Rotary engines in WW1

The thread above reminded me of a question I have about rotary engines....

Just how was fuel & air admitted into the cylinders?????

The only way I can think of is some sort of central machined plate, that has
holes in the right positions so that when it turns (along with the cylinders
/ propellor) it meets up with inlets (non-rotating) for fuel & air, that
inject into the appropriate cylinder.....

thoughts everyone?

Stupot

In message , DAN
writes
Stuart Chapman wrote:

The thread above reminded me of a question I have about rotary engines....
Just how was fuel & air admitted into the cylinders?????

The only way I can think of is some sort of central machined plate, that has
holes in the right positions so that when it turns (along with the cylinders
/ propellor) it meets up with inlets (non-rotating) for fuel & air, that
inject into the appropriate cylinder.....

thoughts everyone?

Basically correct. The rotary engines had fixed inlets and outlets for
indiction
and exhaust, in front of which the cylinders would scroll.

If you want more info you can look up the most famous of them, the "Gnome-Rhone
Monosoupape".

I've always been fond of that name. Sometimes I chant it to myself.
"Gnome-Rhone Monosoupape', "Gnome-Rhone Monosoupape"

Lovely!

Mike
--
M.J.Powell

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 14:53:43 +0100, DAN wrote:

Basically correct. The rotary engines had fixed inlets and outlets for indiction
and exhaust, in front of which the cylinders would scroll.

My understanding is that this didn't work very well for exhaust--that
the pilot basically lived and breathed in a foggle exhaust fumes and
castor oil droplets.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put CUB in subject line)

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 09:58:17 -0500, Cub Driver
wrote:

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 14:53:43 +0100, DAN wrote:


My understanding is that this didn't work very well for exhaust--that
the pilot basically lived and breathed in a foggle exhaust fumes and
castor oil droplets.


On a plus note, it was a rather effective cure for constipation.


greg
--
$ReplyAddress =~ s#\@.*$##; # Delete everything after the '@'
The Following is a true story.....
Only the names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Cub driver wrote in part:
My understanding is that this didn't work very well for exhaust--that the
pilot basically lived and breathed in a foggle exhaust fumes and castor oil
droplets.

Partially correct. The engines were lubricated with castor oil injected (or
mixed with fuel.) No crankcase to hold oil. I think fuel (+ oil) was admitted
to cylinders via a hollow, non-rotating crankshaft. I've been told the engines
ran flat out almost ll of the time. Don't think thjey had a throttle. Had a
"kill switch" on control stick. Incidentally, these engines had impressive
power-to-weight numbers. Furthermore, essentially nothing reciprocated. Each
piston, for example, traveled in its unique circle -- reciprocated compared to
cylinder, but circled in relation to the world. Very smooth engine.

I've read that at the end of WWI some rotary-powered planes reached 20,000 feet
regularly. At that altitude I bet the pilots were so hypoxic they shot down
their wingmen as often as the enemy.

Quent

"QDurham" wrote in message
...

Furthermore, essentially nothing reciprocated. Each
piston, for example, traveled in its unique circle -- reciprocated
compared to
cylinder, but circled in relation to the world. Very smooth engine.



That's a bit confusing....

If the piston is reciprocating relative to the crankshaft then isn't also
reciprocating relative to the world??

Although I can imagine opposing cylinders being in phase to cancel out
reciprocating forces.

Stupot

"DAN" wrote in message
...
Stuart Chapman wrote:

The thread above reminded me of a question I have about rotary
engines....
Just how was fuel & air admitted into the cylinders?????

The only way I can think of is some sort of central machined plate, that
has
holes in the right positions so that when it turns (along with the
cylinders
/ propellor) it meets up with inlets (non-rotating) for fuel & air, that
inject into the appropriate cylinder.....

thoughts everyone?

The rotary engines had fixed ... outlets for ...exhaust, in front of which
the cylinders would scroll.


That's interesting.....I thought it would have been simpler for each
cylinder to have its own exhaust port, controlled by rods riding over cams
on the crankshaft. But maybe this is just introducing too much complexity.

Stupot

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 08:01:33 GMT, "Stuart Chapman" wrote:

The thread above reminded me of a question I have about rotary engines....

Just how was fuel & air admitted into the cylinders?????

The only way I can think of is some sort of central machined plate, that has
holes in the right positions so that when it turns (along with the cylinders
/ propellor) it meets up with inlets (non-rotating) for fuel & air, that
inject into the appropriate cylinder.....

thoughts everyone?

Stupot

The intake valve was actually located in the top of the piston, this allowed
the fuel/air mixture in the crankcase to enter the cylinder on the "down"
stroke.

Al Minyard

The intake valve was actually located in the top of the piston, this allowed
the fuel/air mixture in the crankcase to enter the cylinder on the "down"
stroke.

Al Minyard


Were rotary engines 2 cycle or 4 cycle?

In article ,
(JohnF73157) wrote:

The intake valve was actually located in the top of the piston, this allowed
the fuel/air mixture in the crankcase to enter the cylinder on the "down"
stroke.

Al Minyard


Were rotary engines 2 cycle or 4 cycle?

2-cycle -- hence all the castor oil, which was about the only suitable
oil at the time for that use. Incidentally, a lot of racing cars used
castor oil up into the 1960s.