Engines at Old Warden, 2000
and the Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition, 2000

Pictures from Ken Croft.

This page contains yet another montage of engine pictures taken by Ken Croft.



A three cylinder Anzani from drawings and castings by Les Chenry (UK). A construction series for this engine appeared in Model Engineer circa 1996/7.
An Austin 7.
Hard to say and I can't find Ken's text. Engine looks like a 1/4 scale DH Cirus, or Gypsy.
Unmistakable - Eric Wittle's V8 as published again in Model Engineer circa 1996. It's amazing how many of these have been built. I saw this engine run at PRIME, Oregon in 1997. At the same show were two other completed examples!
The picture name is "Green" and Ken said nowt, but Tony Oliver kindly supplied the following: The Green A/C Co was started by Gustavus Green (I kid you not!) who was, like the Wrights, a bicycle maker and mender in the late 1890s. Later he built motorcycle and car engines before providing an 80hp V8 version of his car engine for the airship Nulli Secundus at Farnborough in 1908. Later water cooled engines were flown by Moore-Brabazon in a Short No.2. SF Cody, AV Roe and Harry Hawker also used them from 1909-13. He even built 12 & 18 cylinder version. He died in 1964 aged 99, 3 weeks from his 100th birthday.

This info, and much more is in 'British Aero-Engines' by Alec Lumsden (ISBN 1 85300 294 6)

The book Tony refers to is very expensive and very excellent. Check your local library...

Ditto. This time the picture is called "Polednik"!
A scale Bristol Aquila sleeve valve engine being built by Brian Perkins (UK) on show at the Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition held at Donnington Park near Derby.
Progress reports on the Aqulia have appeared in SIC periodically, so we know Brian is making two at once! Each sleeve is individually gear driven. I didn't even want to think about the number of teeth that had to be cut, but Brian happened across this entry and did some calculations to supply The Answer.. (drum roll) The two engines contain 66 spur gears and 20 bevel gears which add up to a total of 3058 teeth!! Now think about the steps involved in forming each tooth...
At the same show was an astounding Rolls Royce Eagle in 1/4 scale by Barry (for Barrington) Hare. This masterpiece is hewn from the solid- NO CASTINGS!! Think I'll take up basket weaving instead. The Eagle came at the end of the reciprocating eara for engine development at RR. It had 24 cylinders, sleeve valve, arrayed in a "H" configuration.
Some RR Eagle bits and pieces. In the foreground are a pair of pistons with "slipper" type big-ends. Behind is one of the two crankshafts. Each shaft served an opposing row of cylinders and one of the contra rotating props. I don't think the shafts were geared together, but not too sure on this. A cylinder sleeve can be seen in the middle. Block at the right must be a turbocharger housing
Unless I'm wrong, the RR Eagle powered the Westland Wyvern carrier based torpedo fighter-bomber (a less than successful aircraft, arriving when jets were taking over in the services). Just look at the detail in the contra-rotating props.
A view (through glass) of one of the heads. The engine has 24 cylinders in a "H" configuration. This layout represents the final peak of piston engines for aircraft.
This is a Mercedes Hero built by F Mungar. It's water cooled and World War I vintage. I believe drawings and castings are available (advertised in ECJ).




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