Pic's of a 100 year old aircraft engine running
Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 08:46
Over this last weekend I went to see a 1909 Gnome 50 HP rotary engine run. The American Wings museum at the local airport near where I live has this engine on a test stand and they run it a few times each year.
They found this engine and the airplane it was on, in crates in the Chicago area. The airplane was designed in 1911 and was stored in 1914 until 1990, when it was brought back to the Twin Cities in MN. They also have the 1909-1913 Cyclecar that was designed by the same gentleman and his company.
When they opened the crate and removed the engine it was seized from castor oil. They sent it out to a person from PA who rebuilds these kinds of engines. He said it was one of the most pristine engines he's seen, there is NO corrosion on the metal. It looks just like the day it was manufactured in France.
They mounted it on a test stand to run and because they didn't want to risk the original prop, they had an exact 8' 2" replica made by Sensenich.
Here's some basics on the engine,
It's a 7 cylinder 50 HP Rotary, meaning that the engine rotates around the crankshaft, which is bolted to the firewall. Each cylinder is machined from a solid piece of nickel steel and is held to the crankcase with an internal snap ring.
There are no intake or exhaust manifolds, the fuel/air mixture goes from the crankcase through the pistons to the combustion chamber via an atmospheric valve in the top of the piston. The exhaust valve at the top of the cylinder is operated by a pushrod and cam.
It has 2 cycle induction and 4 cycle operation.
The magneto to distributor ring has 7 segments which is picked up by contacts and then sent via copper wires to the plugs.
Instead of castor oil they run a 50/50 mix of 50W oil and STP.
It's quite loud and smokes a little on starting but runs clean afterwards.
It does sling quite a bit of oil, thats why they have the big plastic shield.
Here's a close up of the engine manufactures name and the pushrods.
This shows the cylinder and the copper wire from the plug to the inner ring. Their using a M41E with holes drilled in the end for the wire.
This is the fuel/oil tank and plumbing to the carb and the Bosch mag.
The picture on the left shows the valve in the top of the piston and the next one down shows the piston in the cylinder. The pictures on the right show the exhaust valve and it's keepers.
This is the plane it was in, in 1911, thats the original fabric. The front of the plane is to the left, and the pilot is behind the engine, you can just see the straight handle bar controls.
Heres a link to some more pictures I have stored at Photobucket. http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee22 ... 0Cyclecar/
I hope you enjoy them, Jim
They found this engine and the airplane it was on, in crates in the Chicago area. The airplane was designed in 1911 and was stored in 1914 until 1990, when it was brought back to the Twin Cities in MN. They also have the 1909-1913 Cyclecar that was designed by the same gentleman and his company.
When they opened the crate and removed the engine it was seized from castor oil. They sent it out to a person from PA who rebuilds these kinds of engines. He said it was one of the most pristine engines he's seen, there is NO corrosion on the metal. It looks just like the day it was manufactured in France.
They mounted it on a test stand to run and because they didn't want to risk the original prop, they had an exact 8' 2" replica made by Sensenich.
Here's some basics on the engine,
It's a 7 cylinder 50 HP Rotary, meaning that the engine rotates around the crankshaft, which is bolted to the firewall. Each cylinder is machined from a solid piece of nickel steel and is held to the crankcase with an internal snap ring.
There are no intake or exhaust manifolds, the fuel/air mixture goes from the crankcase through the pistons to the combustion chamber via an atmospheric valve in the top of the piston. The exhaust valve at the top of the cylinder is operated by a pushrod and cam.
It has 2 cycle induction and 4 cycle operation.
The magneto to distributor ring has 7 segments which is picked up by contacts and then sent via copper wires to the plugs.
Instead of castor oil they run a 50/50 mix of 50W oil and STP.
It's quite loud and smokes a little on starting but runs clean afterwards.
It does sling quite a bit of oil, thats why they have the big plastic shield.
Here's a close up of the engine manufactures name and the pushrods.
This shows the cylinder and the copper wire from the plug to the inner ring. Their using a M41E with holes drilled in the end for the wire.
This is the fuel/oil tank and plumbing to the carb and the Bosch mag.
The picture on the left shows the valve in the top of the piston and the next one down shows the piston in the cylinder. The pictures on the right show the exhaust valve and it's keepers.
This is the plane it was in, in 1911, thats the original fabric. The front of the plane is to the left, and the pilot is behind the engine, you can just see the straight handle bar controls.
Heres a link to some more pictures I have stored at Photobucket. http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee22 ... 0Cyclecar/
I hope you enjoy them, Jim