<VV> Radial Engine, not Rotary

[RoboMan91324 at aol.com]

Scotty,
 
That was a radial engine and yes, it seems an odd way to get  rotation to 
the propeller.  I am not sure what benefit there was to holding  the crank 
stationary and spinning the rest of the motor.  I don't know  if the engine 
slung oil but spinning the massive radial engine created a  huge gyroscopic 
effect.  For those of you who are familiar with this  effect, it would cause 
the airplane to nosedive when trying to turn left (or  right depending on the 
rotation) and go nose up when turning in the other  direction.  Of course, 
it would try to go right or left when trying to go  up or down.  These 
planes having a mind of their own took a lot of getting  used to and many 
trainees lost their lives before they learned the  counterintuitive techniques to 
get the plane going in the direction they  wanted.  As you might imagine, 
this was especially a problem on takeoff and  landing when adjustments had to 
be made due to cross wind, etc.  It took  lots and lots of practice to have 
full control during radical maneuvers such as  in a dogfight.   If you know 
anyone who still flies one of these  antique planes, just ask about this 
phenomenon.
 
Doc
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
In a message dated 4/15/2010 7:29:08 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
virtualvairs-request at corvair.org writes:

From:  lclarkpdx at gmail.com
CC: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Sent: 4/15/2010   11:05:06 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Subj: Re: <VV> Yet another   Corvair slam


The author has also confused a radial engine with a  rotary  engine in the 
part about the RX2, and claims that rotaries were  old  technology in the 
1920's. I thought the wankel was invented in  the  50's.

Rotary engines were common for aeromotive use in WW1;  the most common was 
the Gnome-Rhone.  It held the crankshaft  stationary and the cylinder 
assembly (air-cooled, of course) rotated to  spin the propellor (what an 
oil-slinger!)

Scotty from  Hollyweird