Emil Pozar wrote:
> >
> > In the LeRohne rotary engine the cylinders are arranged radially around
> > the crank, the end of the crankshaft is bolted to the firewall and the
> > propeller is bolted to the end of the crankcase and the whole engine,
> > with the propeller attached rotates. Generates huge amounts of torgue
> > and spews castor oil in a fine mist all over everything. The engine was
> > not terribly reliable and had no throttle. To compensate the pilot
> > could selectively cut out cylinders from firing or turn the ignition off
> > and on (called blipping). The engine or ones just like it were used on
>
> Wow! What kind of cockpit control was used for this?
>
The Blip switch would cut some or all of the cylinders from the
"distributor" so they would not fire. This was the only way to throttle
this engine as it did not have a real carburator and throttle. If you
have ever hear a rotary (not to be confused with radial) engine you will
hear a Burrup Burrup Burrup when landing as the pilot kept "blipping"
the engine to reduce power.
Fuel distribution was, in a word, primitive. Often it was just raw fuel
fed to a box of sawdust connected to the intake manifold. Fires and
engine failures were common. Pilots were constantly breathing a fine
mist of castor oil lubricant and had permanent gastrointestinal
problems. It's a wonder that everything worked long enough to have a
dogfight.
OM content - if you ever get to the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in New York
you can see WWI airplanes flying with the original engines and
photograph them with your Olympus cameras.
Jerry Liles
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