Ruckstell-Burkhardt APU

[Don Kenyon]

I'm posting this for my slower-computer collector friends. They have purchased a four-cycle Ruckstell-Burkhardt WWII APU from a private collector in Central CA. I Googled R-B and found that this is the same Ruckstell that designed the WWI Liberty aircraft engine and the Ruckstell Rear End for Fords. There's a patent number on the Navy-embossed tag that corresponds to the patent office picture shown. Except their version is not supercharged and is four-cycle. Twin crankshafts, kinda weird. I Googled B-17 APU (we understand the R-B APU was used on B-17C) and only found Homelite APUs. Any information or leads you could provide on this strange engine would be great.
As a coincidence, my father Ken Kenyon was a B-17 pilot during WWII and flew 25 missions before transferring to Mosquitos and recon.
Thank you very much, Don Kenyon

 

[swampyankee]

That is weird: an H-4.

 

[MiTasol]

Try the San Diego Aerospace Museum as they have some of the personal papers of Glover Ruckstell in their collection

San Diego Air & Space Museum - Historical Balboa Park, San Diego

 

[Don Kenyon]

Try the San Diego Aerospace Museum as they have some of the personal papers of Glover Ruckstell in their collection

San Diego Air & Space Museum - Historical Balboa Park, San Diego

Thank you! We've contacted them and they now say there's only a couple of items. One of which is Mr, Ruckstell's ID badge. I will follow up. Thanks, again!

 

[MiTasol]

Bugga

Next I would suggest the NASM at the Smithsonian. They are severely restricted at present but will reply eventually and will probably have some goodies. I hate to think how big of a backlog they have now and how long it will take to eliminate. Library of Congress is another option but last I checked you need to actually visit them and they are probably closed as well.

Please keep us in mind for updates, many of us are information junkies and need our daily fixes of manuals and photos, and many of us love the oddball stuff like this engine. I would love to see some more photos of it with 75+years dirt removed, including photos taken through the holes in the shroud to see what hides in there.

Happy hunting