rings are
,

used These fit in grooves in the piston and

.

bear upon the cylinder wall Besides prevent

.

ing leaks these rings prevent much oil from

getting upon the piston head wher e i t would
result in the formation o f carbon The rings
.

are made o f cast iron and each piston gener

,

ally requires t w o o r three of them W hen the

.

two ends o f a ring come together squarely

the ring is said to have a butt j oint When the
.

ends meet each other diagonally it is called a

diagonal j oint L ikewise if the ends are made
.

so that they meet each other in the form o f a

step it is called a step or lap j oint O bviously

, .

[27]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
a ring having a step j oint will o ff er more r e s is
tance to the passage of g a s than those having
butt or diagonal j oints A precaution to take
.

in placing a piston i n a cylinder is to make sure

the j oints in the rings are at equal interval s
around the circumference o f the piston .

The wrist p inis made O f steel usually hol

,

low and case hardened and is used to form a

,

movable j oint between the piston and the con

n e c t ing rod I ts length depends u p on the
.

diameter o f the piston There are three gen

.

eral ways o f retaining the pin in its right posi

tion I t may be held rigidly in the connecting
.

rod by means o f a clamp or a set screw which

results in the pin turning in the piston bosses
as the connecting rod moves back and forth .

This method is used in the Curtiss O X A n .

other way is to pin the wrist pin in the bosses

s o that it is securely held in a fixed position .

The connecting rod will then turn o n the wrist

pin which means the bearing will be in the
connecting rod S uch a construction n ec essi
.

tates a bearing at both ends o f the connecting

rod The H all S cott A SA has its wrist pins
.
-

held rigidly in the piston bosses The floating

.

method such as used in the S turtevant allows

the pin to move either in the bosses or in the
[ 2 8 ]
 ENGI NE PARTS
connecting rod Brass ends on the pin or caps
.

over the ends of the bosses protect the cylinder

walls.

The connecting rod is a steel arm used to

convert the reciprocating motion Of the piston
into the revolving motion o f the crank shaft .

The maj ority o f connecting rods have a cross

section resembling an I although H and tubu
,

lar r od S a r e not uncommon I n cases where

'

the wrist pin is held in the bosses the upper end

of the connecting rod is supplied with a bronze
bushing that acts as a bearing surface The .

lower bearing in which works the crank pin

, ,

is given more attention Babbitt is employed

.

as a bearing metal and is generally backed by

bronze to take its place should enough heat be
developed to fuse the babbitt L ower connect
.

ing rod bearings are made in two pieces to

permit the crank pin being put in position .

Between the two halves of the bearing are placed

strips of metal called shims These are 00 1
. .
,

.0 0 2 and 00 5 inch thick and as the bearing

.

wears away these can be removed insuring a

better fit I n a V motor when the vertical axis
.
,

o f opposite cylinders are in the same vertical

plane the connecting rods of opposite c y lin

,

ders will meet the crank pin at the same point .

[ 2 9 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATION ENGI NES
This will necessitate the forked o r straddled
construction in which o n e r o d works between
the fork of another I t makes rather a com
.

plicated and costly bearing but i t is a favorite

,

design and is being used extensively The .

H ispano S uiza has this type o f lower connect

-

ing rod bearings A nother and simpler way is

.

“ ”
to have the cylinders staggered by placing
the cylinders o n one bank a little ahead o r b e
hind those Ou the opposite bank thereby ,

allowing two lower connecting rod bearings to

work side by Side o n o n e crank pin A wise .

precaution to take in assembling a motor is to

make sure the lower connecting rod bearing is
such that it allows the wrist pin to be a b so
lut e ly parallel with the crank pin I f it is
.

otherwise the piston will not work freely within

the cylinder .

The crank Shaft is the driving Shaft of the

engine to which the power impulses are trans
m it t e d by the pistons and connecting rods .

I t is needless to say that this is the most im

portant moving part o f an engine and for this
,

reason it is made with great precision from

selected pieces o f high grade steel by drop
-

forging and subsequent turning The principal

.

parts of a crank shaft are the main bearings ,

[ 30 ]
 ENGI NE PARTS
the cheeks and the pins on which the connect
,

ing rods work Two cheeks and a pin are

.

spoken o f as a throw Thus the number of

.

cylinders govern the number o f throws and ,

also upon the number of cylinders depends the

number of degrees between the throws I n a .

vertical motor if the cylinders are cast separ

,

ately there is generally a main bearing b e

,

tween every two throws W here the cylinders

.

are cast in block there is not s o much space

between the pistons which often means a de
crease in the number o f main bearings The .

crank shaft used in a V motor is identically the

same a s one used in a vertical motor having
half the number of cylinders Two connecting
.

rods are fitted to each throw and if the c y lin

,

ders are cast separately a main bearing is

placed between every two throws .

F or the main bearings of a crank shaft the

lining is babbitt usually backed by bronze very
similar to the lower connecting ro d bearings .

Babbitt which essentially consists o f lead and

,

antimony is used as bearing metal because of it s

,

anti friction properties its su fficient hardness

-
, ,

and the ease with which it can be replaced .

L ead alone possesses considerable anti friction -

properties bu t is impracticable on account

,

[ 31 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
of it s softness The addition o f some anti
.

mony will materially harden the lead with

out lessening its anti friction properties The
-
.

use o f babbitt also permits the liner to be

scraped to secure an exact bearing surface .

By coating the j ournal with P russian blue the ,

high spots can be detected on the liner and ,

these can be successively removed by scraping .

T o have evenly placed power impulses the

throws on a crank shaft must be placed at cer
tain angles with o ne another I n any four .

stroke cycle motor all cylinders will fire once

in two revolutions o f the crank shaft or once
in 7 2 0 degrees I n a fou r cylinder motor there
.
-

would be four explosions in 7 2 0 degrees and to ,

get equal Spacing the power impulses would

have to come o ne fourth of 7 2 0 o r 1 80 degrees
-

apart This will explain why the angle b e

.

tween two throws that receive impulses one ,

directly after the other is 1 80 degrees for a

'

four cylinder crank shaft The throws in a Six

-
.

cylinder crank shaft are 1 2 0 degrees apart ,

Since there will be s ix power im pulses in 7 2 0

degrees .

I n determining the order in which the c y lin

ders will deliver their power impulses to the
c rank Shaft i t is the custom to fire them SO
,

[ 32 ]
 ENGI NE PARTS
that the vibrations se t u p by one explosion will
serve to counteract the vibrations caused by a
previous explosion To accomplish this an ex.

plosion at one end of the shaft is followed by

an explosion near the other end .

H ere we come to what is known as the firing

order which simply means the order in which
,

the cylinders do their work I n order to discuss .

the firing order it is first necessary to explain

h ow the cylinders are numbered I n A merican .

practice cylinder N o 1 is always that o ne at .

’
the pilot s end of the engine and the number ,

ing is in regular order toward the propeller .

I n V engines N o 1 is the first cylinder on the

.

’
left bank viewed from the pilot s cock pit .

S ome engines have the left bank numbered

L 1 L 2 L3 L4 and the righ t bank R I R 2
, , , , , ,

R 3 R4 O thers number the left bank 1 2 3 4

, .
, , ,

in the regular way and then start with the

cylinder nearest the propeller o n the right
' ' ’
bank calling it 1 followed by 3 and 4
’
going toward the pilot s end The Curtiss O X .

has the peculiar way of starting with N o 1 on .

the left bank nearest the cock pit and d esig

nating a s N o 2 the opposite cylinder on the
.

right bank N o 3 is the next one on the left

. .

bank and in this way the odd numbers are on

,

[ 33 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATION ENGI NES
the left bank and the even numbers on the
right bank .

To return to firing orders it is best to start ,

with a four cylinder engine The cylinders in

-
.

such an engine c a n be fired in a 1 2 4 3 order , , ,

o r in a 1 3 4 2 order
, , F rom this it can be seen
, .

that throws 1 and 2 are 1 80 degrees apart and

3 and 4 are also that distance apart L ikewise .

it is evident that with a four cylinder crank -

shaft pistons 1 and 4 travel together and also

,

2 and 3 are coming up or going down together .

The two usual ways for a s ix cylinder engine to -

fire are 1 5 3 , 4 and 1 4 2 6 3 5 H ere

, , , , , , , , .

the throws are 1 2 0 degrees apart and the p is ,

tons that travel together are 1 and 6 2 and 5 , ,

and 3 and 4 V engines use the basic four

.

cylinder and s ix cylinder firing orders to fire

-

the two banks The explosions will alternate

.

between the two banks starting with the c y lin

’
der at the pilot s end o n the left block and fol
lowed by the forward cylinder o u the righ t
block E xplosions will occur o n the left bank
.

according to either one of the two firing orders ,

and those on the right bank in like manner

except that o n the right bank we will be work
’
ing from the propeller end toward the pilot s
end Where an engine is numbered L I L2
.
, ,

[ 34 ]
 ENGI NE PARTS
etc .
, and R I , R2 ,
etc .
, its firing order may be
L I , R 6 , L 5, R 2 , L3 , R4 , L6 , R 1 ,
L2 , R 5,
L4 R 3 , .

Where the left bank is numbered 1 2 3 , , ,

etc and the right bank

.
,
etc in the oppo .
,

site direction the firing order may be

,

The Curtiss O X with its peculiar cylinder

numbering already referred to has the follow
ing distinctive firing order for normal rota
tion
1, 2 , 3, 4 , 7 , 8,
For an anti normal engine i t would be
-

2 , 1 , 4 , 3 , 8, 7 ,
orto start the cycle with an explosion in c y l in

der N o 1 it would be '

.

1 , 4 , 3 , 8, 7 , 2 .

I n order that the thrust exerted by the

propeller upon the crank shaft may be trans
m it t e d to the crank case and then to the
fuselage a thrust bearing is placed upon the
,

crank Shaft very near the propeller hub .

Thrust bearings are generally ball bearings hav

ing either one o r t w o rows of balls and very often
they are designed to take a load directed at
righ t angles towards the center o f the shaft as
well as taking care o f the thrust I n an engine .

[ 35 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
like the Curtiss O X where the crank Shaft ex
,

tends several inches between the last main

crank Shaft bearing and the propeller hub the
-
,

thrust bearing will be the last poin t where the

shaft may be supported N ow if a shaft is
.

allowed to revolve withou t a radial bearing at

its end vibration will resul t and this must be
avoided Consequently on the Curtiss O X and
.

all other engines having a nose the thrust

,

bearing must be capable o f taking both radial

and thrust loads S ome thrust bearings having
.

a Single row o f balls will only take thrust in o n e

direction This makes i t necessary to reverse
.

the bearings if an engine is transferred from a

tractor plane to a pusher plane or vice versa .

