Bristol Centaurus engine

The Centaurus was the final development of Bristol Engine Company's series of sleeve valve radial aircraft engines, an 18-cylinder two-row design that eventually delivered over 3,000 hp (2.2 MW). Bristol Centaurus engine at Bristol Industrial Museum, Bristol, England. ... Bristol Centaurus engine at Bristol Industrial Museum, Bristol, England. ... The Bristol Aeroplane Company (formerly British and Colonial Aeroplane Company) began building primitive Bristol Boxkites in a former tram shed and became famous for the production of the war-time Blenhein and Beaufighter, the Brabazon airliner prototypes, the Britannia and Freighter and the Belvedere and Sycamore helicopters. ... The sleeve valve is a type of valve for piston engines that has a number of advantages over the more common poppet valve, used in most engines, as well as disadvantages that have precluded its widespread adoption to date. ... Radial engine in a cut-away view. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Like most Bristol Engines designs, the Centaurus was based on the mechanicals of an earlier design, in this case the "classic" 5.75 in (146 mm) piston from their original 1918 Jupiter. The Jupiter piston was still in use in the contemporary 14-cylinder Hercules, which was being brought into production during the design of the Centaurus. The capacity of the Centaurus was increased by placing the pistons in a longer-stroke cylinder, and moving to two rows of nine cylinders instead of two rows of seven. The resulting engine raised the displacement from the Hercules's 2364 cubic inches (38.7 L) to a massive 3270 cubic inches (53.6 L), making the Centaurus one of the largest piston aircraft engines built. Bristol Jupiter engine The Bristol Jupiter was a British 9-cylinder one-row piston radial engine used in the 1930s and 1940s aircraft. ... Bristol Hercules engine The Hercules was a 14_cylinder two_row radial aircraft engine produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1939. ...

While Bristol maintained that the Centaurus dated from 1938, production could not start until 1942 owing to the need to get the Hercules into production and improve the reliability of the entire engine line. Nor was there any real need for the larger engine at this early point in the war, when most military aircraft designs were intended to mount engines of 1,000 hp or a little more.

In fact, the Centaurus did not see any use until near the end of the war, first appearing on an upscaled version of the Vickers Wellington, the Warwick. Other wartime, or just-post-wartime, applications included the Bristol Brigand (and Buckmaster), Hawker Tempest and Fury, and the Blackburn Firebrand. The engine also saw post-war use in civilian airliners. It was used in the ill-fated Brabazon. The Vickers Wellington was a twin-engine, medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs Chief Designer, R.K. Pierson. ... The Vickers Warwick was a transport, anti-submarine patrol and air-sea rescue aircraft of the RAF during World War II. Vickers Warwick The Warwick was designed in response to Air Ministry specification B.1/35 for a two-engined heavy (by the standards of the day) bomber to replace... The Bristol Type 164 Brigand was the outcome of a 1942 specification (H. 7/42) calling for a faster edition of the Beaufighter for long range torpedo work and anti-shipping strikes. ... The Bristol type 166 Buckmaster was an advanced trainer aircraft of the Royal Air Force. ... Hawker Tempest II, RAF Museum, Hendon The Hawker Tempest was a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter aircraft of World War II, an improved derivative of the Hawker Typhoon, and one of the most powerful fighters used in the war. ... The Sea Fury was a fighter aircraft developed for the British Fleet Air Arm by Hawker during World War II. The last propeller-driven fighter to serve the Royal Navy, it was also the fastest production single piston-engined aircraft ever built. ... The B-37 Firebrand was a single-engine fighter aircraft designed to Air Ministry Specification N.11/40 by Blackburn Aircraft. ... The Bristol Type 167 Brabazon was a huge airliner designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company to fly transatlantic routes from the UK to the United States. ...

Other piston engines of similar or greater displacement were developed around the same time in the United States, such as the Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major and the Wright Duplex Cyclone, but neither could be considered as successful during the war. The Duplex Cyclone was infamous for bursting into flames on takeoff, and both designs required considerable development periods before becoming reliable enough for civilian use. The Centaurus, on the other hand, was considered to be very reliable right from 1942, once the initial bugs had been worked out. The American engines saw greater numerical use, however – a side effect of the sizes of the two aircraft industries in the post-war era. Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major (sectioned) The Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major was a large radial piston aircraft engine designed and built during World War II. It was the last of the Wasp family and the culmination of its makers piston engine technology, but the war was over before... Wright R-3350-57 The R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone was one of the most powerful radial aircraft engines produced in the United States. ...

