What If engines

[simmie]

Over the summer I found myself with some spare time and an over active imagination.  So I came up with a few what-if engines, some of the dimensions might be a little off as I haven't used trig for about 25 years since college.

X-24 Merlin
•   Type: X-24 supercharged liquid-cooled piston engine
•   Bore: 5.4 inches
•   (137 mm)
•   Stroke: 6.0 inches
•   (152 mm)
•   Displacement:
•   3298 in³ (54 L)
•   Length 88.7 in
•   (2250 mm)
•   Width 43.43 in
•   (1103.09 mm)
•   Height 43.43 in
•   (1103.09 mm)

H-24 Merlin
•   Type: Liquid-cooled H24 engine
•   Bore: 5.4 in
•   (137 mm)
•   Stroke: 6.0 in
•   (152 mm)
•   Displacement:
•   3298 in³ (54 L)
•   Length: 88.7 in
•   (2250 mm)
•   Width: 43 in
•   (1092 mm)
•   Height: 61.42 in
•   (1560 mm)

W-18 Merlin
•   Type: W-18 water-cooled in-line engine
•   Bore: 5.4in
•   (137mm)
•   Stroke: 6.0 in
•   (152 mm)
•   Displacement:
•   2473 in3 ( 40.5 L)
•   Length 88.7 in
•   (2250 mm)
•   Width 53.19 in
•   (1350.99 mm)
•   Height 44.27 in
•   (1124.5 mm)

V-16 Merlin
•   Type: 16-cylinder, supercharged, liquid-cooled, 60° V, piston aircraft engine.
•   Bore: 5.4 in
•   (137 mm)
•   Stroke: 6.0 in
•   (152 mm)
•   Displacement:
•   2198.67 in3 ( 36 L)
•   Length: 101.096 in
•   (2567.84 mm)
•   Width: 30.8 in
•   (780 mm)
•   Height: 40 in
•   (1020 mm)


De Havilland Gipsy Eighteen
•   Type: Inverted W-18 inline piston engine
•   Bore: 4.646 in (118 mm)
•   Stroke: 5.512 in (140 mm)
•   Displacement:
•   1689.95 in3 (27.45 L)
•   Length: 82.6 in (2,098 mm)
•   Width: 54.55 in (1385.64 mm)
•   Height:  33.5 in (838 mm)

De Havilland Gipsy Twenty Four
•   Type: 90 degree X-24 inline piston engine
•   Bore: 4.646 in (118 mm)
•   Stroke: 5.512 in (140 mm)
•   Displacement:
•   2242.6 in3 (36.6 L)
•   Length: 82.6 in (2,098 mm)
•   Width: 44.54 in ( 1131.37 mm)
•   Height: 44.54 in ( 1131.37 mm)

De Havilland Gipsy Sixteen (inspired by Apophenia)
•   Type: Inverted 60 degree V-16 inline piston engine
•   Bore: 4.646 in (118 mm)
•   Stroke: 5.512 in (140 mm)
•   Displacement: 1495.067 in3
•   (24.4 L)
•   Length: 95.78 in ( 2432.69 mm)
•   Width: 31.5 in (800 mm)
•   Height: 37.4 in ( 950 mm)


De Havilland Gipsy Eight
•   Type: Inverted 90 degree V-8 inline piston engine
•   Bore: 4.646 in (118 mm)
•   Stroke: 5.512 in (140 mm)
•   Displacement: 747.53 in3
•   (12.248 L)
•   Length: 69.42 in (1763.31 mm)
•   Width: 44.54 in ( 1131.37 mm)
•   Height: 32.987 in ( 837.87 mm)

De Havilland Gipsy W Twelve
•   Type: Inverted W-12 inline piston engine
•   Bore: 4.646 in (118 mm)
•   Stroke: 5.512 in (140 mm)
•   Displacement:
•   1121.3 in3 (18.3 L)
•   Length: 69.42 in (1763.31 mm)
•   Width: 54.55 in (1385.64 mm)
•   Height: 33.5 in ( 838 mm)

Irbitis MI-02
•   Type: 36-cylinder air-cooled multi-bank piston aircraft engine
•   Bore: 4.646 in (118 mm)
•   Stroke: 5.512 in (140 mm)
•   Displacement:
•   3363.9 in³ (54.9 L)
•   Length: 82.6 in (2098 mm)
•   Width: 47.244 in (1200 mm)
•   Height: 43.307 in (1100 mm)

