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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0748.PDF
DECEMBER 14, 1922 The development of aviation was early foreseen by the company, and the value of their three years' experimental work was evident when the War broke out, for at that time the Sunbeam Company were one of the very few firms which had ready, standardised and in production, aircraft motors of sufficient power to raise and propel seaplanes. From this time forward the company never looked back, and with the full concurrence of the Admiralty, War Office and Air Ministry it evolved and produced a wider range of aircraft power plant than any other firm in the country, and these were supplied not only to the British Government, but, in the eiarly days of the War, to the Russian Government and also to the French War Office and the French Ministry of Marine for use in the large seaplanes which carried out patrol work on the Mediterranean coast. Some of the original engines are still in use in these French seaplanes. Sunbeam engines were associated with, a number of pic turesque incidents, not Jhe least prominent being at the Battle of Jutland, where?Sunbeam-Coataleii engined aircraft gave accurate information to Admiral ifellicoe, and also at the siege of Kut, where a number of seaplanes, equipped with 12-cylinder side-valve " Mohawk " engines of 275 h.p., carried flour and other provisions to the besieged garrison. Shortly after the outbreak of war the introduction of the overhead-valve system had the effect of very much increasing the efficiency of the Sunbeam-Coatalen aircraft engines, and it was eventually with engines of this type that the British airship " R.34 " made its wonderful flight across the Atlantic and back again in July, 1919. Those in charge had nothing but praise for the engines, which were of the " Maori " type, with 12 cylinders in " V " formation, each engine developing 275 h.p. • Other well-known engines have been the " Cossack" 350 h.p., which, in a slightly modified form to render them suitable for airship work, were fitted to all the later British rigid airships, the " Matabele " 400 h.p., and the " Dyak " six-cylinder in line vertical engine, developing 100 h.p. This latter, in addition to being largely employed in " Blimps " during the War, has been in use by the Japanese Navy in some of its airships, and also fitted to a number of Avro machines, in which it has been very successful, particularly in Australia and Norway. It is to the chief engineer of the Sunbeam Motor-Car Co., Ltd., Mr. L. Coatalen, that the evolution of all these varied types of aircraft engines is due ; the company is still engaged in the development of different types of aircraft engines, and experiments are being made with the " Sikh " 12-cylinder " V " engine, with separate cylinders, developing 1,000 h.p. L. Coatalen, designer of the Sunbeam aero engines. It may not be out of place to refer also to the fact that " Matabele " engines have been largely adapted for hydro planes, and motor boats. FIVE SUNBEAM ENGINES : Top left, the 275 h.p. "Maori." Top right, the 350 h.p. " Cossack." Centre, the 400 h.p. " Sikh." Bottom left, the 100 h.p. " Dyak." Bottom right, the 200 h.p. " Arab." 748.
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