Lycoming XH-2470

Last updated
XH-2470
Type H engine
National originUnited States
Manufacturer Lycoming Engines
Major applications Vultee XP-54
Developed from Lycoming O-1230

The Lycoming XH-2470 was an H engine for aircraft designed and developed by Lycoming Engines in the 1930s. Although the engine was flown in an aircraft, it was not fitted to any aircraft selected for production. It was derived from the Lycoming O-1230 engine.

Contents

Design and development

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. [1] 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 O-1230 engine, which was a 12-cylinder liquid-cooled horizontally opposed low-profile piston engine. [2] In 1936, the single-cylinder development tests exceeded expectations, passing its 50-hour test requirement. The full-size engine was ready for testing in 1937, and was rated at 1,000 hp. Continued development of the O-1230 reached its peak when the engine was rated at over 1,200 hp (895 kW). The O-1230 was not well received by aircraft manufacturers, because it was not very reliable at that power setting. [2]

It was apparent that the O-1230 engine was uncompetitive with the high-performance air-cooled engines that were then becoming available. The US Navy began funding the development of the Lycoming engine. [3] The funding enabled Lycoming's engineers to attempt rescuing the design by proposing a 24-cylinder H-configuration engine made by stacking two of the O-1230 engines, gearing them together to one common output shaft. The new engine was the H-2470. It weighed in at 2,430 pounds and produced 2,300 hp (1,700 kW) at 3,300 rpm. [2]

Operational history

The Navy specified the H-2470 for the Curtiss XF14C-1 experimental fighter. [2] After some rigorous testing the engine's poor performance led to the substitution, before the aircraft flew, of a Wright R-3350 radial engine, which was also having technical problems but was considered to be more reliable than the H-2470. The testing program was eventually terminated due to the poor performance of the aircraft. [4]

The USAAC was also interested in the H-2470, and installed and flew it in the Vultee XP-54 prototype fighter. The XP-54 was the only aircraft to actually use it for flight, but like the Navy's XF-14C, the XP-54 never went into production. [2]

Applications

Intended

Specifications

General characteristics

Components

Performance

See also

Comparable engines

Related lists

Related Research Articles

Curtiss Falcon American multirole aircraft

The Curtiss Falcon was a family of military biplane aircraft built by the American aircraft manufacturer Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company during the 1920s. Most saw service as part of the United States Army Air Corps as observation aircraft with the designations O-1 and O-11, or as the attack aircraft designated the A-3 Falcon.

Lycoming Engines

Lycoming Engines is a major American manufacturer of aircraft engines. With a factory in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Lycoming produces a line of horizontally opposed, air-cooled, four, six and eight-cylinder engines including the only FAA-certified aerobatic and helicopter piston engines on the market.

Hyper engine

The hyper engine was a 1930s study project by the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) to develop a high-performance aircraft engine that would be equal to or better than the aircraft and engines then under development in Europe. The project goal was to produce an engine that was capable of delivering 1 hp/in3 (46 kW/L) of engine displacement for a weight of less than 1 lb/hp delivered. The ultimate design goal was an increased power-to-weight ratio suitable for long-range airliners and bombers.

Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp American WWII-era aircraft engine

The Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp is an American twin-row, 18-cylinder, air-cooled radial aircraft engine with a displacement of 2,800 cu in (46 L), and is part of the long-lived Wasp family of engines.

Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender 1943 prototype fighter aircraft

The Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender is a 1940s United States prototype fighter aircraft built by Curtiss-Wright. Along with the Vultee XP-54 and Northrop XP-56, it resulted from United States Army Air Corps proposal R-40C issued on 27 November 1939 for aircraft with improved performance, armament, and pilot visibility over existing fighters; it specifically allowed for unconventional aircraft designs. An unusual design for its time, it had a canard configuration, a rear-mounted engine, swept wings, and two vertical tails. Because of its pusher design, it was sarcastically referred to as the "Ass-ender". Like the XP-54, the Ascender was designed for the Pratt & Whitney X-1800 engine, but was re-designed after that engine project was canceled. It was also the first Curtiss fighter aircraft to use tricycle landing gear.

Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone American WWII-era aircraft engine

The Wright R-2600 Cyclone 14 was an American radial engine developed by Curtiss-Wright and widely used in aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s.

Curtiss XP-46 1941 prototype fighter aircraft

The Curtiss XP-46 was a 1940s United States prototype fighter aircraft. It was a development of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation in an effort to introduce the best features found in European fighter aircraft in 1939 into a fighter aircraft which could succeed the Curtiss P-40, then in production.

Lycoming XR-7755

The Lycoming XR-7755 was the largest piston aircraft engine ever built in the United States, with 36 cylinders totaling about 7,750 in³ (127 L) of displacement and a power output of 5,000 horsepower (3,700 kilowatts). It was originally intended to be used in the "European bomber" that eventually emerged as the Convair B-36. Only two examples were built before the project was terminated in 1946.

Curtiss XF14C

The Curtiss XF14C was an American naval fighter aircraft. It was developed by Curtiss-Wright in response to a request by the United States Navy in 1941 to produce a new shipboard high-performance fighter aircraft.

Grumman XP-50 1941 fighter aircraft prototype by Grumman

The Grumman XP-50 was a land-based development of the shipboard XF5F-1 Skyrocket fighter, entered into a United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) contest for a twin-engine heavy interceptor aircraft. The USAAC placed an order for a prototype on 25 November 1939, designating it XP-50, but it lost the competition to the Lockheed XP-49.

Republic XP-69 American fighter aircraft project

The Republic XP-69 was an American fighter aircraft proposed by Republic Aviation in 1941 in response to a requirement by the United States Army Air Corps for a high-speed fighter. Manufacturers were encouraged to consider unorthodox designs; although the design was ordered as a prototype it was canceled because of delays with the engine that was to power it.

Vultee XP-54 Prototype fighter aircraft

The Vultee XP-54 Swoose Goose was a prototype fighter built by the Vultee Aircraft Company for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).

Curtiss YA-10 Shrike American attack aircraft prototype

The Curtiss YA-10 Shrike was a 1930s United States test and development version of the A-8 Shrike ground-attack aircraft using various radial engines in place of the inline Vee.

Curtiss XP-42

The Curtiss XP-42 was an experimental fighter built by Curtiss Aircraft in the late 1930s to research engine cooling and improving the performance of the Curtiss P-36.

Ranger V-770

The Ranger V-770 was an American air-cooled inverted V-12 aircraft engine developed by the Ranger Aircraft Engine Division of the Fairchild Engine & Aircraft Corporation in the early 1930s.

Continental XI-1430 American aircraft engine

The Continental XI-1430 Hyper engine was a liquid-cooled aircraft engine developed in the United States by a partnership between the US Army Air Corps and Continental Motors. It was the "official" result of the USAAC's hyper engine efforts that started in 1932, but never entered widespread production as it was not better than other available engines when it finally matured. In 1939, the I-1430-3 was designated as the engine to power the Curtiss XP-55, an extremely radical pusher-engine fighter design that would not reach production.

Curtiss XP-22 Hawk Experimental biplane fighter

The Curtiss XP-22 Hawk was a 1930s American experimental biplane fighter built by Curtiss for evaluation by the United States Army Air Service.

Pratt & Whitney X-1800 Aircraft engine

The Pratt & Whitney X-1800 was an H-block aircraft engine project developed between 1938 and 1940, which was cancelled with only one example being built.

Curtiss P-37 Experimental fighter aircraft

The Curtiss P-37 was a fighter aircraft made by Curtiss-Wright in 1937. A development of the Curtiss P-36 Hawk, the P-37 never entered production.

The Lycoming O-1230 was a flat-twelve engine for aircraft designed and developed by Lycoming Engines in the 1930s. Although the engine was flown in an aircraft, it was not fitted to any aircraft selected for production. It later served as the basis for the Lycoming H-2470 engine.

References

  1. White p. 379
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 White p. 380
  3. Balzer p. 24
  4. White p. 381