The c a m shaft is that part o f the engine hav

ing irregularities u pon its surface that open
and close the valves at the proper time The .

irregularities are called cams and are usually

accurately Shaped proj ections u pon the shaft
for imparting the necessary motion to a valve .

Cam Shafts are always made Of high grade -

steel and the cams are forged integral with the

shaft W hen g asoline engines were first being
.

developed it was the practice to have a s a cam

Shaft a plain piece o f shafting with the c a m
keyed o r pinned t o it in the righ t position .

[ 36 ]
 C ur r' a s OX

T HRU S I
’ ‘
B EAR IN GS
 ENGI NE PARTS
This resulted in an endless amou nt of c a m
shaft trouble as the c a m would often come
loose causing a valve t o Operate at the wron g
time o r possibly n o t operate at all N ow that
.

the cams and shaft are made in one piece this ,

di fficulty is no longer encountered .

The location o f the cam shaft has been a

matter o f much discussion The Old practice
.

was to have it located at the base o f the c y lin

ders as this was the most convenient position
where T and L head cylinders were used .

S ince I head cylinders are more favorably

looked upon the overhead position o f the cam
,

Shaft is being used more and more as i t does ,

away with the numerous push rods used to

Operate the overhead valves H owever a c a m
.
,

Shaft s o placed necessitates a pillar Shaft and

bevel gears to drive it V engines that use the
.

base position of the c a m shaft usually have the

c ylinders placed in a staggered position This .

makes it much easier for o n e cam Shaft located

at the bottom o f the V to Operate the valves
o n both banks o f cylinders . Wh en a V engine
uses the overhead position two cam shafts are
necessary .

I n all four stroke cycle engines the c a m shaft

-

always travels at half the crank shaft speed

-
.

[ 37 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AV I ATI ON ENGI NES
The reason is that it takes t w o revolu tions of
the crank shaft to complete a cycle and that
the individ ual valves must Open bu t once d ur
ing a cycle F or instance one cylinder will fire
‘

.
,

once during two revolutions o f the crank Shaft .

I n order that it may function an inlet valve

,

must open once to let a new charge in Then .

the intake valve will open once during two

revolutions o f the crank shaft which means
that the c a m Operating that valve must r e
volve once to two revolutions o f the crank
shaft .

U pon the valves depend to a great exten t

the success o f the engine fo r aviation engines
,

seem particularly susceptible to valve trouble .

The t w o general types o f valves for gasoline

motors are the poppet or mushroom type and
the sliding sleeve type The former is u niver
.

sally used for aviation work largely because the

latter type brings into accoun t a little more
weight A poppet valve consists primarily of
.

a disk with a bevelled edge and a stem j oining

the disk at its center The bevelled edge is
.

usually at an angle of 4 5 degrees with the plane

of the d isk although other angles are n o t un
,

common By having the valves open i nwardly

.

the force of an explosion or the force of a com

[ 38 ]
 ENGI NE PARTS
pression stroke will tend to push the valve
firmly against the bevelled portion Of the c y
linder referred to as the seat and in this way
,

the greater the force within the cylinder the

more tightly will the valve be held in its closed
position I t is S afe to s ay that valves in avia
.

tion motors Should be as large as possible The .

use o f I head cylinders restricts the size of the

valves so it is often impossible to pu t in a
,

valve Of a satisfactory diameter T and L

head cylinders permit the use o f larger valves
on account o f the extension to the combustion
chamber The Obj ect of using large valves is
.

Simply to charge and scavage a cylinder more

rapidly .

When we consider under what conditions

the valves must do their work it will be seen,

why a great deal o f attention has been paid to

the materials o f which they are made The
exhaust valve opens o n the power stroke
allowing the high ly heated gases to escape
-

around it P articles of carbon will invariably

.

be carried outward and some will at times be

caught between the valve and its seat at the
instant it closes The valve having been highly
.

heated o n account o f it s direct contact with

the explosion will be somewhat soft and when
, ,

[ 39 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATION ENGI NES
it snaps against th e particle o f carbon a small
indentation will be caused This is called pit
.

ting and to lessen it to a great extent it has

,

now become the custom to make the exhaust

valve of tungsten steel O f the two valves the
.

inlet is less subj ect to pitting Since the in c o m

,

ing gas tends to cool it and furthermore le sS

,

carbon collects o n it s seat N ickel steel is the

.

material sometimes used for inlet valves .

I n order to make a valve seat more firm after

an engine has run considerably and to prevent ,

leaking it is necessary to grind a new surface

,

both o n the valve and its seat in the cylinder .

The abrasive is called grinding compound I t .

is applied as a very thin paste to either the

valve or its seat whereu pon the valve is in
,

se r t e d in its usual position and vigorously

turned back and forth I f care is taken to fr e

.

quently unseat the valve the compound will

be kept evenly distributed over the grinding
surface and there will be little danger Of cut
,

ting rings in either the valve o r its seat P rus .

sian blue c a n be used to determine the fit .

F requently a valve may become warped o r a

shoulder may develop on the seat A reamer .

c a n then be used to good advantage bu t it ,

must be followed by grinding S ometimes the .

[ 40 ]
 ENGI NE PARTS
guide in which the valve stem works will b e
come worn making it useless t o grind a valve
,

u ntil a bushing o r new guide has been supplied .

The springs used to close the valves deserve

attention O n some engines double coil springs
.
-

are used and then in case a spring breaks there

,

will still be o n e to close the valve O ccasion

.

ally the exhaust valve springs will be a little

heavier than those o n the inlet valves This is
.

to allow for any decrease in strength caused by

the heat from the exhaust valve and also to
prevent any possibility o f the exhaust valve
being pulled down on the intake stroke .

The ways in which the force o f a revolving

cam is brought to bear upon a valve stem are
numerous and interesting W ith an L head
.

cylinder where the c a m shaft runs directly

u nder the valve it is a simple matter to have a
,

follower riding the c a m and a tappet rod b e

tween the follower and the valve stem W hen .

the cam comes up the valve will be pushed up .

A S the cam goes o n the spring will bring the

valve back to it s seat This is simplicity itself
.
,

bu t the use o f I head cylinders makes nec es

sary other means of transmitting the c a m
thrust.

The usual way of Operating valves in the

[ 41 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
cylinder head by a cam Shaft located at the
base of the cylinders is to use push rods con
n e c t e d to rocker arms working o n fulcrums

attached to the tops o f the cylinders A s the

’

push r o d is forced u p o n e end o f the rocker

,

arm goes u p and the other end goes down ,

pushing inwardly on the end Of the valve stem .

This is the way the valves are operated o n the

Curtiss VX and the S turtevant The peculiar
.

ity in the S turtevant is that the side thrust

imparted to tappet is avoided by having a
pivoted arm ride the cam and o n this arm rests
the tappet W orn guides are reduced to a
.

minimum in this way .

The inlet valve Operation o n the Curtiss O X

is interesting inasmuch as it brings into ac
count a new form of c a m and also because the
,

valve is pulled open instead O f receiving a

direct thrust U pon the cam shaft for each
.

inlet valve are two cams that would be com

p le t e ly circular bu t for a flat space o n each .

The space between these two cams is taken

up by the exhaust valve cam which is the ,

ordinary type o f cam U pon the t w o round

.

cams rests a tappet to which is attached a r od ,

o r strictly speaking a tube having a coil spring

,

held about i t at the top by a strap and at the

[ 42 ]
D I AGRAM TO I LLUST RATE T HE C URT ISS ALVE A CTION
0X V
 ENGI NE PARTS
bottom by a collar u pon the tube The upper
.

end Of the tube is hinged to a lever arm that

extends almost horizontally from a fulcru m
u pon the head of the cylinder and directly
,

u nder this lever arm is the end Of the inlet

valve stem A S the c a m shaft revolves the flat
.

spaces o n the two cams will allow the Spring to

force the tappet and tube toward the center
o f the c a m shaft which results in a downward
,

motion Of one end o f the lever arm S ince the.

inlet valve is located beneath it and Since the

spring o n the tube is several times stronger
than the spring upon the valve stem the inlet ,

valve is thus pulled Open and remains Open a s

long as the flat spaces will permi t the spring to
keep the tube in its downward position I t .

will be noticed that in this manner of Opening

the inlet valve everything depends u pon the
spring o n the pull tube .

M aking the valves open and C lose at the

right time on an engine o r timing the valves as ,

i t is generally called is a simple matter pro

,

v id ing it is done systematically . The first

thing to do is to select a cylinder preferably
,

N o 1 and making sure a cam is not in a posi

.
,

tion to deliver a thrust adj ust the clearance

,

o f a valve o n that cylinder by means of a feeler

[ 43 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
gage s o that the clearance is th a t given by the
manufacturer V alve clearance varies between
.

.0 1 0 and 030 inch and its purpose is to allow

.
,

for expansion o f the stem and also to obtain a

very accurate adj ustment of a particular valve .

I t is the custom to time o n the Opening o f an

intake valve o r o n the closing o f an exhaust
valve A fter the clearance has been adj usted
.

fo r o ne valve and after the c a m Shaft gears

have been u nmeshed the engine is turned in
,

the direction it is intended to rotate u ntil the

piston in the selected cylinder is exactly in the
right position fo r the inlet valve t o Open o r fo r
the exhaust valve to close Then the cam shaft
.

is revolved by hand in the direction it is in

tended to turn until the inlet valve is j ust
starting to open or the exhaust valve has j ust
closed as the case may be The next step is to
.

mesh the c a m Shaft gears . S ometimes the

teeth come directly together and when that is
“ ”
the case it is necessary to split a tooth .

D i fferent engines have ways of doing this but,

it generally amounts to providing some means

of revolving the gear wheel upon the cam
Shaft the distance o f half a tooth which is
,

enough to allow the teeth to be meshed with

o u t d isturbing the c a m shaft .

[ 44 ]
 ENGI NE PARTS
A ll of the other valves on the engin e are
timed by adj usting the clearance for each one .

A piston is placed in the right position for a

valve to open or close and if it does not func
tion correctly the clearance is changed until it
opens or closes o n time F rom this it can be
.

seen that if the cam Shaft is o ut o f time all

valves will be a ffected while if the clearance is
,

s e t wrong it will a ff ect only the valve having

the wrong clearance I n other words the cam

.
,

shaft a ff ects every valve while clearance ,

a ff ects the individual valve I n cases where .

too much clearance is given above a valve stem

the valve will Open late and close early W hen .

there is t oo little clearance the valve will Open

,

early and close late .

