Ed of all trades
Elite Member
I just moved from 2 miles from there. Always see something going or coming from there.
Thanks for the video, learned a good bit. Ed
Ever wonder how a radial engine works?
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I just moved from 2 miles from there. Always see something going or coming from there.
Thanks for the video, learned a good bit. Ed
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MossRoad
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Seems like they have quite the little salvage operation going there. Interesting company....
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bindian
Super Member
I was sitting in my living room today and heard radial engines. Ran outside and the Commemorative Air Force's C-45 "Bucket of Bolts" was just landing at the airport.
CAF AirPower History Tour featuring the B-29 Superfortress FIFI
They're on their Air Power History Tour and brought that, a P-51 and FIFI, the B-29 in for the week. The Mustang flew over the house today, too. I've spent some time around all those types of planes in the past as they were frequently in town doing air shows back on the late 70's and 80's. That B-29 was then, and still is as far as I know, the only one currently flying. The Mustangs were a dime a dozen back then and the C-45 is pretty much the same plane as a Beech 18, which is the only type of radial engine plane I've ever flown in. Did that when I was in grade school.
Doc is flying again. B-29 Doc – Restoring History
hugs, Brandi
bindian
Super Member
I have wrenched on a few round engines. Though probably not as many as Jim (Crash325).
We had a Wright 3350 cut away model in A&P school. Someone took the actual engine apart, cut a corner out of it, painted everything different colors, and reassembled it. A hand crank was installed on the starter pad, so us students could turn the engine to watch the wonder of how it worked all together. We got to get an old Jacobs radial running in class. The instructor stated, while it was idling,............"something it wrong, it's running too smooth". I tell ya, the sound of a radial engine is better that a Harley............any day!
Really, my best years as a mechanic where when I worked in general aviation and worked on warbirds and a rich lawyer's Cessna195...........and the various "project" planes that came through the hangar. Most fun ever was helping the boss completely rebuild a Stearman. But those where the good old days!
hugs, Brandi
We had a Wright 3350 cut away model in A&P school. Someone took the actual engine apart, cut a corner out of it, painted everything different colors, and reassembled it. A hand crank was installed on the starter pad, so us students could turn the engine to watch the wonder of how it worked all together. We got to get an old Jacobs radial running in class. The instructor stated, while it was idling,............"something it wrong, it's running too smooth". I tell ya, the sound of a radial engine is better that a Harley............any day!
Really, my best years as a mechanic where when I worked in general aviation and worked on warbirds and a rich lawyer's Cessna195...........and the various "project" planes that came through the hangar. Most fun ever was helping the boss completely rebuild a Stearman. But those where the good old days!
hugs, Brandi
crash325
Elite Member
not much to do with round engines.
I knew a crop duster in Imperial Valley. They would fly almost straight up & do a stall turn on going the other way. saw some that went under the power lines but that was pretty rare.
There was a crop duster around here the other day. At first though it might be someone having fun. Got a good look & could see the sprayers. Some type of light plane. It would come over here & the spraying he was doing was a long ways off.
I don't remember the Jacobs engine. Would like to hear more about it.
I knew a crop duster in Imperial Valley. They would fly almost straight up & do a stall turn on going the other way. saw some that went under the power lines but that was pretty rare.
There was a crop duster around here the other day. At first though it might be someone having fun. Got a good look & could see the sprayers. Some type of light plane. It would come over here & the spraying he was doing was a long ways off.
I don't remember the Jacobs engine. Would like to hear more about it.
flyerdan
Veteran Member
Jacobs made a variety of engines, mostly seven cylinder radials from 225 to 350 hp, they wound up on pretty much everything that had 670 Continental or 680 Lycomings on them. I think it was an availability issue; most manufacturers would have a letter designation somewhere that indicated what engine it had. They were somewhat less than smooth running, which gave them the moniker of "Shakey Jake".
Here's an engine page at Aerofiles that has the history of Jacobs about midway down. For those who enjoy history of domestic aviation it would be easy to get lost in Aerofiles for a few hours or months.
Here's an engine page at Aerofiles that has the history of Jacobs about midway down. For those who enjoy history of domestic aviation it would be easy to get lost in Aerofiles for a few hours or months.
bindian
Super Member
Jim,
The Jacobs we had in school we hung on a PT-26 fuselage to run. The PT-26 had a Ranger 200hp L-440-3 engine and was the enclosed cockpit version of the PT-19. The Ranger was an inline 6 upside down cylinder engine. I don't remember what model Jacobs was that we hung and ran.
The Cessna 195, I worked on, was powered by a Jacobs R755-A2 engine, rated at 300 hp. Definitely something you didn't want to hand prop. Here is a link and photo of the Cessna 195..... 19 /195 Information | Barron Aviation
hugs, Brandi
