kmccutcheon
Airman
- 50
- Jan 1, 2013
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The engine was actually rather large. The one test bed aircraft went from this.
to this
View attachment 539869
The Wright XH-4240 should be a 24 cylinder hex engine. Basically two H-2120s. Well more like the H-2120 was half a H-4240. The H-4240 was never built.
There was a Merlin derived 16 cylinder H engine study too.
Frankly we should create an engine page just of all the engine concepts that were up in the air during this period... this is one from Packard btwFrom my list of H-engines. Some built in low numbers, some maybe not at all - just 'engineering exercises'.
Clerget Transatlantique
Continental XH-2860
Fairey Monarch
Fairey Prince
Jalbert-Loire 16-HJ
Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz Dz720
Lycoming XH-2470
Menasco XH-4070
Napier Dagger
Napier E112 (enlarged Dagger)
Napier Rapier
Napier Sabre
Packard 1A-3000
Packard 2A-5000
Pratt & Whitney XH-2240
Pratt & Whitney XH-2600
Pratt & Whitney XH-3130
Pratt & Whitney XH-3730
Ranger XH-1850
Reggiane H-24
Rolls-Royce Eagle II
Samara P-065
Studebaker XH-9350
Wright XH-4240
Was the Lycoming corporation planning on building a flat-design off the bat, or did they adopt the flat cylinder configuration when the USAAC wanted it to be done?
Packard was out of the aircraft engine business for several years during the 1930s. Their chief aeronautical engineer Lionel Woolson was killed in an airplane crash in April 1930, The Navy had decided no more liquid cooled engines and they were Packards biggest customer. The Depression the market for aircraft engines of any type got very tight. At some point in the late 30s Packard tried to get back in the game but most of the late 30s engines were either rehashed versions of the almost 10 year old engines or very large X-24 versions of the old V-12s.Frankly we should create an engine page just of all the engine concepts that were up in the air during this period... this is one from Packard btw
StatsAllPackardAero.pdf
When did Lycoming join in?Built what the Army were asking for.
When did Lycoming join in?
In 1932, the engineers at Lycoming Engines became aware that the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) wanted a high performance engine that could produce at least one horsepower per cubic inch (46 kW/L) of engine displacement and that a contract had been made with Continental Motors, Inc., Lycoming's main rival in the general aviation engine market. Lycoming's management wanted to be considered for development of the next generation engine, but no USAAC development contract was signed. Still determined to become known as a high performance engine manufacturer, Lycoming began an experimental, high-performance engine of its own. After spending US$500,000, and after many attempts to develop a successful engine, it finally came close to the USAAC specifications with the 1,200 hp (895 kW) O-1230 engine.
I assumed they became aware in 1932, but I didn't know when they signed. It could have been 1932 or 1933. Regardless, it seemed that the decision to go to to a flat cylinder appears to be 1933...You should try google.