When Spark plugs are placed in the cylinder

head it is possible to determine the position o f
a piston at any time by removing a plug and
inserting a steel scale I f valves are timed by
.

determining a piston s position in this manner

’

it is spoken o f as the linear method o f ti ming .

I naccuracies may result from the use of this

method where the pistons have convex heads
and where particles o f carbon are deposited o n
the piston heads A more accurate method is
.

to make use o f a timing disk attached to the

[ 45 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATION ENGI NES
crank shaft near the propeller hub The cir .

c u m fe r e n c e o f this disk is divided into degrees

with the points for opening and closing o f each

valve plainly marked u pon it I f the disk is
.

placed accurately u pon the crank shaft it fur

nishes an excellent means o f timing the valves ,

because no linear measurements need be taken .

S ince the angle of a crank throw must be used

when working with a timing d isk this is called
,

the angular method o f timing valves .

[ 46 ]
 C HAPTER V
C A R B U RETI O N
N OR D E R that gasoline may be mixed with
the right amou nt o f air to form an explosive
mixture within the cylinders it is necessary to
,

make use o f a device known a s a carburetor .

A great deal of attention h as been devoted to

the designing of carburetors for it can be
,

readily seen that the fuel consumption o f an

engine will be governed largely by the perform
ance o f the carburetor A lso o f late much
.

attention has been given to the carburetion o f

lower grade fuels so the subj ect of carburetors
,

is becoming a broad field .

A suitable mixture for an aviation engine is

o ne pound o f gasoline t o fifteen pounds of air .

A richer mixture would be o ne having more

gasoline while o ne having more air would be
,

a leaner mixture I t h as been fou nd that the

.

most practical way to obtain this mixture is to

spray the gasoline into the air and this is best
,

accomplished by making use o f a j et attached

to a reservoir and lessening the atmospheric
pressure abou t the j et I f the level of gasoline
.

in the reservoir is slightly lower than the tip

[ 47 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
of the j et and the j et is located in an air sup -

plied chamber having a connection with the

inlet valves the downward motion of the pis
,

tons will result ih less pressure being exerted

u pon the gasoline in the j et than that in the
reservoir where atmospheric pressure is ex
,

e rt e d . G as o l i n e i n th i s w ay wi l l b e m ad e
to flow from the j et and s i n c e considerable
,

air is being d rawn past the j et it wi l l tend

to form a spray of the gasoline that is being
delivered .

To restrict the amount Of gasoline that is

supplied to the float chamber which in turn
has a great deal to do with the gasoline d e liv
ered by the j et the float with which the float
,

chamber is supplied actuates a pin that opens

,

and closes the main supply valve U pon the .

t o p o f the float rest the ends o f two pivoted

arms having the other ends in contact with
the needle valve stem AS gasoline enters the
.

float chamber the float will rise causing one end

of the arms to rise and the other end to exert
a downward pressure upon the needle valve .

The result will be to seat needle valve allowing

no more gasoline to enter until some has been
d rawn o ff by the delivery from the j et F rom .

this it can readily be seen that the float cham

[ 48 ]
 CAR B URETION
ber is essentially a reservoir supplied with an
automatic valve .

The space around the j et is called the mixing

chamber T o admit the necessary air an Open
.

ing is located somewhere below the level of the

j et which insures all Of the air passing the j et .

As a means o f diverting the air nearer the tip

of the j et and thus securing more of a drawing
e ffect the space around the j et through which
,

the air passes is lessened by the insertion of a

choke tube o r a venturi as it is often called .

I ts purpose is to increase the velocity o f air

as it passes by the j et and thus increase the
suction at the tip o f the j et To regulate the
.

speed of the engine a butterfly valve is located

j ust a little distance above the choke tube .

This valve which is nothing more than a disk

,

Of metal is often referred to as the throttle

, .

When it is opened the speed o f the engine is

increased o n account of a greater volume o f
gas being taken by the engine A s it is brought
.

toward a closed position less gas will be s u p

,

plied and the result is to decrease the speed of

,

the engine S top screws are provided to pre

.

vent the throttle from closing completely for,

that would cause the engine to cease running

altogether .

[ 49 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
So far the most elementary type of c ar b u
r e t o r has been discussed I t is o n e that consists
.

primarily of a float chamber and one j et in a

regularly Shaped mixing chamber . This is
called a simple j et carburetor and its chief
,

weakness lies in the fact that at high speeds i t

will deliver a richer mixture than when the
engine is running Slowly ' the reason for this
being that as the speed is increased the suction
is greatly increased which means more gaso
,

line in proportion to the air at high speeds than

at low speeds A simple j et carburetor a d
.

j usted for low speeds will use too much gaso

line a t high speeds while o n e that is adj usted
,

for high speeds will n o t supply enough gasoline

at low speeds Consequently Simple j et car
.

b ur e t ors are not satisfactory for aviation e n

gines .

I n order to secure the right mixture at both

low and high speeds several modifications of
,

the simple j et carburetor have been used with

more or less success O ne way is to have the
.

mixing chamber supplied with an auxiliary air

valve that is held in place by a weak spring .

A t low speeds the Spring holds the valve closed ,

bu t as the speed is increased the valve is

d rawn open due to the increase in suction .

[ 50 ]
 J e t wr e nc h

Je t

Thr o t l t e h mbe c a r

Thr o t t le l p b l
s o e t furl

Thr o t t le t p a o

Thr o+He

t e
l t

I du
n
g Jet

In t ke t
a ube

In tk a e

Cold air damp e r

t e
I n ak s t ud

Spr ing wa sh e r

T HE M I LLE R AV I A TIO N C ARBURE TO R

 CAR B URETION
This allows more air to enter the mixing cham
ber at high speeds causing the mixture to b e
come Slightly leaner and thereby securing
approximately the same mixture at high speeds
as at low speeds A nother way is to have the
.

opening in the j et supplied with a metering pin

which is nothing more than a Slender pin
tapered t o a point that extends within the j et .

A s the throttle is Opened the metering pin is

,

withdrawn much more slowly proportionately

than the throttle is turned This will allow a
.

slightly greater amount o f gasoline to issue

from the j et at high speeds than at low speeds ,

but if arranged correctly the increase in gaso

line will be in proportion to the increase in air .

A third way is to employ several j ets instead

o f o n e and by using a rotary throttle uncover
,

them o n e at a time as the speed is increased ,

allowing the air to pass by more than o ne I n .

this manner at high speeds more j ets are ex

posed to the suction than at low Speeds and ,

likewise the size o f the air opening is larger at

high Speeds than at low speeds A uniform
.

mixture fo r all speeds is thus secured .A

fourth way is to combine two small j ets so that
one will deliver more and more gasoline as the
speed is increased and the other will deliver
[ 51 ]
 E LEM ENTS OF AVIATION ENGI NES
only a limited amount A t high speeds the in .

creased amount o f gasoline from one will be

j ust enough to take care o f the additional
amount needed A t low speeds both j ets work
.

harmoniously S uch departures from the sim

.

ple j et carburetor are spoken of as speed com

p e ns a t ion s .

The Z enith carburetor has been widely used

in connection with aviation engines and for ,

that reason it will be well to become familiar

with its operation The principle used is that
.

o f two small j ets with one having only a lim

it e d amount of gasoline to su pply I n appear .

ance it C losely resembles a Simple j et carbu

r e t o r except for a narrow cylindrically shaped -

well between the float chamber and the mixing

chamber G asoline is su pplied from the float
.

chamber to this well through a small hole in a

plug that forms the bottom o f the well The .

plug is called the compensator I n the u pper .

part o f the well is a hole which allows atmos

p h e r ic pressure to be exerted u pon the gasoline
within O ne j et is placed within the other and
.
,

the i nside j et is that one connected directly to

the float chamber O bviously this j et which is
.
,

known as the main j et will act the same as one

,

in a simple j et carburetor causing a richer mix

[ 52 ]
LEVEL

A HALF SECTIO N V IEW OF A Z E N IT H C ARBUR ETO R

 CARB URETI ON
ture at high Speeds than at low speeds The .

outside j et o r c a p j et as it is called receives its

, ,

su pply of gasoline from the well and Since the

,

amount o f gasoline furnished to the well is

limited by the hole in the compensator it c a n ,

be seen that the amount o f gasoline delivered

by the cap j et is restricted t o that amount that
will flow by gravity through the hole in the
compensator A t low Speeds both j ets work
.

normally but as the speed is increased the

,

main j et will furnish more and more gasoline

while there will be a tendency to draw more
gasoline from the c a p j et than c a n be su pplied
by the hole in the compensator The resul t .

will be t o exhaust the supply in the well and

use instantly that which is fed to it S ince .

there is an air hole near the top o f the well un

d ue suction u pon the compensator will be pre
vented I t should be noted that air will enter
.

the well and be d rawn o u t the c a p j et at very

high speeds bu t i t is absolutely wrong to r e
,

gard the air hole in the upper part o f well as an

auxiliary air valve The compensation e ff ect
.

comes from the fact that the increased amou nt

o f gasoline supplied by the main j et is enough

to make u p for that which is not supplied by

the c a p j et .
 E LEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
At idling speed very little air is drawn in ,

and this is not su fficient to fully overcome the

surface tension o f the gasoline in the j ets By .

surface tension is meant the force that tends

to resist breaking the surface Of the column o f
gasoline in the j et and drawing it outward To .

insure a good mixture at idling speed the

Z enith is equipped with an entirely separate
carburetor that supplies its gas at a point
where the air passes by the nearly closed
throttle and o n account of the small space
, , ,

considerable suction is developed at this point .

This carburetor gets its su pply o f gasoline

through a tube leading d own near the bottom
o f the well The tube is held in what is called
.

the priming plug which acts as a cover for the

,

well The size of the hole in the priming plug

.

governs the amou nt of gasoline fed to the

idling carburetor The amount of air that is
.

allowed to enter the mixing chamber of the

idling carburetor is controlled by a thumb
screw known as the slow speed screw -
.

To facilitate starting a strangler valve is

,

placed in the air inlet I f it is brought toward a

.

closed position a greatly increased amount of

gasoline will be drawn from the j ets and from ,

this increased amount the more readily vola

[ 54 ]
 CAR B URETI ON
tile parts will go to furnish a combustible mix
ture The strangler is used only in starting
. .

