Ever wonder about the inner working of a radial aircraft engine.
Well your prayer are answered:
Radial Engine1
Here's a cool paper twin V for all your biker boys out there:
Twin V

Could someone please correct hoe to how.... !!!

There your Hoe is now a How

Back in the day, as my children call it, there was a display of several aircraft and automotive engine types in the Indianapolis Indiana Main Railway Station (I said Back in the Day no one ride the train anymore). They were cutaways set up such that you pushed a button and they would slowly turn and show the internal works. The last one I remember being on display was a J-79 jet engine. The display was sponsored by General Electrics Jet Engine Division.

I used to spend hours standing there watching them, we went there every Sunday.

Grumpy.

Thanks for findng this - it's great.

Andy

Hi Dave!

Thanks for sharing! I didn't knew it was working like that...

Jean-Luc

Very cool,Grumpy!Thanks!

I understand that one. But how does a WWI radial engine work? That whole thing spinning around confounds me.

this isn't nit picking carl, but do you mean rotary engines? thats something i've often wondered about, i mean if the whole engine is spinning how does the petrol get into the cylinders? and how are the spark plugs wired?

Yeah, you are right. I just used the wrong word. It is rotary and not radial.

The old gray matter aint what she used to be, aint what she used to be, aint what she used to be....

There is some apples and oranges going on here, just to get things on the right track :

"There has been some confusion when comparing Rotary engines and Radial engines. When looked at from the outside, both Rotary and Radial engines look strikingly similar.

The difference between these two engines is that Radial engines have pistons that move in a reciprocating fashion that cause the crankshaft to rotate. In rotary engines however, the crankshaft does not rotate. Instead, the cylinders that accommodate the reciprocating pistons will rotate around the crankshaft.

In aviation, planes that use Radial engines have their propellers connected in one way or another to the crankshaft while the cylinders and crankcase are mounted on the airframe. Planes that use Rotary engines however, have their propellers connected to the cylinders and crankcase while the "crankshaft" is mounted onto the airframe.

An external difference is that radial engine cylinders are usually finned for cooling, whereas rotary engine cylinders are often not finned, as the cooling is sufficient without the extra expense and complexity of construction." wikipedia

Fuel distribution and "spark" are delivered through a "crankcase" connection, fuel only enters one cylinder on it's fuel down stroke, the "spark" is delivered through contacts just as it is/was in an automobiles "distributor" (now they are all electronic, but they used to be mechanical, just 20 years ago)