http://www.flightglobal.com/airspace/groups/i_love_radial_engines/default.aspxThe radial engine is not going to be here forever. We want to record photos of engines and the airplanes they fly on. From leaking oil, blown cylinders and everything else that is associated with them.enCommunityServer 2008.5 SP2 (Build: 40407.4157)http://www.flightglobal.com/airspace/groups/i_love_radial_engines/media/p/88073.aspxWed, 21 Sep 2011 07:38:11 GMT633cdc99-ba90-4fab-88e4-2ee78cef1809:88073flyvertosset<p>The Packard DR-980 is a nine-cylinder air-cooled aircraft diesel engine first certificated in 1930. The engine was unpopular despite its economy and reliability due to the unpleasant nature of its diesel exhaust fumes and considerable vibration when running; approximately 100 were built.</p> <p>Designed by Captain Lionel Woolson and Professor Herman Dohner, the DR-980 made the first cross-country flight with a diesel-powered aircraft in the United States when Woolson flew from Detroit to Langley Field in 1929, a distance of 700 miles (1,126 km) with a flight time of 6 hours and 40 minutes. On a later flight in a Stinson Detroiter from Detroit to Miami, the new engine showed its economy, the cost for fuel consumption being less than one cent a mile. This aircraft (complete with its engine) is preserved at the Golden Wings Flying Museum. </p> <p>In 1930, the DR-980 passed its 50-hour certification test with a continuous rating of 225 hp (168 kW) at 1,950 rpm. Production of the DR-980 ceased following the death of Captain Woolson in an aviation accident in April 1930; his legacy was the award of the Collier Trophy in 1931 to the Packard Motor Car Company for its work with this type of engine. </p> <p><strong>Endurance record</strong><strong><br /></strong>On 28 May 1931, a Bellanca CH-300 fitted with a DR-980, piloted by Walter Edwin Lees and Frederick Brossy, set a record for staying aloft for 84 hours and 32 minutes without being refueled. This record was not broken until 55 years later by the Rutan Voyager.</p>