The variables are those parts a ffecting the

mixture which can be replaced by sim ilar ones
having di ff erent dimensions I n naming them
.

they are generally given in a regular order b e

ginning with the choke tube then the main j et
, ,

the compensator and finally the priming plug

, .

The cap j et is not a variable Z enith settings

.

comprise the internal diameter o f the variables .

The choke tube is measured in millimeters and

the other three in hundredths o f a millimeter .

The size o f a carburetor is the diameter in

inches of its connection with the manifold .

The adj ustments o n the Z enith are the

throttle stop screw which governs the suction
,

upon the idling carburetor the Slow speed

,
-

’
screw to adj ust the priming plug s delivery
, ,

and adj usting the level o f gasoline in the float

chamber by changing the position of the
needle valve seat This is accomplished by
.

adding washers under the seat if the level is to

be lowered o r by withdrawing washers if the
level is to be raised .

A s a plane goes from a low altitude to a

higher one the e ffect upon the carburetor will
be to furnish a richer mixture since the same
,

[ 55 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
volume o f air will be used yet it s weight will
,

be appreciably decreased O ne way o f com

.

p e n s a t in g for altitude is to have an air valve

located in the manifold that can be Opened by

the pilot as necessity calls fo r The e ffect o f
.

opening this valve will be to allow a little air to

be added to the rich mixture A nother method
.

is to decrease the pressure u pon the level Of

gasoline in the float C hamber by opening a
valve in a tube leading from the float chamber
cover to the manifold The reduced pressure
.

within the manifold i n this way is used to

slightly reduce the atmospheric pressure upon
the gasoline in the float chamber The e ffect .

will be to cause less d i ff erence in pressure b e

tween the gasoline in the float chamber and
the gasoline in the j ets resulting in a decrease
,

in the amount of gasoline delivered at the j ets .

[ 56 ]
 C HAPTER VI
I G N ITI O N
HE E L E C T R I C spark which is the only s a t
,

is fac t o ry means o f igniting a charge Of gas

in an internal combustion engine is furnished
,

by current coming from batteries o r a mag

neto I n a battery electricity is generated by
.

chemical action while the magneto is a me

c h a n ic a l means o f generating electricity Al
.

though the care of a battery is important there ,

is no call for an extensive knowledge Of bat

t e ry construction to keep it in good condition .

With a magneto however there are many

, ,

moving parts which need attention and fre

quently adj ustments are necessary so i t seems
,

advisable to take u p the magneto rather fully .

To start with the fundamentals o f electricity

it will be remembered that if a coil of wire is
revolved between the poles of a horseshoe mag
net S O that it cuts the lines of magnetic force
there will be a current generated in the wire
that goes to make u p the coil F urthermore if
.
,

this coil is wound about a piece of soft iron

known as a core and the core revolved b e
,

tween the two magnetic poles SO that magnet

[ 57 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATION ENGI NES
ism passes through the core one instant and
not the next then more electricity will be gen
,

e ra t e d The core o ffers an easy path for the

.

magnetism S oft iron is used for the core b e

.

cause it can very quickly become magnetized ,

and what is j ust as important it will quickly

give u p its magnetism By revolving such a
.

core between the poles o f a horseshoe magnet ,

it will amount to successively plunging a mag

net in a coil and rapidly drawing it o ut again .

The magnetic lines o f force from the core ,

when i t is magnetized will o f course be cut by

,

the coil which accounts for the current .

A s the core is revolved between the two

magnetic poles which are distinguished by
,

calling o ne the N orth pole and the other the

S outh pole the core is magnetized when in a
,

horizontal position almost connecting the two

poles and demagnetized when it has turned
9 0 degrees to a vertical position Consequently
.

in o ne complete revolution o f the core it will

be magnetized twice and demagnetized twice .

I t so happens that a little more current is gen

e ra t e d in the coil when the core loses its mag

n e t is m than when it receives its magnetism ,

which means that maximu m current is ob

t aine d when the core is approximately in a

[ 58 ]
Pos' n o”ow Gone WHEN
Mean'5 7 12 5a Pmnna y Omc Is Bfi o x

D I AGRAM S TO I LLU ST RA T E T HE LOC A TIO N OF T HE CO RE IN A

S HUTT LE T YP E MAG NET O

 I GN ITION
vertical position S ince it is in this position
.

twice during one complete revolution it fol ,

lows that a n ordinary magneto furnishes two

sparks per revolution .

S O far the core has been considered as the

revolving part I dentically the same result is
.

Obtained when the core is held stationary and

the magnet o r magnets are revolved To turn
.

the magnets is inconvenient on account o f their

horseshoe shape s o rotating poles are often
,

used to accomplish the same result This is

.

referred to as a revolving field I n the first

.

case where the core is rotated an armature

,

made up o f the core and the shaft that carries

it is used I n appearance the armature has
.

somewhat o f a resemblance to a shuttle on ,

account o f the windings about the core Fo r .

this reason the type o f magneto using the r e

volving core and coil is called the shuttle type ,

while the o ne in which the magnetic field r e

volves and the coil remains stationary is known
as the inductor type M ore attention will be
.

devoted to the inductor type after the shuttl e

type has been further explained .

The current required to j ump the gap b e

tween the points o f a spark plug under high
compression is much greater than the amoun t
59 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
supplied by a single coil wound about a core .

I n order to have a self contained unit it is

-

necessary to make use o f another coil wound

about the first consisting o f much finer wire
and having several hundred times as many
turns as in the first coil The coil wound near
.

e s t the core is called the prima r y coil while the

,

outside one is the secondary coil N ow if we .

have some automatic device to break the path

of the current from the primary coil at the
same time that the core loses its magnetic
charge a high tension current will be induced
into the secondary coil and will be suitable to
cond uct to the spark plugs The principle is
.

that o f a transformer .

O n the shuttle type magneto a breaker me

c h a n is m through which the primary current

passes is held o n o ne end of the armature ,

causing it to be revolved at exactly the same

speed as the armature is turning Cams o n the
.

breaker housing force the breaker poi nts to

separate for an instant at the same time that
,

the core loses its magnetism A ll that is nec es

.

sary to do in order to stop the magneto from

delivering current and in turn stop the engine
is to close a switch o n a line that connects the
two breaker points This will short circuit
.

[ 60 ]
 I GNITION
the primary destroying the e ffectiveness of the
,

breaker points and prevent the primary from

inducing any current into the secondary coil .

To advance or retard the spark the position ,

of the breaker cams is changed This a ff ects

.

the time that the primary circuit is broken .

M oving the cams with the direction o f rota

tion retards the spark while to advance the
,

spark the cams are moved against the d ire c

tion of rotation This brings us to one d iffi
.

culty with the shuttle type magneto I n order .

to get the maximum current the primary circuit

should be broken as the core loses it s magnetic
charge I f the Spark is retarded however the
.
, ,

primary is broken a little later than the mag

netic lines of force are broken which results in a
,

weaker Spark The e ffect is frequently to hind

.

er starting as it is necessary to retard the spark

to prevent inj uring the one who is cranking .

I n the primary circuit a condenser is placed

in multiple with the breaker points I t con .

sists of alternate sheets o f a conductor and a

non conductor such as tinfoil and mica H alf
- .

of the sheets of the conductor are attached to

one terminal and the other half a r e attached
,

to the second terminal This provides a place

.

for the current to go momentarily after the

[ 61 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATION ENGI NES
breaker points have separated I f a condense r .

were not used there would be a tendency for

the current to continue flowing for an instant
through the air between the separating points ,

which would result in arcing and pitting the

points R ight here it should be noted that the
.

breaker points are of platinum and should not

separate more than 02 0 inch S ince the c o n
. .

denser prevents arcing it also serves to make

the break in the primary circuit occur more
quickly which means that more voltage will
,

be induced into the secondary coil .

A s a means of conducting the secondary c ur

rent to the right Spark plug at the right time a
distributor is used I t consists of as many s e g
.

ments as the number of spark plugs that the

magneto supplies A distributor arm with a
.

carbon brush directly connected with the sec

o nd a r y coil turns about upon the distributor

plate conducting secondary current to each

segment in turn With the s p ar k fully a d
’

v a nc e d the distributor arm Should j ust be

,

entering a segment every time the breaker

points separate F or convenience the primary
.

and secondary circuits are both grounded .

S hould the secondary circuit be left Open as ,

would be the case if a wire were not attached

[ 62 ]
W I R IN G D I AGRAM OF A MAGN ETO SY STE M
 I GNITION
to a spark plug the result might be that the
,

high pressure of the secondar y would cause a

short circuit between the two coils To avoid .

such a happening a safety gap is provided in

the secondary circuit I ts points are generally
.

three eighths of an inch apart insuring no in

-

t er fere nc e with sparking at the plugs .

The electrical pressure is expressed in volts .

The flow is expressed in amperes O ne volt .

times one ampere is equivalent to one watt ,

which is nothing more than a unit of work ,

being 1 7 64 part of a horse power The wattage

-
.

of an ordinary magneto is abou t twenty The .

voltage in the primary circuit is from six to ten

volts while that in the secondary is about ten
,

thousand The amperage of the primary is

.

limited to only a few amperes yet that of the

,

secondary is infinitely less being only the

,

slightest fraction of an ampere for it Should be

,

remembered that when a current of higher

voltage is obtained by induction the gain in
the number of volts will be accompanied by a
loss in the number of amperes U pon the speed
.

of the armature and the number of windings

depends the voltage of a magneto The num .

ber of amperes is dependent upon the strength

of the magnets .

[ 63 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATION ENGI NES
A n ordinary magneto c a n deliver but two
sparks per revolution so the speed of the arma
,

ture is governed by the number of explosions

in the engine during o ne complete cycle A .

four cylinder engine will fire four times in two

-

revolutions o r two times in o ne revolution .

S ince two sparks will then be necessary for

every revolution o f the crank Shaft it follows ,

that the armature should turn at engine speed .

I n an eight cylinder engine there will be four

-

explosions per revolution s o the armature will

,

have to turn at twice engine speed to give the

four sparks at the righ t time The speed o f an.

armature o n a magneto supplying twelve

cylinders would be three times engine speed .

A convenient means o f determining this rela

tive speed is to divide the number o f cylinders
by four The distributor arm turns at cam
.

shaft speed owing to the fact that each c y lin

der requires one spark in two revolutions of the
engine .

The D ixie magneto which is a good example

,

of the inductor type has been widely used and

,

deserves consideration I n it the magnets are

.

turned at righ t angles to the position that they

occupy in the Bosch and Berling which are ,

representatives of the Shuttle type A shaft .