Napier Super Lion
•   Type: 24-cylinder water-cooled W-block (3 banks of 8 cylinders) aircraft piston engine
•   Bore: 5.5 in (139.7 mm)
•   Stroke: 5.125 in (130.17 mm)
•   Displacement: 2923.2 in³ ( 47.888 L)
•   Length: 85.05 in (2160.33 mm)
•   Width: 42.0 in (1067 mm)
•   Height: 43.5 in (1105 mm)

Napier Sabre H-32
•   Type: 32-cylinder supercharged liquid-cooled H-type aircraft piston engine
•   Bore: 5.0 in (127 mm)
•   Stroke: 4.75 in (121 mm)
•   Displacement: 2,986.67 in³ (48.867 L)
•   Length: 92.25 in (2,343 mm)
•   Width: 40 in (1,016 mm)
•   Height:46 in (1,168 mm)

Bristol Hercules 'Major'
•   Type: 21-cylinder, three-row, supercharged, air-cooled radial engine
•   Bore: 5.75 in (146mm)
•   Stroke: 6.5 in (165mm)
•   Displacement: 3540 in³
•   (58.05 L)
•   Length: 60.9 in
•   ( 1547 mm)
•   Diameter: 55 in (1,397mm)

Bristol Hercules 'Super Major'
•   Type: 28-cylinder, four-row, supercharged, air-cooled radial engine
•   Bore: 5.75 in (146mm)
•   Stroke: 6.5 in (165mm)
•   Displacement: 4720 in³
•   (77.4 L)
•   Length: 68.65 in
•   ( 1744 mm)
•   Diameter: 55 in (1,397mm)

[TomZ]

like it!

Inspirational for future builds.

TomZ

[zenrat]

Very good, but you don't have any Deltic configuration engines...

[Weaver]

Nice one 

I came up with a concept for a late 1930s/1940s modular piston engine a while back: didn't do any maths on it but it seemed reasonable. The idea is that you have a 500+ bhp horizontally-opposed, water-cooled, flat-eight "engine module" whose cranckcase incorporates mounting points that allow it to be combined and mounted in various ways using various gearboxes. It uses turbocharging rather than mechanical supercharging since the turbo is part of the exhaust+intake system rather than mechanically attached to the crankcase, thus making it easier to reconfigure the accessories for different setups.

1. Single module. Suitable for a military trainer or light ttransport aircraft. Possibly omit turbocharging and/or flat-rate the engine to increase life at the expense of bhp.

2. Two modules stacked on top of each other, driving counter-rotating props via a gearbox. Suitable for a "standard" style tractor-engined fighter.

3. As per 2, but with the top engine moved backwards and partially dropped behind the bottom one, with a shaft running over the top of the latter to the gearbox (as per some pre-Gannet Fairey designs). Suitable for a naval fighter or ground attack type where you want the pilot sitting as far forward as possible for best vision over the nose.

4. Two or four (or more!) tractor engines buried in the depth of a thick wing, or at least in aerofoil section engine nacelles. Suitable for a STOL transport where you want maximum flow augmentation over the wing at low speeds.

5. Pairs of tandem engines in wing pods, driving one tractor and one pusher prop independently. Suitable for a medium bomber where speed is important: you get minimum drag and two of the props are extra efficient by being pushers.

[simmie]

All the original dimensions used as a base for all of the above were lifted from Wikipedia, with some help from my Lumsden's (Lumsden, Alec. British Piston Engines and their Aircraft. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-85310-294-6).

Thus the specific marks used were:

Rolls Royce Merlin 61

I had hoped to work out the dimensions for a W Merlin along the lines of the Allison V-3420.  But the trig was beyond me.

Bristol Hercules II (Diameter is given as 55in)

I used the distance between the row centres from the drawings in the RRHT book about Sir Roy Fedden ('Fedden - The Life of Sir Roy Fedden' by Bill Gunston published by the Rolls Royce Heritage Trust)

De Havilland Gipsy 12 (King I) with help from the Gipsy I (Queen I)

Napier Sabre VA

I was aware of the Merlin H-24, trying to work out the external dimensions for this engine was the initial impetus for all of the above.  I was not aware that Napier looked at a Sabre H-32 let alone an H-48.

[jcf]

A really good page on the Fairey P24 Monarch, with proposed developments:
https://oldmachinepress.com/2017/10/20/fairey-p-24-monarch-aircraft-engine/