two sets of pumps being used, one to circulate the main supply of
lubricating oil, and the other to give a continuous supply of fresh oil
to the bearings, so that if the supply from one pump failed the other
could still maintain effective lubrication.
Development of the early Daimler type brought about the four-cylinder
vertical Mercedes-Daimler engine of 85 horse-power, with cylinders
of 5.5 diameter with 5.9 inch stroke, the cylinders being cast in
two pairs. The overhead arrangement of valves was adopted, and in
later designs push-rods were eliminated, the overhead cam-shaft being
adopted in their place. By 1914 the four-cylinder Mercedes-Daimler
had been partially displaced from favour by a six-cylindered model,
made in two sizes; the first of these gave a nominal brake horse-power
of 80, having cylinders of 4.1 inches diameter by 5.5 inches stroke;
the second type developed 100 horse-power with cylinders 4.7 inches
in diameter and 5.5 inches stroke, both types being run at 1,200
revolutions per minute. The cylinders of both these types were cast in
pairs, and, instead of the water jackets forming part of the casting,
as in the design of the original four-cylinder Mercedes-Daimler engine,
they were made of steel welded to flanges on the cylinders. Steel
pistons, fitted with cast-iron rings, were used, and the overhead
arrangement of valves and cam-shaft was adopted. About 0.55 pint per
brake horse-power per hour was the usual fuel consumption necessary to
full load running, and the engine was also economical as regards the
consumption of lubricating oil, the lubricating system being ‘forced’
for all parts, including the cam-shaft. The shape of these engines was
very well suited for work with aircraft, being narrow enough to admit
of a stream-line form being obtained, while all the accessories could
be so mounted as to produce little or no wind resistance, and very
little obstruction to the pilot’s view.
The eight-cylinder Mercedes-Daimler engine, used for airship propulsion
during the War, developed 240 brake horse-power at 1,100 revolutions
per minute; the cylinder dimensions were 6.88 diameter by 6.5
stroke--one of the instances in which the short stroke in relation to
bore was very noticeable.
Other instances of successful vertical design--the types already
detailed are fully sufficient to give particulars of the type
generally--are the Panhard, Chenu, Maybach, N.A.G., Argus, Mulag, and
the well-known Austro-Daimler, which by 1917 was being copied in every
combatant country. There are also the later Wright engines, and in
America the Wisconsin six-cylinder vertical, weighing well under 4 lbs.
per horse-power, is evidence of the progress made with this first type
of aero engine to develop.
II
THE VEE TYPE
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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