The Radial engine was once the pinnacle of internal combustion engine design, but has gone mostly extinct. What happened? The Radial first ousted the Rotary, then to a large extent the inline engines (V12's) before the Radial itself was ousted.
In this video we briefly go through the history of the radial and we also take a bit of a deep dive into radial engine design and see what made it such a great engine.
Follow me on Instagram: / lets_go_aviate
Chapters
0:00 The "Magic" of the Radial
0:21 Humble Beginnings
0:49 The Rotary Engine (Pros)
1:34 The Rotary Engine (Cons)
2:01 The Rise of the Aircooled Radial
3:02 Basic Radial Engine Design
3:40 Radial Firing Order
4:03 Radial Firing Interval
4:59 Radial Crankshaft
6:17 Radial Valve Operation
6:36 Radial Primary Balance
7:04 Radial Secondary Balance
10:46 Radial Disadvantages
12:13 The Fall of the Radial Airplane Engine
14:03 PostWar Radial Applications
14:19 Modern Radials
Creative Commons attribution:
"Radial engine timing" animation by Stoianovici (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) license (https://rb.gy/660n3a) zoom, cropped, arrows & text overlaid
"Radial engine large" animation by Duk (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:...) license (https://rb.gy/660n3a) arrows & text overlaid
"4StrokeEngine Ortho 3D" by Zephyris (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) license (https://rb.gy/660n3a) overlaid lines & arrows
Secondary unbalance force in a 7 cylinder radial by Pasimi (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) overlaid text
BoeingStearman E75 N5729N by Julian Herzog (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Fre...) no changes
Salmson 9Z by Duch.seb (https://rb.gy/660n3a) overlaid text
Rotary engine animation by MichaelFrey (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) overlaid text & arrow
Rotary engine animation by MichaelFrey (https://rb.gy/660n3a) increased spinning speed
Old Flywheel by Andrew Eaton (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) overlaid cross
RollsRoyce Merlin by JAW (https://rb.gy/660n3a) overlaid text
LeBlond 905F by Darkroom (https://rb.gy/660n3a) no changes
BMW 132 (radial conrods) by Kogo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Fre...) no changes
XK engine camshafts by HReuter (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) overlaid cross
Piston by S. Diddy (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) no changes
Crankshaft by Alex Kovach (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) no changes
PleuelKäfer (conrod) by Benutzer:Thomas Ihle (https://rb.gy/660n3a) no changes
Crankshaft two stroke Engine by Werntec (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Fre...) no changes
Conrod4M5ms by Bryllig (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) stopped, paused
Elsbett3cyl by Dan Wesson (https://rb.gy/660n3a) no changes
Republic P47 Thunderbolt by Eric Friedebach (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) zoom
F4U5NL Corsair (NX43RW) by Alan Wilson (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) zoomed in slightly
F6F5 Hellcat by David Merrett (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) no changes
Spitfire Mk XIV by David Merrett (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) no changes
BMW VI by W2k2 (https://rb.gy/660n3a) no changes
"Biggest radial cutaway" by Phil Genera (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) zoomed in
Pratt & Whitney R4360 at Kalamazoo Air Zoo by D. Miller (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) zoomed in, text overlaid
CL215 43 Grupo by Javiramos43 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) no changes
Creative Commons video attribution:
Sopwith Camel fires up its engine by scribex ( • Sopwith Camel fires up its engine ), License CCBY
Sopwith Camel Run Old Warden 22 September 2012 by Oldwardenman ( • Sopwith Camel Run Old Warden 22 Septe... ), License CCBY
Sopwith Camel Run 2 Old Warden 22 September 2012 by Oldwardenman ( • Sopwith Camel Run 2 Old Warden 22 Sep... ), License CCBY
Gyroscopic precession demonstration by MITK12Videos ( • MIT Physics: Spinning Bike Wheel and ... ), License CCBY
Bombing Missions, 1944 22045107 by footagefarm ( • DDay Invasion, Bombing Missions, 194... ), License CCBY
RAF Spitfires Taking Off by footagefarm ( / esjgn1me5i , License CCBY
B 17 b roll by Arizona Commemorative Air Force Museum ( • B 17 b roll ), License CCBY
Radial at National Air & Space Museum, Dulles by iros532 ( • Radial engine at National Air & Space... ), License CCBY
Cessna Aircraft Wings for Doubting Thomas ( • Cessna Aircraft Wings for Doubting ... ), CCBY
Whiskey 7 First start 2017 (C47) by David Andruczyk ( • Whiskey 7 First start 2017, Part 1 ), License CCBY