[ 64 ]
D I AG RAM TO I LLUST RA TE T HE PR I N CI PLE OF R EVO LV IN G
P O LES ON T HE D I X IE MAG NETO
 I GN ITI ON
carrying two shoes or pole extensions separated
by a bronze block is placed in line with the two
poles of the magnets This Shaft having no
.

windings upon it is not called an armature ,

but is known as a rotor A s the rotor is r e

.

volved the shoes each being in contact with

,

one pole and being separated by the non mag -

netic bronze will always have their respective

,

magnetic charges and the e ffect will be much

,

the same as though the magnets themselves

were revolved Were it not for the bronze b e
.

tween the two shoes there would be a direct

flow of magnetism through the rotor between
the two poles and the shoes would then be
,

useless.

A t right angles to the rotor is placed the core

carrying the primary and secondary coils I t .

is located in the space between the rotor and

the top of the magnets E xtending downward
.

from both ends o f the core are two bars o f soft

iron known as field pieces and it is between ,

these two field pieces that the Shoes revolve .

When the shoes are in a horizontal position ,

magnetism will pass from o n e shoe into the

nearest field piece then through the core into
, ,

the other field piece and thence into the Oppo

,

site Shoe When the shoes move to a vertical

.

[ 65 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
position the core will receive no magnetism ,

but in moving another 90 degrees the shoes

will come again to a horizontal position and ,

magnetism will pass through the core in a re

versed direction Thus the core will be mag
.

n e t ic a lly charged o n e instant and not the next ,

resulting in the generating of electricity .

The breaker assembly does not revolve on

the end o f the rotor but is worked by cams on
,

the end of the rotor shaft To advance o r re

.

tard the spark it is thus possible to move the

whole breaker assembly instead of changing
the position o f fixed cams as is done on the
,

shuttle type S ince the coils and core do not

.

revolve it is also possible to change the posi

,

tion o f the core and field pieces with the

changing o f the position o f the breakers The .

result is to break the magnetism in the core

with the breaking of the primary circuit even
though the spark is fully retarded This in .

sures the same intensity of spark when crank

ing the engine as is obtained at top speed with
the Spark fully advanced .

A special type o f D ixie magneto is one hav

ing four shoes instead Of two There are two.

opposite N orth shoes and two opposite S outh

shoes The two field pieces leading to the core
.

[ 66 ]
D I AGRAM T O I LLU ST RA TE P OSITION OF R OTO R I N T HE D I X IE
MAGN ETO WH E N T HE CO R E I S MAGN ET I Z E D
D I AGRAM T O I LLU ST RATE P OSITIO N OF ROTO R I N T HE D I X IE
MAG NETO WH EN T HE CO R E I S D E MAGN ETI Z E D
 I GN ITION
are shortened so that their ends will be well
above the center of the rotor to allow unlike
Shoes to connect the two ends S ince the oppo
.

site shoes have the same polarity it would not

,

do to have the ends o f t h e field pieces in line

with Opposite shoes The advantage o f this
.

type o f D ixie 18 that four sparks can be secured

during o ne revolution o f the rotor which per ,

mits a much slower running magneto o n an

engine having a large number o f cylinders .

The magnets themselves deserve attention .

They are made of hard steel in order to retain

their magnetism as long as possible To r e .

charge a magnet it is simply necessary to wind

it with insulated wire and pass direct current
through the wire When dismounted from the
.

magneto it is necessary to provide a path for

the magnetism between the two poles A strip .

o f steel will answer for a keeper o r the unlike

,

poles o f two magnets may be placed together ,

insuring a perfect magnetic circuit .

I n timing a magneto to an engi ne it is best

to start by selecting a cylinder and placing the
piston in that cylinder in the right position on
the compression stroke for the spark to occur .

Then turn the distributor arm so that it is

about to enter the segment which h as connec
[ 67 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
tion with the spark plug in the selected c y lin
der N ext after making sure the spark lever
.
,

is fully advanced turn the magneto in its right

,

direction u ntil the breaker points have j ust

separated The distribu tor arm Should now be
.

u pon the foremost part o f the segment to in

sure that it will still be in contact with the seg
ment when the spark lever is retarded The .

remaining step is to connect the d riving shaft

with the armature o r rotor as the case may be .

U pon those engines having double ignition to

procure a greater factor o f safety and to reduce
the time to fully explode the charge the two
,

magnetos must furnish their Sparks at the same

time or be synchronized as it is technically
called To accomplish this the first magneto is
.

timed to the engine and the second magneto is

timed to the first I n this way the breaker
.

points on each o ne can be made to separate at

the same instant .

With a battery system either a vibrating or

a non vibrating coil may be used V ibrating
-
.

coils will give a rapid succession o f sparks at

the spark plugs The primary circuit is made
.

to pass through the vibrator and the magnet

ism in core is allowed to separate the vibrator
points which breaks the primary circuit and
[ 68 ]
D IAG RAM OF A BA TTE RY S Y STE M OF I GN I T IO N
W IT H A N ON V I BRA TI NG COI L
 I GN ITION
demagnetizes the core The contact is then
.

made again by the vibrator springing back and

the Operation is repeated When a no n v ib r at
.
-

ing coil is used there must be mechanically

Operated breakers to break the primary circuit ,

very similar to those used on magnetos .

The wiring diagram for a battery system

using mechanically Operated breakers is simi
-

lar to a magneto wiring diagram except that ,

the switch is not placed in the same position .

I n a battery system the switch is placed in

series in the primary circuit and by Opening
,

the switch the engine is stopped S ometimes .

tw o breakers are used instead of a single one .

The two are then wired in multiple and are

made to break at the same time thereby in ,

suring uninterrupted flight in case one refuses

to close A small resistance coil o f iron wire
.

is often placed in the primary circuit with a

view to saving the battery during slow run
ning o r in case the switch is left closed when
,

the engine is not running O rdinarily when

.

the engine stops the breaker points are to

gether which with a closed switch a ffords a
, , ,

direct path for the current to pass from one

pole of the battery to the other The iron coil
.

will then be heated with the result that less

[ 69 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
current can pass through the h eated iron wire
than when it was cold I n this way a battery
.

will not be exhausted s o readily A coil that

.

serves this purpose is called a ballast coil

.

[ 70 ]
 CHAPTER VI I
LU B R I C ATI O N
HE R POS E o f lubrication is to reduce
PU

friction E ven though two pieces of metal

.

that move one upon the other may have their

surfaces highly polished and appear perfectly
smooth it will be noticed upon examination
,

with a microscope that the surfaces are very

irregular I n other words all sliding surfaces
.
,

no matter how carefully they may be finished ,

are known to consist o f minute proj ections and

depressions Consequently the proj ections and
.

hollows on the contact faces tend to interlock

and resist a sliding motion F rom this it c a n
.

readily be seen that friction is nothing more

than the force which resists the relative motion
of one body in contact with another body .

E xcessive friction results in the development

of heat .

A s a means o f minimizing friction oil is in ,

t ro d uc ed between the contact surfaces The .

oil will first fill the depressions and finally

form a film between the two surfaces separat ,

ing them su fficiently to prevent the proj ections

on one surface from interlocking with the de
[ 71 ]
 ELE M ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
pressions on the other This is referred to as
.

the theory of lubrication P erfect lubrication

.

is greatly to be desired for it eliminates wear ,

and by red ucing the power required to turn the

engine it adds to the e fficiency of an engine .

A fter realizing the necessi ty for o il the next

step is to ascertain what properties an o il must
have in order that it may be suitable fo r avia
tion engines I n testing an Oil it is customary to
.

determine the g rav it y v is c o s it y flash point fire

, , ,

point and whether or not it has acid properties

, .

The gravity o f an Oil has in reality no effect

u pon it s lubricating merits as there is con
,

S id e r a b le variation in the gravity o f high grade

Oils H owever it is usually determined and

.
,

used principally in checking current deliveries

of a certain brand The specific gravity is the
.

ratio between its weigh t and the weight o f an

equal volume of water I n the o il trade though
.
, ,

it is customary to use the Baume gravity scale

in which the gravity o f water is 1 0 at 60 F °
.

The lighter the Oil is in body the higher will,

be the Baum e reading H ydrometers grad u

.

ated fo r either specific gravity or Baum e are

used to measure the gravity o f an o il The fol .

lowing formula will serve to convert o ne scale

in another '
[ 72 ]
 LU B RI CATION
S p eC ifiC gravity 1 30 + B mé d gau re a ln
‘

V iscosity is the technical name for what is

“ ”
popularly called body To express it more
.

specifically it is the fluidity o f an Oil To Ob .

tain the viscosity the oil is put into a cup s ur

rounded by water at about 2 1 2 F When the °
.

oil has reached this temperature a plug o f ,

specific size in the bottom o f the cu p is r e

moved allowing 60 c c o f the h o t o il to run o ut
. .

into a marked flask The number o f seconds

.

required to draw the 6 0 c c is reported as the

. .

viscosity of the o il G ood cylinder oil will have

.

a viscosity of about 7 5 seconds .

The flash point is the lowest temperature at

which the Oil will ignite but n o t continue to
burn I f the flash point is too low the oil will
.
,

not remain o n the cylinder walls and bearings

when the normal heat is developed leaving the ,

friction surfaces without lubrication I t is well .

to use oil having a flash point above 32 5 F °

.

The fire point is the temperature at which

the ignited vapor from the o il will continue to
burn . This temperature w h ich ranges b e,

tween 4 5 and 7 5 F above the flash point is

° °
,

not o f much consequence from o ur stand point

as it is always beyond the point where the oil
will cease to be useful .

[ 73 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
Certain mineral oils are treated with s ul
p h u r ic acid d uring the process o f refinement .

To protect the highly polished bearing s ur

faces it may be necessary t o ascertain if any
acid has remained in the o il A simple way o f
.

testing is t o wash a sample o f the o il with

warm water and test the water with litmus
paper The presence o f any acid will result in
.

the paper being turned pink .

L ubricating o il we are accustomed to think

o f as being only mineral oil With the develop
.

ment o f aviation engines castor o il which is a

, ,

vegetable o il has received considerable atten

,
°
tion This o il which has a gravity of 9 6
,

B aum e and a flash point a little higher than

most mineral oils will thicken t o a marked de
,

gree u pon standing When heated it will

.

readily oxidize and exhibit acid properties ,

rendering it o f little use in engines where the

o il is used over and over again I ts u niversal
.

use in rotary engines is due to the fact that it

will not u nite with gasoline I n these engines
.

the crank case is filled with gasoline vapor which

tends to wash o ff any mineral o il that is supplied
to the bearings H ence castor o i l is resorted
.

t o and as lon g as the o il i s u sed but once in

,

rotary engines it serves very well as a lubricant

,
.

