The Wrights were constantly experimenting and altering, and this in
connection with the lack of complete records makes it almost
impossible to state with any certainty specific performances of
individual engines at given times. Weights sometimes included
accessories and at others did not. Often they were of the complete
powerplant unit, including radiator and water and fuel, with no
clarification. In the table, performance is given in ranges which are
thought to be the most representative of those actually utilized.
Occasionally performances were attained even beyond the ranges given.
For example, the 4×4-in. flat development engine eventually
demonstrated 25 hp at an MEP of approximately 65 psi.
One important figure--the horsepower actually utilized during the
first flight--is quite accurately known. In 1904 the 1904-1905 flight
engine, after having been calibrated by their prony-brake test-fan
method, was used to turn the 1903 flight propellers, and Orville
Wright calculated this power to be 12.05 bhp by comparing the
calibrated engine results with those obtained with the flight engine
at Kitty Hawk when tested under similar conditions. However, since the
tests were conducted in still air with the engine stationary, this did
not exactly represent the flight condition. No doubt the rotational
speed of the engine and propellers increased somewhat with the forward
velocity of the airplane so that unless the power-rpm curve of the
engine was flat, the actual horsepower utilized was probably a small
amount greater than Orville's figures. The lowest power figure shown
for this engine is that of its first operation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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