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Aviation History
1924
1924 - 0104.PDF
FEBRUARY 21, 1924 SOME FRENCH LIGHT "PLANE ENGINES IT may be said that it was in France that the light 'plane, as a development of the glider, started its present successful contribution towards the progress of air travel, so it is only natural that France has devoted no small amount of atten tion to the light, low-powered engine—certainly more so than that givea in other countries. We therefore think it may be of interest if we give a few brief particulars of some of these small French light 'plane engines. Unfortunately the informa tion available is by no means complete! as regards details, but the accompanying table giving the principal character istics of the engines, together with illustrations and some notes on the main features of the various models, should give a general idea as to the development of the low-powered engine in France. A high-tension magneto with variable advance and driven off the rear end of the crankshaft is fitted. The horse-power curve shows 12 h.p. at 1,300 r.p.m., 13 h.p. at 1,400 r.p.m., 14 h.p. at 1,500 r.p.m., 15 h.p. at 1,600 r.p.m. and 16-5 h.p. at 1,800 r.p.m. The overall measurements of the 2-A are : Width, 0-700 m. ; length, fore and aft, 0-575 m. ; depth, 0-365 m. We give front and side elevational drawings of the 2-A model. Gnome-Rhone.—The Gnome-Rhone engine made its first appearance at the Paris Aero Show of 1922. It is a small two-cylinder horizontally opposed air-cooled—it is, in fact, a French-built A.B.C. It differs from the original A.B.C., however, in that a planetary reduction gear of 3 to 1 has been introduced for the airscrew drive. The crankshaft speed is 700 sts 190 . General arrangement drawings of the Clerget-Renault 2-A light 'plane engine. Characteristics of French Light 'Plane Engines Make and Type. Auzani (2-cyl. horiz. opp.) .. Clerget - Renault 2-A (ditto) .. Gnome - Rhone (ditto) Salmson A.D.-3 (3-cyl. radial) Sergant (4-cyl. vertical) VasJin (4-cyl. horiz. opp.) .. r.p.m. h.p. 1,100 1,134 90 85 78 1,550 398 68-5 100 54 1,600 3,500 993 750 1,094 70 54-5 65 86 1,800 80 3,200 85 1,800 10 15 10 12 16 .Sf Drive. lbs. 90 Direct. 60 40 Geared. 75 Direct. 100 90 Geared . Direct. Anzani.—This engine is of the two-cylinder horizontally opposed cycle type, and was the original engine fitted in the Dewoitine light 'plane when Barbot took this machine up for its initial trials in April last at Toulouse. Although originallv designed to give about 10 h.p. at 1,500 r.p.m. on the bench, when fitted to the Dewoitine, the r.p.m. did not exceed 1,350, with the result that only some 7 h.p. was available. This gave hardly sufficient reserve of power, and so the Anzani was replaced by a slightly larger engine (the Clerget). The Anzani was also used in the Poncelet light 'plane, but here again the power available was insufficient. Thus it would seem that this engine, in its present form, is somewhat on the small side. We have no constructional details of this engine. Clerget-Renault 2-A.—The Clerget engine is also of the two- cylinder horizontally opposed air-cooled type. It was originally designed some years ago—one was fitted, it will be remembered, to the first " Avionette " constructed and flown by the late M. Pischof in 1921—but last summer it was re designed and built by the Renault Co. It was one of these engines which was later fitted to the Dewoitine when it made the cross-Channel, flight and put up such a good show at the Light 'Plane Grand Prix and Vauville meeting. In the Model 2-A the cylinders and cooling fins are of cast iron, and have removable heads of a special alloy. They are held down on to the crankcase by extension rods. The crankcase is of aluminium, being of the barrel type with end plates. Aluminium alloy is used for the pistons. The valves are located in the head, and are operated by push-rods. The crankshaft is of the two-throw type with cranks set at 180°, and the airscrew is mounted direct on to the shaft. Lubrica tion is by pressure, and the carburettor, which is located at the base of the crankcase, is provided with an altitude control. 3,500 r.p.m., so that the airscrew speed comes out at about 1,170 r.p.m. As in the case of the original A.B C. engine, an unusual feature consists of the bore-stroke ratio, the bore being larger than the stroke. As far as we are aware, this engine has not yet been employed in any light 'plane, and we believe the reduction gear has not given very satisfactory results in tests on the bench. Salmson A.D.-3.—This engine has given very satisfactory results in practice, especially fitted in the Farman light 'plane, several notable performances falling to the credit of this combination, such as the Light 'Plane Grand Prix of 200 miles, won by L. Coupet in July last. In design the Salmson A.D.-3 follows aero-engine practice very closely— in fact, one can truly say it is a scale reduction of the " full- grown " aero engine. It is of the three-radial (or Y) air-cooled type developing 12 h.p. at 1,800 r.p.m. and a maximum of 16 h.p. at 2,400 r.p.m. The crankcase is of the 2-piece type[pf,aluminium alloy, whilst The Gnome-Rhone Light 'plane engine. This is a French-built A.B.C. with the addition of a reduction gear. 104
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