[ 74 ]
 LU B RI CATION
V ery few engines have the same system of
lubrication The o il supply is generally carried
.

in the lower half o f the crank case which is

called the sump F requently auxiliary tanks
.

having connection with the sump are used .

The splash system of oiling is not suitable for

aviation engines so it is possible to make use
,

o f what is called a d ry su mp .I f no provision

is made to retain the o il in the sump when an
engine is momentarily inverted there is great
danger of the o il rushing into the cylinder and
piston cavities H owever if the lower half of
.
,

the crank case has a false bottom the oil may

be carried in the compartment thus formed
with no danger of it rushing o ut A nother way
.

to obtain a dry sump is to collect the returning

oil from the bearings in a trap at the bottom o f
the crank case and pump it away to a tank
where the main supply is located .

A gear pump is generally used to force the

o il to the bearings I ts construction is remark
.

ably simple as it consists o f two rotating gears

in a closely fit t ed housing O il is caught in the
-
.

spaces between the successive teeth o f each

gear and carried around to the discharge of the
pump P lunger pumps and vane pumps are
.

also used The H ispano S uiza engine makes

.
-

[ 75 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
us e of the vane pump to deve l op a high oil
pressure .

A pressure relief valve is usually placed o n

the oil line very near the pump S uch a valve
.

consists essentially o f a poppet valve which

opens outwardly and which is held in place by
a Spring fitted with a c a p screw I n case the .

line were to become obstructed the valve will

,

Open relieving the pressure and permitting the

oil to return to the sump .By changing
the tension o f the spring with the c a p screw the
o il pressure may be regulated A Sight gage
.

in the cock pit is used to indicate the pressure .

I t should be connected to the main o il line at

a point not far distant from the pump When .

plunger pumps are used pulsators are often

,

employed to Show the Operation of the pumps .

A pulsator consists o f a glass dome in which a

quantity of air is compressed by the entrance
o f some o il from the main o il line The im .

pulses o i the plunger in the pump will give rise

to a throbbing motion o f the surface of oil in
the glass dome .

While the oiling system in the Curtiss O X

c a n not be regarded as representing the way

all aviation engines are oiled it may be well to

,

describe it and point o ut its peculiarities I n .

[ 76 ]
G E AR PU M P
D IA GRAM TO I LLU ST RATE T HE O P E RATION OF A VAN E PUMP
 LU B RI CATION
this engine the o il is carried in the sump where
it is covered with splash pans Toward the .

propeller end o f the sump is located a gear

pump which forces the o il under a pressure o f
about fifty pounds to the propeller end of the
hollow c a m shaft A t each o f the five cam
.

shaft bearings a hole is drilled allowing oil to

escape and oil these bearings D irectly b e .

neath each c am Shaft bearing is a crank shaft

- -

bearing The partitions in the crank case or

.

webs as they are called which connect the

,

cam shaft bearings with the crank shaft bear

- -

ings are drilled I n this way oil is supplied to

, .

grooves in the c a m shaft bearings whence it

-
,

is forced down the holes in the webs to the

crank Shaft bearings R adially drilled holes in
-
.
-

the hollow crank shaft at each of the five main

bearings allow o il to pass once in each rev o l u
tion from the holes in the crank case webs into
the crank shaft Centrifugal force carries it
.

out the crank shaft throws E ach crank pin

-
.

has t w o holes drilled in that part o f the pin

directly away from the center of rotation I n .

this way centrifugal force carries o il out o f the

crank pins to oil the two lower connecting rod -

bearings upon each crank pin The seepage .

from these bearings develops a spray of oil

[ 77 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
within the crank case AS a piston moves up
.

ward exposing part o f the cylinder wall the

, ,

spray comes in contact with the wall and oils

it A lso the spray is made use o f to oil the
.

wrist pin bearings in the piston bosses by

-

allowing i t to enter holes d rilled i n the bosses .

S ince the cam shaft is located within the crank

case in this engine the c a m surfaces will be
oiled by the spray The magneto gear and cam
.

Shaft gear are oiled by spray from a hole in the

retaining screw o f the cam shaft gear The-
.

thrust bearing receives what little o il it r e

quires from a small hole in the crank shaft near
this bearing The most peculiar feature o f the
.

system is that the cam shaft is used as a main

distributing line A crank Shaft hollow through
.

o ut is another striking feature .

S ome aviation engines are equipped with

cooling devices for the o il Their obj ect is to
.

maintain a suitable viscosity and also a Sligh t

cooling e ffect u pon the bearings The H all .

S cott engine makes use of an o il cooling j acket-

very near the carburetor on the intake mani

fold O wing to the fact that vaporization is
.

accompanied by the extraction o f heat from

surrou nding bodies the oil is cooled by the
,

vaporizing o f gasoline The Thomas M orse

.
-

[ 78 ]
 LU B RICATION
engine passes its o il through a coil of pipe
known as an o il radiator which is located in a
su fficiently cool place A n auxiliary o il tank is
.

used in connection with th e S turtevant engine .

By passing the o il to and from the tank a low

ering in temperature is secured .A nother
method used o n some foreign engines is to pas s
air tubes through the sump and by drawing
, ,

air through these tubes to the carburetor a ,

cooling e ffect upon the oil in the sump will be

gained .

[ 79 ]
 C HAPTER VI I I
C OO L I N G

R A PI D s u c c ess i o n of ex plosions withi n a

cylinder would soon heat its interior to
redness if some means were not taken to c o n
duct the heat away S uch high temperature
.

would burn the lubricating o il and cause the

pistons to seize and the bearings to burn out .

E xcessive heat will also cause irregularities in

the combustion chamber to become s o highly
heated that they will ignite a fresh charge of
gas O bviously some of the heat must be c o n
.

d ucted away . A great danger comes into

account at this point because it often happens
,

that too much heat is removed I f the cylinder

.

is t oo cool the pressure o f the gas expanding

during a power stroke will be lessened by a
large amount o f its heat entering the cylinder
wall fo r it will be remembered that the pressure
,

exerted by a gas is governed largely by tem

p e r a t ure F rom
. this it can be seen that there
is a great necessity for cooling but to get the
,

maximu m efficiency from an engine i t like wise

is necessary to avoid over cooling .

H eat may be conducted from a cylinder by

[ 80 ]
 COOLI NG
water or by air F ixed cylinder engines with one
.
-

or two exceptions are always water cooled ,

while rotary engines are invariably air cooled .

The advantages in air cooling are a decrease in

weight and the avoidance of a circulating sy s
tem that can be pierced by bullets H owever .
,

u niform cooling can best be accomplished by

water The most important point to note r e
.

garding air cooled engines is that the cylinders

-

are supplied with cooling flanges which in

crease the surface from which the heat may be
radiated .

Water cooled engines make use o f a radia

-

tor usually cellular though sometimes tubular

,

in construction and water j ackets upon the

,

cylinders Water is supplied to the base of the

.

j ackets and moves upward over the heads of

cylinders A t the top of each cylinder it is con
.

ducted to the top of the radiator where i t is

cooled and consequently tends to move to
ward the base of the radiator F rom this point.

the relatively cool water is drawn to the pum p

which delivers it to the water j ackets to be
heated again I n this way the water is c irc u
.

lated by the pump in the same direction that

the constant heating and cooling would cause
it to travel A thermosyphon system would be
.

[ 81 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATION ENGI NES
o ne depending wholly u pon automatic circula
tion from this source O ftentimes to prevent
.

condensation within the intake manifold a

little o f the h o t water that is abou t to enter the
top o f the radiator is led through a j acket on
the manifold and from there to the intake of
the pump .

The type of Water pump used on aviation

engines is with few exceptions the centrifugal
pump I n cases where these are not used the
.
'

gear pump is employed I n a centrifugal pump

.

the water is led into the center o f a circular

chamber in which revolve several blades o n a
common shaft A whirling motion of the water
.

is secured enabling it to be led away at a

tangent to the circular chamber under pres
sure O ne advantage o f a centrifugal pum p
.

over a gear pump is that the water may c irc u

late through the pump after it has stopped
operating When a gear pum p ceases to oper
.

ate the water system is blocked .

H ose connections are used on the water lines

between the engine and the radiator These .

prevent many o f the V ibrations of the engine

from reaching the radiator I n making hose
.

con nections especially o n the line leading to

,

the intake of the pum p care Should be taken

,

[ 82 ]
CENT R I FUGAL PU MP
 COOLI NG
not to have more than o ne and o n e half inches
-

o f hose exposed to the water as there is danger

,

o f the hose weakening and lessening the flow

by its being drawn together .

When a plane is to be used in winter weather

or when it is required to fly at a great altitude ,

anti freezing mixtures may be used The best

-
.

o n e consists of 1 7 per cent alcohol 1 7 per cent

,

glycerine and 6 6 per cent water S uch a mix

, .

ture will be suitable at a temperature as low as

°
1 5 below zero . A lthough this mixture is far
su perior to salt solutions it is not perfectly s at
isfac t ory because after being heated there is
,

always an uncertainty as to the quantity of

alcohol .

[ 83 ]
 CHAPTER I X
RO TA R' EN G I N ES

R O T A R' engine is o n e in which the c y lin

rs and crank case revolve abou t a s t a

t io n a r y crank shaft The common type is that

.

having the cylinders placed in the same plane

and radiating at equal intervals from a c o m
m o n center The center of rotation is the center
.

o f the crank Shaft By placing all the c y lin

.

ders in the same vertical plane a crank shaft of

only o n e throw can be used which means a ,

centralizing o f the forces exerted u pon the

crank shaft With the throw placed vertically
.

u pward the pistons will reach top center when

,

their respective cylinders are directly above

the single crank pin I f an explosion occurs
.

within a cylinder when it is at top position the

e ffect will be to increase the combustion space
by revolving the cylinder farther away from
the crank pin which allows the piston to move
,

away from the cylinder head The force that .

revolves the cylinder is the force exerted by

the piston u pon the cylinder wall .

