5-Cylinder Radial Engine Model

Since the first Radial Engine was built in 1901, the technology has been synonymous with aviation. The first flight across the English Channel was powered by a 3-cylinder 12 hp radial engine, built by Italian engine designer Alessandro Anzani. The heavy bombers of the Second World War were powered by massive 28-cylinder 4,300 hp radial monsters from Pratt & Whitney. The basic operating principle illustrated by this model is accurate to both. Radial engines have largely been supplanted in aviation by gas turbines, but are still found today on specialized acrobatic aircraft.

This 5-Cylinder Radial Engine Model is based on the Forest Edwards Radial 5, a radial model aircraft engine.

This engine started from excellent paper plans drawn by Robert Sigler. The engine described in Roberts’s plans is intended to be machined form metal, and had to be extensively modified to work with desktop 3D printing technology.

Here's a video of the engine being cranked by hand: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bvicarious/8043692271/in/set-72157631666979368

Created By Michael Curry