Which is why V8s and V6s are so popular for car engines. A V engine crank shaft is only one half as long and half as heavy as a straight 8 or straight 6 engine of the same displacement (size). Back before the jets took over, there were two kinds of aircraft piston engines. There was the radial engine with the cylinders arranged in a circle. This design offered the shortest possible crankshaft, hence light weight. And all the cylinders were right up front allowing air cooling. All the cylinders in a radial engine got equal amounts cooling air. The competing aircraft engine design was an inline V pattern which required water cooling, because the rear cylinders were far removed from free air flow. For WWII warplanes both types of engines were popular. The water cooled inline design offered lower air resistance (drag) and claimed higher power output. It was vulnerable to any bullet holes in the radiator, coolant hoses, or engine block, which allowed the coolant the run out and the engine overheat and seize up. The air cooled radial engine was more rugged, there are stories of radial engines continuing to work after an entire cylinder was shot off. The later radial engines were as powerful as the best in line engines by the end of WWII.
But the shortest crankshaft in the radial engine made it lighter than the equivalent in line engine.
No comments:
Post a Comment