The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and its attached cylinders rotated around it as a unit. Its main application was in aviation, although it also saw use in a few early motorcycles and automobiles.
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is called a "star engine" in some other languages.
L'Aster, Aster, Ateliers de Construction Mecanique l'Aster, was a French manufacturer of automobiles and the leading supplier of engines to other manufacturers from the late 1890s until circa 1910/12. Although primarily known as an engine mass manufacturer the company also produced chassis for coach-works and a complete range of components.
The Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri (Hummingbird) is a single-seat intermeshing rotor helicopter, or synchropter, produced by Anton Flettner of Germany. According to Yves Le Bec, the Flettner Fl 282 was the world's first series production helicopter.
The Cierva C.30 is an autogyro designed by Juan de la Cierva and built under licence from the Cierva Autogiro Company by A V Roe & Co Ltd (Avro), Lioré-et-Olivier and Focke-Wulf.
Henry Adler Berliner was a United States aircraft and helicopter pioneer.
The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a living museum in Red Hook, New York. It owns many examples of airworthy aircraft of the pioneer era, World War I and the Golden Age of Aviation between the World Wars, and multiple examples of roadworthy antique automobiles.
The Warner Scarab is an American seven-cylinder radial aircraft engine, that was manufactured by the Warner Aircraft Corporation of Detroit, Michigan in 1928 through to the early 1940s. In military service the engine was designated R-420.
The Fairey Jet Gyrodyne is a British experimental compound gyroplane built by the Fairey Aviation Company that incorporated helicopter, gyrodyne and autogyro characteristics. The Jet Gyrodyne was the subject of a Ministry of Supply (MoS) research contract to gather data for the follow-up design, the Rotodyne.
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed-wing aircraft and many forms of short take-off and landing (STOL) or short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft cannot perform without a runway.
The Anzani 10 was a 1913 10-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engine. It powered several experimental aircraft and also the later production versions of the Caudron G.3 reconnaissance aircraft, the Caudron G.4 bomber/trainer and the first production Cessna, the Model AA.
The McDonnell XV-1 is an experimental Convertiplane developed by McDonnell Aircraft for a joint research program between the United States Air Force and the United States Army to explore technologies to develop an aircraft that could take off and land like a helicopter but fly at faster airspeeds, similar to a conventional airplane. The XV-1 would reach a speed of 200 mph, faster than any previous rotorcraft, but the program was terminated due to the tip-jet noise and complexity of the technology which gave only a modest gain in performance.
The Ellehammer Semi-biplane was a pioneering aircraft flown in Denmark in 1906. Jacob Ellehammer built the aircraft based on his monoplane design of the previous year. Like that aircraft, it featured a large, triangular wing, with a motor mounted beneath it. The pilot sat on a seat that was suspended like a pendulum, allowing him to shift his weight to control the aircraft, similar in concept to the control of a modern hang-glider. Unlike his monoplane, however, the semi-biplane's main wing formed a constant, unbroken span. Additionally, it was fitted with an upper wing of the same triangular shape, which connected to the main wing at its three corners and to an arch above the aircraft's centreline.
The Ellehammer helicopter was an otherwise-unnamed experimental aircraft built in Denmark in 1912. Based on experiments with models, Jacob Ellehammer constructed a full-size machine equipped with two contra-rotating discs, each of which was fitted with six vanes around its circumference. The pitch of these vanes could be varied in operation by the pilot, an early example of cyclic control. The same engine that drove the rotors also powered a propeller mounted tractor-wise to the aircraft's frame.
The Advance Motor Manufacturing Company was a British motorcycle and engine manufacturer established in 1905. As well as supplying aircraft engines to the pioneering monoplane developers, Advance engines were also used by Captain Robert Scott to power Antarctic snow sleds. After the end of the Second World War the company was sold to Sheepbridge Engineering and became a motor supplies organisation.
From 1905 to 1915, Alessandro Anzani built a number of three-cylinder fan engines and radial engines, one of which powered Louis Blériot's 1909 cross-channel flight. An Anzani three-cylinder engine that powers a Blériot XI operated by The Shuttleworth Collection in England is thought to be the oldest airworthy engine in the world.
The Rotec R3600 is a nine-cylinder radial engine built by Rotec Aerosport Pty Ltd in Australia. Initially released in 2005, it was a followup of the 7-cylinder Rotec R2800 released five years earlier. Both this engine and its smaller cousin have been frequently used as both replacement engines for vintage World War 1 aircraft, and reproduction aircraft from the same vintage. Some notable aircraft this engine has been used in are the Fokker Triplane, Sopwith Camel and the Nieuport 17.
The Rotec R2800 is a seven-cylinder 110 hp radial engine built by Rotec Aerosport Pty Ltd in Australia. The R2800 was Rotec's first engine offering when they first opened their doors in 2000. In 2005, Rotec released a more powerful variant, the Rotec R3600 adding two more cylinders for a total of nine and increasing the rated horsepower to 150. This engine and its larger cousin are frequently used on World War I aircraft, both vintage and modern reproductions. Some notable repro WW I aircraft this engine has been used in are the Fokker Triplane, Sopwith Camel and the Nieuport 17. Other experimental / homebuilt aircraft have also been fitted with the Rotec 2800, including the Kitfox Model 7; a popular kit aircraft with over 5,000 examples of all variants completed. It is unknown how many Kitfox aircraft are equipped with the Rotec 2800 engine.
The Berliner Helicopter is a series of experimental helicopters built by Henry Berliner between 1922 and 1925. The helicopters had only limited controllability but were the most significant step forward in helicopter design in the US, until the production of the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 helicopter in 1940. The 1922 flights of the Berliner and the de Bothezat H1 were the first by manned helicopters.
Petróczy, Kármán and Žurovec were Hungarian and Czech engineers who worked on helicopter development immediately before and during World War I in Budapest. Between them they produced two experimental prototypes, the PKZ-1 and PKZ-2, intended to replace the dangerous hydrogen-filled observation balloons then in use. As such, these craft were tethered on long cables and were not intended to fly freely. After the war other engineers, notably Oszkár von Asboth, further developed the design.
