Quote:
Originally Posted by DAEpperson
I seem to remember an old radial where, IIRC, the motor (or was it the heads) actually turned with the prop. Is that what you mean?
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Like that, not a Wankle.
The prop was bolted to the engine 'block' and the crankshaft was bolted to the airframe.
The whole engine turned around the crank.
The rotary was the solution to the cooling problems that the early radials had. The cylinders spinning around with the prop helped cool them.
The lubrication system was just shooting castor oil into the cylinders which was burned with the gasoline.
Radials had been around before Rotaries.
Another interesting thing about the rotaries was there was no throttle. Either full power or no power.
So you moderated the speed by turning the engine off and on, sometimes many times a minute.
Water cooled inline and V8 engines were the most used engines.