1927 Harley-Davidson Powered Airplane

Posted on August 28, 2012 by melwin23

1928 Wilson Miller airplane powered by a Harley-Davidson engine on display at Wheels Through Time Museum

1927 Airplane engine based on a Harley JD V-twin. This looks very similar to the 1928 Wilson Miller airplane powered by a Harley-Davidson engine on display at Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley, North Carolina.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner ~ Qatar Airways

Posted on July 10, 2012 by melwin23

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Boeing 787 Dreamliner ~ Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways unveiled its brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner Yesterday at the Farnborough Airshow in the U.K. as the aircraft took to the skies for the first time in a flying display. The impressive demonstration of the plane’s maneuverability was marked by steep climbs, tight banking and a “touch-and-go” landing, but perhaps the most striking feature of the 787 in flight (after an afternoon filled with the roar of jet fighters) was just how quiet it is.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner ~ Qatar Airways

The 787 Dreamliner entered commercial service in October last year when All Nippon Airways made its first passenger carrying flight.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner ~ Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways is Boeing’s Middle-East launch customer and is set to take delivery of five of the aircraft this year. It will begin flights between Doha and London in coming months.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner ~ Qatar Airways

While today’s show definitely highlighted the capabilities of the carbon fiber composite aircraft, none of these antics will be repeated when there are actually passengers on board.
The 787 Dreamliner will take part in two more aerial displays this week.
Photo Courtesy : Gizmag

Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major

Posted on June 26, 2012 by melwin23

The Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major was a large 28-cylinder supercharged air-cooled four-row radial piston aircraft engine designed and built during World War II. It was the last of the Pratt & Whitney Wasp family and the culmination of its maker’s piston engine technology, but the war was over before it could power airplanes into combat. It did, however, power the last generation of large piston-engined aircraft before the turbojet and turboprop took over

Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major

Design and development

The R-4360 was a 28-cylinder four-row air-cooled radial engine. Each row of pistons was slightly offset from the previous, forming a semi-helical arrangement to facilitate efficient airflow cooling of the successive rows of cylinders, with the spiraled cylinder setup inspiring the engine’s “corncob” nickname. A mechanical supercharger geared at 6.374:1 ratio to engine speed provided forced induction, while the propeller was geared at 0.375:1 so that the tips did not reach inefficient supersonic speeds.

Although reliable in flight, the Wasp Major was maintenance-intensive. Improper starting technique could foul all 56 spark plugs, which would require hours to clean or replace. As with most piston aircraft engines of the era, the time between overhauls of the Wasp Major was about 600 hours when used in commercial service.

Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major

Engine displacement was 4,362.50 in³ (71.5 L), hence the model designation. Initial models developed 3,000 hp (2,240 kW), and later models 3,500 hp, but one model delivered 4,300 hp (3200 kW) using two large turbochargers in addition to the supercharger. Engines weighed 3,482 to 3,870 lb (1,579 to 1,755 kg), giving a power-to-weight ratio of 1.11 hp/lb (1.83 kW/kg), which was matched or exceeded by very few contemporary engines.
Wasp Majors were produced between 1944 and 1955; 18,697 were built.
A derivative engine, the Pratt & Whitney R-2180-E Twin Wasp E, was essentially the R-4360 “cut in half”. It had two rows of seven cylinders each, and was used on the postwar Saab 90 Scandia airliner.

FIAT – V24 Engine – M.C.72 Aircraft Engine

Posted on June 1, 2012 by melwin23

A V24 engine is a V engine with 24 cylinders, suitable only for very large trucks or locomotives.

FIAT – V24 Engine

M.C.72 aircraft engine
A very large V24, the AS.6, engine was built by Fiat in the early 1930s as a powerplant for the competition aeroplane Macchi M.C.72. This engine was in reality formed by mounting two Fiat AS.5 V12s one behind the other, obtaining a total displacement of over 50 litres (3,051 cu in) and a power output of about 3,100 horsepower (2,310 kW). The two units remained separated (they could be started separately) but the output shaft was shared. Between the units sat the gearbox that was used to reduce the propeller speed, and the final output shaft ran between the cylinder banks of the front engine to reach the nose of the aeroplane.