Aircraft Engines Before WWI

Kip Lankenau & Kim McCutcheon

Aircraft Engine Historical Society

Dayton, OH 2016

Agenda • A view of the industrialized world at the dawn of the

twentieth century.

• What was happening in aviation and how was it

perceived.

• The requirements for early aero engines.

• The engines and who made them.

• Summary

The Industrialized World at the Dawn of the Twentieth

Century • Steam is everywhere

• Work and society is mechanized

• Transportation systems are highly organized

• Electrification was growing

Steam Is King

Mechanized Industry

Heavy Industry

Railroads Crisscrossed America

Steel Had Come of Age

The Bicycle Craze 1890’s

From Village Blacksmith…

To City Machine Shop

Local Machine Shop

Local Engineer

“Engineer”

Engineering - Military

Naval Steam Reciprocating Engine

Engineering - Military

AEG Steam Turbine 1904

Civil Engineering 1900

What Was Happening in Aviation?

• Europe was very aviation minded with high public

awareness and recognized legitimacy.

Otto Lilienthal

Ballooning at 1900 Olympics - Paris

Alberto Santos-Dumont

14bis 1906

Alberto Santos-Dumont

Demoiselle 1907

North America was the Reverse of European Conditions

Balloon ascents loosing popularity

– Public demanded more.

Kitty Hawk 1903

Thomas Baldwin – Army Airtrials 1908

Requirements for Early Aero Engines

• Light weight

• Adequate power

Existing Internal Combustion Engines

First internal combustion Daimler engine 1886

Primitive Carburetion & Ignition

Bosch Spark Plug Patented 1902

Domestic Evolution of Aero Engines

1903 Wright Flyer – 12 hp, 152 lbs, 0.08 hp/lb

Wright B - 1908

39 hp, 180 lbs, 0.22 hp/lb

Curtiss C-4 (D-4) - 1913

25 hp, 110 lb, 0.23 hp/lb Photo by Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Curtis Model H - 1914

40 hp, 175 lb, 0.23 hp/lb Photo courtesy aerofiles.com

Curtiss OX - 1914

90 hp, 390 lb, 0.23 hp/lb

Kemp (Grey Eagle) H-6 - 1911

50 hp, 260 lb, 0.19 hp/lb Photo courtesy of aerofiles.com

Herreshoff - 1910

40 hp, V-8 Photo courtesy of Old Rhinebeck

Sturtevant D-4 1911

55 hp, 220 lb, 0.25 hp/lb

Sturtevant D-6 1911

86 hp, 320 lb, 0.27 hp/lb

Hall-Scott A-1 1911

40 hp, 165 lb, 0.24 hp/lb Photo by Sturmvogel 66

Hall-Scott A-2

60 hp, 260 lb, 0.23 hp/lb

Detroit Aero - 1910

30 hp, 126 lb, 0.24 hp/lb Photo Old Reinbeck.org

Foreign Engines Antoinette V8 - 1907

67 hp, 209 lb, 0.32 hp/lb

Anzani 3 Cylinder Fan

25-30 hp Photo Shuttleworth Museum

Gnome Omega - 1909

50 hp, 172 lb 0.29 hp/lb

Green C.4 Engine - 1909

32 hp, 160 lb, 0.20 hp/lb

Summary

• At the beginning of the twentieth century, steam

was highly developed and represented the state of

the art of engineering.

• Europe was much more receptive to aviation than

the US and garnered more significant engineering

resources.

• Early aero engines were primitive and relied on

advances in automobile and industrial technology

to achieve adequate and dependable units.

• Public awareness and marketing were essential

elements for the early aero engine manufacturer.

Suggested Readings New Catechism of the Steam Engine, with

Chapters on Gas, Oil and Hot Air Engines

Nathaniel Hawkins, Theo. Audel & Co,

1901

How to Build the Famous “Demoiselle”,

Santos-Dumont’s Monoplane

Arthur E. Joerin and A. Cross, Popular

Mechanics magazine, June & July 1910

Aero Engines: with a General Introductory

Account of the Theory of the Internal-

Combustion Engine

G.A. Burls, J.B. Lippincott & Co, 1915

Airplane Engine Encyclopedia: An

Alphabetically Arranged Compilation of

All Available Data on the World’s Airplane

Engines

Glenn D. Angle, 1921

U.S. Army Aircraft 1908-1946

(Heavier-than-Air) James C. Fahey, Ships and Aircraft, 1946

Shorts Aircraft since 1900

C.H.Barnes, Naval Institute Press, 1967

French Aeroplanes Before the Great War

Leonard E. Opdycke, Schiffer Publishing,

1999

Hall-Scott: The Untold Story of a Great

American Engine Maker

Francis H. Bradford and Ric A. Dias, SAE

International, 2007

Hero of the Air, Glenn Curtiss and the Birth

of Naval Aviation

William F. Trimble, Naval Institute Press,

2010

About the Speakers Kip Lankenau President, KipAero

A Division of Kip Motor Company

2127 Crown Rd

Dallas, TX 75229

972-243-0440

kip@kipmotor.com

Kim McCutcheon President, AEHS

4608 Charles DR NW

Huntsville, AL 35816

enginehistory@gmail.com