Bradley and Perry, 1909, Power generation and transmission in aeroplanes
An accessible overview of the then-small number of active airplane engines, their users, and their makers.
Wilbur Wright, undoubtedly the most successful of all aeroplanists, used in his flights in France last fall, a gasoline motor of greater weight and lower power than the engines of any of his foreign rivals, thus proving conclusively that it is not necessary to possess a special engine in order to fly. Although the Wright power plant cannot be classed as an automobile engine, it is the least removed from motor-car standards of any aeronautical motor in existence. [...]
In point of flights made, Henry Farman and Léon Delagrange must be classed as the most successful aeroplanists after Wilbur Wright. Both use aeroplanes built by Voisin Frères, fitted with eight-cylinder Antoinette engines. Levavasseur, the designer of the Antoinette, has studied the light-weight engine longer than any other man, and, largely by reason of being first in the field, has had more success than any of his rivals. Lavavasseur works on the principle that the greater the number of cylinders the lower the weight per horse power: no Antoinette engine has less than eight cylinders, and the more powerful have sixteen and twenty-four, the latter models having respectively two and three groups of eight cylinders in a special crank case.
| Original title | Power generation and transmission in aeroplanes |
|---|---|
| Simple title | Power generation and transmission in aeroplanes |
| Authors | W. F. Bradley, H. W. Perry |
| Date | 1909 |
| Countries | US |
| Languages | en |
| Keywords | propulsion, 1908 Wright demonstration in France, gasoline, Henry Farman, Léon Delegrange, Antoinette, Antoinette motor, Léon Lavavasseur, Renault, Robert Esnault-Pelterie, Glenn Curtiss, Aerial Experiment Association, Red Wing, White Wing, June Bug, Aero Club of America, U.S. Army Signal Corps, airplane, transmission |
| Journal | Eng. Mag. |
| Related to aircraft? | 1 |
| Page count | 15 |
| Word count | |
| Wikidata id |
Sources
- Brockett 1910, page 148, entry 2131: Bradley, W. F., Perry, H. W. Power generation and transmission in aeroplanes. Eng. Mag., Vol. 36 (Jan. 1909), New York, pp. 630-644. (2131
- Scan of original at HathiTrust
