My Dad was a China Marine, and served as a mechanic on land and carrier based Corsairs, a plane which had a radial engine. The engine had 3 banks of 9 cylinders (and each cyl had 2 plugs). The Corsair was capable of reaching the sound barrier on a dive; it was quite a plane. He still has all of the original mechanic training manuals. I'll give him a buzz tomorrow and ask what the crank setup was. I'll report back here with his answer.
Sidebar - My Dad is very proud of his service in the Corps. He is still active in the Marine Corps reserves and the local VFW post, doing community service, marching in parades, driving vets to the Veterans hospital in White River Junction, Vt., and gives a lot of his time to the Toys for Tots activities sponsored by the local Marines. This summer, my wife and I went camping with he and my Mom at a campground on beautiful Lake Champlain here in Vt. When we arrived at the campground, he and I went to the main office to pay for our trailer sites. The owner of the campground was a real nice fellow, and spoke with an French accent. He is a just few years younger than my Dad, and they quickly broke into an easy shooting-the-breeze session. As they were talking, this fellow learned from my Dad that he is a WWII vet. Well, as soon as he heard this, he insisted that we follow him into his home, where he showed us what I can only describe as a shrine to WWII vets. He explained that as a young fellow in France, he vividly remembers the American GI's, and the feeling of elation he and his countrymen felt when they were freed from the Nazis. He profusely thanked my Dad for his efforts during the war, and would not allow him to pay for his trailer site. My Dad is a tough old Marine, but he was as close to crying as I have ever seen him. He said that no one had ever thanked him before. It was a touching moment, and one that I'll never forget.
Sorry for the long post guys. I'll let you know what the crank setup was on those radial engines as soon as I get a chance to talk to him.
Corm