Specifications (Centaurus VII, 1942)

General characteristics

• Type: 18-cylinder air-cooled two-row radial engine
• Bore: 5.75 in (146 mm)
• Stroke: 7 in (178 mm)
• Displacement: 3,270 in³ (53.6 L)
• Dry weight: 2,695 lb (1,223 kg)

Components

• Valvetrain: sleeve valve
• Cooling system: air-cooled

Performance

• Power output: 2,520 hp (1,880 kW) at 2,700 rpm
• Specific power: 0.77 hp/in³ (35.1 kW/L)
• Compression ratio: 7.2:1
• Power-to-weight ratio: 0.94 hp/lb (1.54 kW/kg)

Radial engine in a cut-away view. ... The sleeve valve is a type of valve for piston engines that has a number of advantages over the more common poppet valve, used in most engines, as well as disadvantages that have precluded its widespread adoption to date. ... In engineering, specific power (sometimes also power per unit mass or power density) refers to the amount of power delivered by an energy source, divided by some measure of the sources size or mass. ... Bold text The compression ratio is a single number that can be used to predict the performance of any engine (such as an internal-combustion engine or a Stirling Engine). ... Power-to-weight ratio is a measure commonly used when comparing various vehicles (or engines), including automobiles, motorcycles and aircraft. ...

Aircraft usage

• Airspeed Ambassador
• Blackburn Beverley
• Bristol Brabazon
• Bristol Brigand
• Bristol Buckingham
• Bristol Buckmaster
• Fairey Spearfish
• Hawker Sea Fury
• Hawker Tempest
• Hawker Tornado
• Short Solent
• Vickers Warwick

The Airspeed Ambassador was a twin piston engined airliner that first flew on July 10, 1947 and served in very small numbers through the 1950s. ... A Blackburn Beverley The Blackburn Beverley was a heavy cantilever monoplane transport aircraft built by the Blackburn Aircraft corporation in the 1940s with its maiden flight in 1950 from Brough. ... The Bristol Type 167 Brabazon was a huge airliner designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company to fly transatlantic routes from the UK to the United States. ... The Bristol Type 164 Brigand was the outcome of a 1942 specification (H. 7/42) calling for a faster edition of the Beaufighter for long range torpedo work and anti-shipping strikes. ... The Bristol Buckingham was a World War II design for a medium day bomber for the RAF. In 1940, the Bristol Centaurus were working on a project called the Bristol Beaumont, essentially a bomber variant of the Beaufighter. ... The Bristol type 166 Buckmaster was an advanced trainer aircraft of the Royal Air Force. ... Fairey Spearfish was a World War II British torpedo bomber. ... The Sea Fury was a fighter aircraft developed for the British Fleet Air Arm by Hawker during World War II. The last propeller-driven fighter to serve the Royal Navy, it was also the fastest production single piston-engined aircraft ever built. ... Hawker Tempest II, RAF Museum, Hendon The Hawker Tempest was a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter aircraft of World War II, an improved derivative of the Hawker Typhoon, and one of the most powerful fighters used in the war. ... The Hawker Tornado was a single-seat fighter aircraft evaluated by the RAF during World War Two. ... The Short Solent was a passenger flying boat produced in the late 1940s, developed from the Short Seaford or Short Sunderland Mark IV military flying boat design, (which was too late to serve in World War II). ... The Vickers Warwick was a transport, anti-submarine patrol and air-sea rescue aircraft of the RAF during World War II. Vickers Warwick The Warwick was designed in response to Air Ministry specification B.1/35 for a two-engined heavy (by the standards of the day) bomber to replace...

See also

• List of aircraft engines

List of aircraft engines: // Allison V-1710 Alvis Alcides Alvis Leonides Alvis Leonides Major Alvis Maenoides Alvis Pelides Armstrong Siddeley Leopard Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar Armstrong Siddeley Panther Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose Armstrong Siddeley Puma Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah Armstrong Siddeley Nimbus Beardmore Bentley BR1 Rotary BMW 132 BMW 139 BMW 801 Bramo...