Pratt & Whitney Wasp series

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Wasp series
Corsair FG-1 PW R-2800-8 engine.jpg
R-2800 Double Wasp as fitted to an F4U Corsair
Type Radial engine
National origin United States
Manufacturer Pratt & Whitney

The Pratt & Whitney Wasp was the civilian name of a family of air-cooled radial piston engines developed in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. [1]

Contents

The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company (P&W) was founded in 1925 by Frederick B. Rentschler, who had previously been the President of Wright Aeronautical. He brought with him some of Wright's best designers and the new team quickly came up with their first design, the R-1340 Wasp.

Wasp series

Note: the designations refer to the engine configurations as follows: "R" = Radial, followed by the approximate displacement in cubic inches.

See also

Related development

Comparable engines

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Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone 1937 18-cylinder radial piston engine family by Wright

The Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone is an American twin-row, supercharged, air-cooled, radial aircraft engine with 18 cylinders displacing nearly 3,350 cubic inches (54.9 L). Power ranged from 2,200 to over 3,700 hp, depending on the model. Developed before World War II, the R-3350's design required a long time to mature before finally being used to power the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. After the war, the engine had matured sufficiently to become a major civilian airliner design, notably in its turbo-compound forms, and was used in the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation airliners into the 1990s. The engine is commonly used on Hawker Sea Fury and Grumman F8F Bearcat Unlimited Class Racers at the Reno Air Races. Its main rival was the 4,360 in3 (71.4 L), 4,300 hp (3,200 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major, first run some seven years after the Duplex-Cyclone's beginnings.

Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major R-28 piston aircraft engine family

The Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major is an American 28-cylinder four-row radial piston aircraft engine designed and built during World War II. At 4,362.5 cu in (71.5 L) the largest-displacement aviation piston engine to be mass-produced in the United States, and at 4,300 hp (3,200 kW) the most powerful. It was the last of the Pratt & Whitney Wasp family, and the culmination of its maker's piston engine technology. The war was over before it could power airplanes into combat. It powered many of the last generation of large piston-engined aircraft before turbojets, but was supplanted by equivalent powered turboprops. Its main rival was the twin-row, 18-cylinder, nearly 3,350 cu in (54.9 l) displacement, up to 3,700 hp (2,800 kW) Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone, first run some seven years earlier.

Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp 1932 14-cylinder radial piston engine family by Pratt & Whitney

The Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp is an American air-cooled radial aircraft engine. It displaces 1,830 cu in (30.0 L) and its bore and stroke are both 5.5 in (140 mm). The design traces its history to 1929 experiments at Pratt & Whitney on twin-row designs. Production began in 1932 and it was widely used during the 1930s.

Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp

The Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp is an aircraft engine of the reciprocating type that was widely used in American aircraft from the 1920s onward. It was the Pratt & Whitney aircraft company's first engine, and the first of the famed Wasp series. It was a single-row, nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial design, and displaced 1,344 cubic inches (22 L); bore and stroke were both 5.75 in (146 mm). A total of 34,966 engines were produced.

Pratt & Whitney R-1535 Twin Wasp Junior

The Pratt & Whitney R-1535 Twin Wasp Junior was an engine used in American aircraft in the 1930s. The engine was introduced in 1932 as a 14-cylinder version of the 9-cylinder R-985. It was a two-row, air-cooled radial design. Displacement was 1,535 cu in (25.2 l); bore and stroke were both 5+316 in (132 mm).

Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior

The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior is a series of nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial aircraft engines built by the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company from the 1930s to the 1950s. These engines have a displacement of 985 in3 (16 L); initial versions produced 300 hp (220 kW), while the most widely used versions produce 450 hp (340 kW).

Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet

The Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet was a widely used American aircraft engine. Developed by Pratt & Whitney, 2,944 were produced from 1926 through 1942. It first flew in 1927. It was a single-row, 9-cylinder air-cooled radial design. Displacement was 1,690 cubic inches. It was built under license in Italy as the Fiat A.59. In Germany, the BMW 132 was a developed version of this engine. The R-1860 Hornet B was an enlarged version produced from 1929.

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Vought O2U Corsair Type of aircraft

The Vought O2U Corsair was a 1920s biplane scout and observation aircraft. Developed by Vought Corporation, the O2U was ordered by the United States Navy (USN) in 1927. Powered by a 400 hp (298 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1340 engine, it incorporated a steel-tube fuselage structure and a wood wing structure with fabric covering. Many were seaplanes or amphibians.

Boeing P-29 Fighter aircraft prototype series by Boeing

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Twin Wasp may refer to one of three engines of the Pratt & Whitney Wasp series:

Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp Radial aircraft engine

The Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp is a radial engine developed in the United States in 1942 to power military aircraft. It is one of the Pratt & Whitney Wasp series of radial engines.

Pratt & Whitney R-2180-E Twin Wasp E

The Pratt & Whitney R-2180-E Twin Wasp E was a radial aircraft engine developed in the United States by Pratt & Whitney. It had two rows of seven cylinders each. Its only production application was on the post-World War II Saab 90 Scandia airliner.

Wright Whirlwind series

The Wright Whirlwind was a family of air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical. The family began with nine-cylinder engines, and later expanded to include five-cylinder and seven-cylinder varieties. Fourteen-cylinder twin-row versions were also developed, but these were not commercially produced.

Pratt & Whitney R-1860 Hornet B

The Pratt & Whitney R-1860 Hornet B was a relatively uncommon aircraft engine. It was a development of Pratt & Whitney's earlier R-1690 Hornet and was basically similar, but enlarged in capacity from 1,690 to 1,860 cubic inches (30.5 L). Cylinder bore was increased by 1/8" and the crankshaft stroke by 3/8". Both engines were air-cooled radial engines, with a single row of nine cylinders.

The Pratt & Whitney R-2060 Yellow Jacket was a liquid-cooled aircraft engine project developed for the United States Army in the early 1930s. The engine had five banks of four in-line cylinders, and displaced 2,060 cubic inches. Designed to produce 1,000 hp, the engine produced 1,116 hp on its final run after 35 hours of testing. The engine was cancelled in favor of continuing development of Pratt & Whitney's air-cooled R-1830 Twin Wasp radial engine.

George J. Mead American aircraft engineer

George Jackson Mead was an American aircraft engineer. He is best known as one of the chief founding team members, together with Frederick Rentschler, of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Mead and Rentschler left Wright Aeronautical with the plan to start their own aviation-related business; they founded Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in July 1925. Their first project was to build a new, large, air-cooled, radial aircraft engine of Mead's design, which soon came to be named the Wasp. The first Wasp model was the R-1340, and a large series of Wasp models and Hornet models followed. Mead, as Vice President of Engineering, was the head of engineering for Pratt & Whitney from 1925 to 1935. He later left Pratt & Whitney and its parent United Aircraft. He served as the president of the U.S. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and he served as head of the aeronautical section of the National Defense Advisory Commission during World War II, as a manager in the U.S. government's war materiel production effort.

Pratt & Whitney R-2180 was the designation for two closely related radial engines developed in the United States by Pratt & Whitney. They had two rows of seven cylinders each.

Pratt & Whitney R-2180-A Twin Hornet

The Pratt & Whitney R-2180-A Twin Hornet was a radial engine developed in the United States by Pratt & Whitney. It had two rows of seven cylinders each.

References

Notes

  1. Gunston 1989, p.114.

Bibliography

  • Gunston, Bill (1989). World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Phoenix Mill, Gloucestershire, England, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited. ISBN   1-85260-163-9.