Considering that the cylinders revolve in

stead oi the crank shaft it will at once be ap
,

[ 84 ]
D I AGRAM TO I LLUST RATE T HE PR INCI PLE
OF A R OT ARY EN G I N E
 ROTARY ENGI NES
parent that rotary engines will di ffer from
fixed cylinder engines in the manner o f s up
port the way the cylinders are retained the
, ,

way the gasoline mixture is supplied to the

cylinders the way the valves are Operated and
, ,

the way electricity is made to reach the spark

plugs .

Briefly rotary engines are supported by two

,

plates holding the rear end o f the crank shaft

which allows the engine to overhang its s up
port The plate nearest the engines which
.
,

carries the magnetos and pumps is called the

bearer plate The rear o n e is the centralizing
.

plate The cylinders are retained by screwing

.

them into the crank case and locking them

with a lock nut o r by having the crank case
,

made in two parts and clamping their flanged

bases between the two halves of the crank case .

I n rotary engines the crank case is used to

store the gas which is conducted to the cylinder
either by means o f ports in the cylinder wall or
by individual manifolds from the crank case
to the intake valves in the heads o f the c y lin
ders The valves are operated by rods and
.

rocker arms with sometimes an attempt to ful

crum the rocker arm at such a point that the
centrifugal force acting upon the rod will be
[ 85 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
counterbalanced by that ac t ing u pon the
rocker arm and the valve Cam plates or c a m
.

packs revolving o n the stationary crank shaft

are used to Operate the rods E lectricity is led
.

to the spark plugs by means of bare brass wires

d rawn tau t to segments imbedded in the r e
volving thrust plate A stationary brush
.

protruding through the bearer plate has con

n e c t io n with the magneto and comes in contact

with each segment as the engine revolves .

The demand for increased power has led to

the design of rotary engines with an additional
bank of cylinders behind the first bank The .

same general construction is used except that

a crank shaft of two throws must be used with
this type o f engine Those having o n e bank
.

always have an o dd nu mber o f cylinders while

the two bank engines have an even nu mber
-
.

H owever this even number is occasioned by

,

an o dd number o f cylinders being o n each of

the two banks The reason for an Odd number
.

o f cylinders is to allow for an equal spacing o f

the power im pulses These engines being four

.
,

stroke cycle engines will have all cylinders

,

function once in two revolutions By using an .

o dd number i t is possibl e to fire alternate c y

linders as they come to top position which ,

[ 86 ]
 ROTARY ENGI NES
results in all cylinders having a chance to work
once during two revolutions and still allow
another cycle to be started withou t any inter
ruption The cylinders are numbered in a
clockwise direction viewed from the propeller
end .

While rotary engines are made almost e n

t ir e ly o f steel as a general rule they develop
,

much more power for their weight than fix ed

cylinder engines This is d ue largely to the
.

short crank shaft the short crank case and the

, ,

fact that they are air cooled instead of water

cooled O n account of the di fficulty in supply
.

ing the revolving cylinders with gas these e n ,

gines use much more fuel proportionately than

do fix e d cylinder engines D ue to their light
-
.

weigh t they have become very popular for

speed scout work where brief bu t rapid flights
,

are necessary F or great distances they are not

.

looked u pon with much favor because o f the

great quantity o f fuel that must be carried to
’
answer the engine s needs For stunt flying .

rotary engines are admirably suited o n a c ,

count o f their ability to work perfectly in any

position I n any comparison of rotary and
.

fixe d cylinder engines it must not be lost sigh t

-

o f that rotary engines due to their radial form

, ,

[ 87 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
o ffer the more head resistance I t is di fficult to .

meet the demand for increased power with

rotary type engines except in those cases where
two bank engines are used A n attempt to
-
.

lengthen the stroke results in longer cylinders ,

which means more centrifugal force will be

developed The bore has limitations because
.
,

the s u m o f the diameters o f the cylinders must

be approximately the same as the circumfer
ence of the crank case The compression c a n
.

not be greatly increased because the resulting

,

increase in temperature is more than can be

satisfactorily cared for by air cooling .

The G nome m o n os o u pa pe is a well known

“ ”
-

rotary engine which has attracted wide atten

tion I t is made in t w o Sizes having o n e and
.

two banks o f cylinders The nine cylinder e n

.
-

gine is the 10 0 H P G nom e while the eighteen

. .
,

cylinder o n e is the 1 80 H P E xcept for the . .

number o f cylinders the two engines are very

similar I n entering into a description it is
.

su fficient to take up the nine cylinder engine -

.

I n any rotary engine great pains must be

taken to prevent centrifugal force from carry
ing the cylinders away I n the nine cylinder
.
-

G nome the crank case is split into two circular

halves and the cylinders are clamped between
,

[ 88 ]
 ROTARY ENGI NES
the two parts The cylinders which are ma
.
,

chined from billets of steel are drilled so that

,

a ring o f small ports is located near the base o f

each cylinder These serve as an inlet valve
.
,

fo r as a piston goes to bottom center the ports

, ,

are uncovered and direct connection is made

between the interior o f the crank case and the
space beyond the piston head The head of the .

cylinder is su pplied with a large exhaust valve

”
which gives rise to the name m ono so upa pe ,

F rench for Single valve .

The valve timing is novel inasmuch as it is a

four stroke cycle engine using a two stroke
- -

cycle method o f admitting the charge The .

°
spark occurs 1 8 of the engine s rotation before ’

top center The power stroke is interrupted

.

°
85 past top center by the Opening of the ex
°
haust valve This valve remains open 39 5 or
.

°
1 2 0 past top center allowing all the burned
,

gas to be expelled and a supply of air to be

°
drawn in during the 1 2 0 it remains O pen while
the piston is going down A fter the exhaust.

valve is closed the downward motion o f the

piston tends to create a partial vacuum within
the cylinder s o that when the intake ports are
°
uncovered 2 0 before bottom center a very ,

rich mixture that is stored in the crank case

[ 89 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
will rush into the cylinder The gas enters
.

°
during the 4 0 that the ports are uncovered
and mixes with the air that has been drawn in
through the exh aust valve A suitable mixture
.

is thus formed which is compressed and ignited

°
1 8 before top center The reason for the early
.

opening o f the exhaust valve is to secure the

same pressure within the cylinder as that with
in the crank case when the intake ports are
uncovered o n the power stroke .

The rich mixture held in the crank case is

formed by gasoline being sprayed from a noz
zle connected to the pipe that extends within
the hollow crank Shaft The gasoline which is
.

under a pressure o f five pounds is led through

a shut off valve located in the cock pit for the
-

pilot t o control O bviously the range of speed

.

is greatly limited by this means o f control b e ,

cause too lean a mixture is apt to result in

back fir in g and ruining the engine A safer
-
.

way to reduce the speed is to make the mixture

too rich .

E lectricity is su pplied to the Spark plugs by

a high tension magneto located on the bearer
-

plate with a stationa r y brush bearing upon

,

the segments that revolve at engine speed .

The magneto must turn two and one fourth -

[ 90 ]
 ROTARY ENGI NES
ti mes engine speed since this is a four stroke -

cycle engine o f nine cylinders D ue to the fact

.

that an ordinary magneto supplies but two

sparks per revolution the magneto does n o t
furnish a spark every time the brush is o n a
segment but with a
, gearing it is capable o f
furnishing Sparks for alternate segments This .

is what is needed to obtain the right firing

order .

The connecting rods are made to work u pon

a hub that revolves upon the crank pin O ne .

connecting r o d called the master ro d is made

,

integral with the hub to maintain its proper

rate of rotation The eigh t other connecting
.

rods are pinned to the hub The master c o n

.

n ec t in g r o d prevents the lower ends o f the con

n ec t in g rods from moving t oo far from their

respective cylinders I n order that the hub

.

may be mounted upon the crank pin it is

necessary for t h e crank Shaft to be made in
two pieces F rom this it follows that the crank
.

shaft will be weakened so that the thrust of the

propeller must be transmitted through the
crank case to a thrust bearing at the rear of
the engine .

The pistons of the G nome engine are made

o f cast iron with the piston bosses attached to

[ 91 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATION ENGI NES
the concave piston head The trailing edges of
.

the skirts are cut away to prevent piston in

t e r fe r e n c e . The surface on the leading edge
is not red uced as it will be remembered that it
is the force o f the piston against the cylinder
wall that causes the engine to turn O n a c .

count o f the leading edge of a cylinder coming

in contact with more air than the trailing edge ,

the expansion o f a cylinder will be slightly

irregular This makes necessary a compression
.

ring that will conform to the irregularity A .

flexible L shaped bronze ring known as an

-

”
obturator is used This ring is retained in a
.

groove very near the piston head by means o f

“
a steel packing ring The gap in the obtura
.

”
tor is placed on the leading edge where there
is the least amount o f C learance The piston is
.

also supplied with a cast iron oiling ring

-
.

The exhaust valves are Operated by rocker

arms and push rods which with the tappets
, , ,

radiate spirally from the cam pack located at

the propeller end o f the engine The nine cams
.

o n the c a m pack are designed with

faces o n account of the exhaust valve being

held open for The cam pack is made to
turn o n the stationary crank shaft at half
engine speed by a system of s ix planetary
[ 92 ]
 ROTARY ENGI NES
gears A thirty tooth gear held rigidly upon
.
-

the crank Shaft meshes with two thirty tooth -

gears pinned to the crank case E ach o f the

.

revolving thirty tooth gears has a twenty

-

tooth gear secured rigidly to it and it is the

,

twenty tooth gears that mesh with o n e having

-

forty teeth attached to the c a m pack The r e .

duction o f two to o n e is thus secured .

Castor o il is delivered to two tubes within

the crank shaft by a double plunger pump
located upon the bearer plate P ulsators are
.

used to indicate the Operations o f the pumps .

The oil from one tube goes to lubricate the

front and rear bearings and the cam pack .

The oil from the second tube is used to o il the

connecting r o d assembly and wrist pins S pray .

from the connecting rod assembly comes in

contact with the cylinder walls Centrifugal
.

force which carries the o il o u t the exhaust

valves prevents the use of a circulating s y s
tem . D ue to oil being carried toward the
cylinder head it is impractical to place the
,

spark plugs in the head They are placed on

.

the leading edge where they are less likely to

become fouled .

The L e R hone engine with its threaded

cylinders and peculiar valve operation has
[ 93 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI NES
attracted a great deal of attenti o n G as is s up .

plied to the crank case by a crude carburetor

attached to the rear end o f the hollow crank
shaft A throttle and metering pin are used in
.

the carburetor allowing a Slightly wider range

o f speed than can be obtained with the G nome .

The inlet valve being located in the cylinder

head a separate manifold is used to conduct
,

the gas from the crank case to each cylinder .

