Wright R-1820 Cyclone
R-1820 Cyclone | |
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Curtiss-Wright R-1820 Cyclone Radial Engine | |
Type | Radial engine |
National origin | United States |
Manufacturer | Wright Aeronautical |
First run | 1930s |
Major applications | B-17 Flying Fortress |
Variants | Shvetsov M-25 |
Developed into | Wright R-2600 Wright R-3350 |
The Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 was an American radial engine developed by Curtiss-Wright, widely used on aircraft in the 1930s through 1950s. It was produced under license in Spain as the Hispano-Suiza 9V or Hispano-Wright 9V.
Design and development
The R-1820 Cyclone 9 represented a further development of the Wright P-2 engine dating back to 1925. Featuring a greater displacement and a host of improvements, the R-1820 entered production in 1931. The engine remained in production well into the 1950s.
The R-1820 was built under license by Lycoming, Pratt & Whitney Canada, and also, during World War II, by the Studebaker Corporation. The Soviet Union had purchased a license for the design, and the Shvetsov OKB was formed to produce the engine as the M-25, with the R-1820's general design features used by the Shvetsov design bureau for many of their future radials for the Soviet air forces through the 1940s and onwards. In Spain the R-1820 was license-built as the Hispano-Suiza 9V or Hispano-Wright 9V.[1]
The R-1820 was at the heart of many famous aircraft including early Douglas airliners (the prototype DC-1, the DC-2, the first civil versions of the DC-3, and the limited-production DC-5), every wartime example of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Douglas SBD Dauntless bombers, the early versions of the Polikarpov I-16 fighter (as the M-25), and the Piasecki H-21 helicopter.
The R-1820 also found limited use in armored vehicles. The G-200 variant developed 900 hp (670 kW) at 2,300 rpm and powered the M6 Heavy Tank. The Wright RD-1820 was converted to a diesel by Caterpillar Inc. as the D-200 and produced 450 hp (340 kW) at 2,000 rpm in the M4A6 Sherman.
Variants
Notes: Unit numbers ending with W indicate engine variants fitted with water-methanol emergency power boost systems.
Hispano-Suiza 9V
The Hispano-Suiza 9V is licence-built version of the R-1820.[2]
- Hispano-Suiza 9Vr
- 9V with reduction gear
- Hispano-Suiza 9Vb
- Hispano-Suiza 9Vbr
- variant of the 9Vb with reduction gear[2]
- Hispano-Suiza 9Vbrs
- variant of the 9Vb with reduction gear and supercharger
- Hispano-Suiza 9Vbs
- variant of the 9Vb with supercharger[2]
- Hispano-Suiza 9Vd
- variant of the 9V[2]
- Hispano-Suiza 9V-10
- 429 kW (575 hp) driving fixed-pitch propeller
- Hispano-Suiza 9V-11
- as -10 but RH rotation
- Hispano-Suiza 9V-16
- 480 kW (650 hp) driving variable-pitch propeller, LH rotation
- Hispano-Suiza 9V-17
- as -16 but RH rotation
Applications
Vehicles
Engines on display
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Engine_of_Douglas_DC-3.jpg/220px-Engine_of_Douglas_DC-3.jpg)
Preserved Wright R-1820 engines are on display at the following museums:
- American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum
- Fleet Air Arm Museum
- Delta Flight Museum
- National Air and Space Museum
- National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
Specifications (GR-1820-G2)
Data from Tsygulev[4]
General characteristics
- Type: Nine-cylinder single-row supercharged air-cooled radial engine
- Bore: 6 1⁄8 in (155.6 mm)
- Stroke: 6 7⁄8 in (174.6 mm)
- Displacement: 1,823 in³ (29.88 L)
- Length: 47.76 in (1,213 mm)
- Diameter: 54.25 in (1,378 mm)
- Dry weight: 1,184 lb (537 kg)
Components
- Valvetrain: Two overhead valves per cylinder with sodium-filled exhaust valve
- Supercharger: Single-speed General Electric centrifugal type supercharger, blower ratio 7.134:1
- Fuel system: Stromberg PD12K10 downdraft carburetor with automatic mixture control
- Fuel type: 87 octane rating gasoline
- Oil system: Dry sump with one pressure and one scavenging pump
- Cooling system: Air-cooled
Performance
- Power output: 1,000 hp (746 kW) at 2,200 rpm for takeoff
- Specific power: 0.46 hp/in³ (20.88 kW/L)
- Compression ratio: 6.45:1
- Specific fuel consumption: 0.6 lb/(hp•h) (362 g/(kW•h))
- Oil consumption: 0.35-0.39 oz/(hp•h) (13-15 g/(kW•h))
- Power-to-weight ratio: 0.84 hp/lb (1.39 kW/kg)
See also
Related development
- Wright Cyclone family
- Wright R-1300 Cyclone 7
- Wright R-2600 Cyclone 14
- Wright R-3350 Cyclone 18 (Duplex Cyclone)
- Shvetsov M-25
- Shvetsov ASh-62
Comparable engines
Related lists
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- ^ Lage(2004) pp. 157-162
- ^ a b c d Hartmann, Gustave. Hispano-Suiza, Les moteurs de tous les Records.pdf (in French).
- ^ May, Joseph (8 January 2013). "Flagship Knoxville — an American Airlines Douglas DC-3". Hearst Seattle Media. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
- ^ Tsygulev (1939). Aviacionnye motory voennykh vozdushnykh sil inostrannykh gosudarstv (Авиационные моторы военных воздушных сил иностранных государств) (in Russian). Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe voennoe izdatelstvo Narkomata Oborony Soyuza SSR.
- Bridgman, L, (ed.) (1998) Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. Crescent. ISBN 0-517-67964-7.
- Eden, Paul & Soph Moeng, The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Amber Books Ltd. Bradley's Close, 74-77 White Lion Street, London, NI 9PF, 2002, ISBN 0-7607-3432-1.
- Lage, Manual (2004). Hispano Suiza in Aeronautics. Warrendale, USA: SAE International. ISBN 0-7680-0997-9.
- "Aircraft Engines in Armored Vehicles". Retrieved 2006-10-03.