Posted on 05/24/2006 8:25:47 PM PDT by StarfireIV
The radial engine is a thing of beauty and it looks like several other folks think the same thing. After we posted the radial motorcycle yesterday, we contacted Rotec Engineering, makers of these 7 cylinder radial engines, and according to them, there are at least 4 of these projects in various stages of completion at the present time. Yesterday’s bike and this one as well seem to be a bit short of running. I see no provisions for exhaust yet and no front brakes. This bike has no handlebars either so we’re still in the building stage. At first glance, you wonder if these guys are serious but these do seem to be real works in progress.
(Excerpt) Read more at thekneeslider.com, http: ...
Shouldn't that be "radio"powered motorcycle?
Talk about OLD school...
I'm guessing these radials throw oil like crazy. Rider would be covered in it.
I wonder why none of these homebuilts have tried the direct axle setup, even as a trike? Probably serious issues with controlling the axle, with these big engines, but a small engine would work.
What's to keep the torque from that sideways radial from turning the bike on it's side?
And radials are much lighter, always a carrier based consideration.
Possibly some kind of counter-rotating disk. The gyroscopic forces on the bearings would still be intense.
A few bombs, I think, were dropped by Lancasters and Mosquitos. Most Ju88s had inline engines too, although the radiator design gave it the look of a radial.
[Wisdom from a second-tour T-28B/C Instructor]
Not all of them, IMHO. The HD style common-crankpin engines are. Some of them are more like a vertical twin with the cylinders staggered.
"There was mention of a supplemental electric oil pump which drains the oil out of the lower cylinders on shutdown thus preventing piston rod damage and also builds up oil pressure before the thing gets fired up."
That's a problem. I had a friend that had a 39' Scarab radial on his plane and he always checked by pulling the prop through to see if it was locked up.
The Wankel engine would look much better.
"How many time has the radial engine been reborn? Every time so far it's proved to be a good air pump and that's about all."
I picked up the current Popular Science at a bookstore yesterday, and one of the "What's New" items was a bicycle wheel with a 25cc (I think) *rotary* engine built into it, designed to easily install in the front forks of any bicycle to convert it to a moped. The fuel is kept in a standard water-bottle sized container, that fits in the water bottle holder on the downtube. Looked pretty ingenious to me- no idea if it will work or not.
At one time the t-model was state of the art, but the last time I checked the year was 2006, not 1940's. and if you had ever studied power mechanics you would find that all combustion motor are first and foremost a air pump.
Did you see the report on GUNBUS also under construction. Jugs taken from a Pratt and Whitney sized radial.
Sigh... Yep, and It could be sooo simple like the glow plug light on old Mercedes diesels. When the light goes off, the oil pressure is at, say 70%. When you start the engine and the pressure builds up from the mech pump, the aux pump shuts off. You could have six figure odometers like the old MB oil burners too.
Of course, and when the pressure falls below a certain value, it would come back on. That way, hot oil, hot day, idling engine in traffic would have the advantage of keeping bearings flooded and lifters pumped up.
It would definitely increase engine longevity.
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