The cylinders are of steel and being threaded

, ,

at the base they are retained by being screwed

,

into the crank case and locked with a large

lock nut This design permits the compression
.

to be changed by screwing the cylinders in or

out as the case may be A cast iron liner
.
-

shrunk into each cylinder does much to pre

vent irregular expansion from interfering with
“ ”
the piston rings N o obturator is used on
.

the L e R hone .

The inlet and the exhaust valves located in

the cylinder head are operated by a single ro d .

fo r each cylinder A rocker arm is attached to

.

each end of the r o d The base rocker arm is

.

fulcrumed to the crank case with both ends

supplied with rollers each bearing u pon a
,

separate c a m plate These cam plates have

.

five cams upon each o ne and are s o constructed

[ 94 ]
 ROTARY ENGI NES
that when o ne end of the rocker arm is forced
u p by o ne plate the other end sinks into a de
pression o n the second plate I n this way the
.

rod is used both as a push rod to Open the ex

haust valve and a pull ro d to Open the inlet
valve S ince each cam plate has five cams they
.

are revolved at nine tenths engine speed This

-
.

rate is necessary because the valves must open

nine times in two revolutions of the engine ,

and in two revolutions o f the cam pack ten

cams come into position .

The connecting rods are designed with Shoes

at their large ends The hub o n the crank pin
.

is made u p o f two discs each having three

grooves to receive the connecting rod Shoes .

The discs are clamped together and hold the

connecting rods between them E ach groove .

holds three shoes and being a nine cylin der

,
-

engine it follows that the connecting rods will

,

be o f three lengths With this construction no

.

master rod is necessary .

[ 95 ]
 C HAPTER X
TH E L I B E RT ' M O T O R
HE R T ' M O T O R which represents the
L I BE ,

latest develo pment i n avi a ti o n engines ,

is not known in detail by many at present .

D ue t o the discretion o f the War D epartment ,

little if anything could be learned regarding it

d uring the time that the first engines were
being built and tested N ow that its success
.

is assured the Committee o n P ublic I nforma

,

tion has given the writer permission t o print

“
the facts se t forth in a recent number o f The
O fficial B ulletin The following paragraphs
.

are authorized by the War D epartment and

the Committee o n P ublic I nformation '
“
The designs o f the parts o f the L iberty
engine were based o n the followin g
—
Cylinders The designers o f the cylinders
fo r the L iberty engine followed the practice
used in the G erman M ercedes E nglish R olls ,

R oyce F rench L orraine D ietrich and I talian

, , ,

I sotta Fra sc h in i before the war and during the

war The cylinders are made o f steel inner
.

Shells surrounded by pressed steel water j ack -

ets .The P ackard Co by long experiment had

.

[ 96 ]
 THE LI B ERTY M OTOR
developed a method of applying these steel
water j ackets .

“
The valve cages are drop forgings welded
into the cylinder head The principal depar
.

ture from E uropean practices is in the location

o f the holding down flange
-
which is several
,

inches above the mouth o f the cylinder and ,

the unique method of manufacture evolved by

the F ord Co .The output is now a p pr oxi
mately cylinder forgings per day .

“
Cam shaft and valve mechanism above
—
cylinder head s The design o f the above is
based o n the M ercedes bu t was improved,

for automatic lubrication without wasting oil

by the P ackard M otor Car Co .

“ —
Cam shaft driv e The cam Shaft drive
- -

was copied almost entirely from the H all S cott -

motor ' in fact several of the gears used in the

,

first sample engines were supplied by the H all

S cott M otor Car C o This type o f drive is used
.

by M ercedes H ispano S uiza and others

,
-
, .

“ —
A ngle between cylinders I n the L iberty
the included angle between the cylinders is
in all other existing twelve cylinder e n -

gines it is This feature is new with the

L iberty engine and was adopted fo r the pur
,

pose o f bringing each row o f cylinders nearer

[ 97 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATION ENGI NES
the vertical and closer together so a s to save ,

width and head resistance By the narrow

.

angle greater strength is given to the crank

case and vibration is reduced .

“
E lectric generator and ignitio n — A D elco
ignition system is used I t was especially de
.

signed for the L iberty engine to save weight

and to meet the special conditions due to firing
twelve cylinders with an included angle of
“ —
P iston s The pistons of the L iberty e n
gine are o f H all S cott design
-
.

“ —
Connecting rod s F orked o r straddle type -

connecting rods first used on the F rench D e

,

D ion car and o n the Cadillac motor car in this

country are used, .

“
Crank shaf t — Crank shaft design followed
the standard twelve cylinder practice except
-
,

as to oiling Crank case follows standard p ra c

.

°
tice The 4 5 angle and the flange location on
.

the cylinders made possible a very strong box

section
—
.

“
L ubricatio n The first system o f lubrica
tion followed the G erman practice o f using one
pum p to keep the crank case empty deliver ,

ing into an outside reservoir and another ,

pump to force o il under pressure to the main

crank shaft bearings This lubrication system
-
.

[ 98 ]
 THE LI B ERTY M OTOR
also followed the G erman practice in allowing
the overflow in the main bearings to travel out
the face o f the crank cheeks to a scupper which
collected this excess fo r crank pin lubrication -
.

This is very economical in the use of oil and is

still the standard G erman practice .

“
The present system is similar to the first
practice except that the oil while under pres
, ,

sure is not only fed to main bearings bu t

,

through holes inside of crank cheeks to crank

pins instead o f feeding these crank pins
,

through scuppers The di ff erence between

.

the two oiling systems consists o f carrying o il

for the crank pins through a hole inside the
crank cheek instead o f u p the outside face o f
the crank cheek
—
.

“
P ropeller hub The H all S cott propeller
.
-

hub design was adapted to the power of the

L iberty engine
—
.

Water pum p The P ackard type of water

pump was adapted to the L iberty
—
.

“
Carburetor A carburetor was developed
.

by the Z enith Co for the L iberty engine

—
. .

“
Bore and stroke The bore and stroke of
the L iberty engine is 5 by 7 inches the same ,

as the H all S cott A 5 and A 7 engines and as

- - -
,

in the H all S cott 1 2 cylinder engine

- -
.

[ 99 ]
 ELEM ENTS OF AVIATI ON ENGI N ES
R emarks — The idea o f developing L iberty
engines o f 4 6 8 and 1 2 cylinders with the
, , ,

above characteristics was first thought o f

abou t M a y 2 5 19 1 7 The idea was developed
, .

in conference with representatives o f the B rit

ish and F rench missions M ay 2 8 to June 1 , ,

and was submitted in the form o f Sketches at

a j oint meeting o f the A ircraft ( P roduction '
B oard and the Joint A rmy and N avy Tech
n ic a l B oard Ju ne 4
,
The first sample was an
.

eight cylinder model delivered to the B ureau

-
,

o f S tandards July 3 1 9 1 7 The eigh t cylinder

, .
-

model however was never pu t into produc

, ,

tion as advices from F rance ind icated that

,

demands for increased power would make the

eigh t cylinder model obsolete before i t could
-

be produced .

“
WO R ' O N T H E 1 2 C' L I N D E R E N -

GI N E .

“
Work was then concentrated o n the 1 2
cylinder engine and o n e o f the experimental
,

engines passed the 50 hour test A ugust 2 5 -

,

19 1 7
A fter the preliminary d rawings were made ,

engineers from the leading engine builders

were brough t to the B ureau o f S tandards ,

where they inspected the new designs and

[ 1 00 ]
 TH E LI B ERTY M OTOR
made suggestions most o f which were in
,

c or p o r a t e d in the final design A t the same.

time expert production men were making s ug

gestions that would facilitate production .

“
The L iberty 1 2 cylinder engine passed the
-

50 hour test showing as the o fficial report of

-
,

A ugust 2 5 1 9 1 7 records that the fu nd a m e n

, ,
‘

tal construction is such that very satisfactory

se r vice with a long life and high order o f e ffi
c ie n c y will be given by this power plant and ,

that the design has passed from the e x pe r i

mental stage into the field of proven engines ’
.

“
A n engine committee was organized in
formally consisting o f the engineers and pro
,

duction managers of the P ackard F ord , ,

Cadillac L incol n M armon and Trego c o m

, , ,

p a n ie s
. This committee met at frequent
intervals and it is to this grou p o f men that
,

the final development of the L iberty engine

”
is largely d ue .
I ND E X
 I N D EX
ALT I T UD E C O MP E N SATIO N
A N GL E BET WEE N CYL I ND E RS
AUX I L I ARY A I R VALV ES
B ATT E RY IGN ITIO N SY ST E M
B EAR I NG L I N E R S
BE RL I NG MAGN ETO
B O RE
Z
BOSC H MAGN ETO
B RE A T H E RS
C A M S HA PT S
CA STO R OI L
C E N T R I FUGAL PUMP
CLEARAN CE O F P ISTO N S
CLE ARAN CE O F VALV E S TE M S
C O NN ECTIN G R O D S
CRAN ' SHA FTS
CY C LE
CYL I ND E RS
CYL I ND E R NUMB E R I NG
D I X IE M AG N ET o
EXHAUST VALV ES
F I R E P OI N T O F LUBR IC A TIN G O I LS
F I R I NG ORD E RS
FLAS H P OI N T O F LUBR IC ATIN G O I LS
F O UR ST RO ' E CY C LE ENG INES
-

G EAR OI L PUMP
GN O M E ENG INE
H O R SE P OWE R
-

105 ]
 I N D EX( Continued'

I N DU C T O R TYP E MAG NET O

INLET VALV ES
LE RH O N E E N G I N E
M ETE R I NG P I N S
N O RM AL A N D AN T I N O RM AL E N G I NES
-

O I L COO L I NG D E V I CES
-

P ISTO N S
P IST ON D IS PLA CE M ENT
P ISTO N R I NGS
PR I MARY CURRE N T
PR O P E LLE R SP EE D
PR O P O RTION O F GASO L INE To AI R
S ECO NDARY CURRE N T
SHU TT L E TYP E MAGN ET O
SP EE D C O MP E N SA TIO N
S T RO ' E
TH E RM OSYPH O N C OO L I N G SY ST E M
THRU ST BEAR I NG S
T W O ST R O ' E CY C L E E N G INES
-

VALV E GR I ND I N G
VALV E T I M I NG
VAN E OI L PUMP
V I BRATION
V ISCOSI T Y O F LU BR IC AT I N G O I LS
WR IST P I N S
Z E N I T H CAR BUR E T O R

[ 106 ]