[alfa] 100 years of powered flight

["Robert Farrell" <robert.farrell7@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Although personally have no expertise or information on the subject of the
Wright Brother's engine, I have a copy of the book "Charles E. Taylor
(1868-1956) The Wright Bothers Mechanician, 'The Man Who Provided The Power
For The First Powered Flight" by H.R. DuFour with Peter J. Unitt. ISBN
0-966-9965-0-X, 1997.

It states that the engine is 4-cylinder, 4" bore, 4" stroke (201 cu in;
3295cc). The goal was greater than 8 hp at no more than 200 lbs. In a letter
to George Spratt, a colleague of Octave Chanute, in December 1902, Orville
wrote that the engine they built generated 13hp and weighed 150 lbs. This
was using "76 proof" gasoline. Although it was April 30, 1903 before,
according to their father's diary, the engine ran without problems. (They
had had some lubrication issues resulting in seized engines.) This was
described as the first 4-cylinder aluminum engine. In final form, the engine
would reliably generate 12 hp at 1025rpm. The engine itself weighed 150 lbs
(68kgs) stripped and 170 lbs(77kgs) with accessories. And like much of the
rest that they did, they had to invent/build a method for measuring the
power generated. As far as fuel consumption: they calculated that the 47
ounce (1.4 liter) tank was enough to run the engine for 18 minutes.

For those attempting to build an engine today, one takes it as a matter of
fact that Champion or NGK or Bosch could supply suitable spark plugs or
Weber or SU or Carter could supply a suitable carburettor. For Charles
Taylor none of those things existed. Even aluminum was not commonly known or
available.

Much of the information is hard to determine exactly because the Wrights
were not the best record keepers and because at the end of the first flight
they did not immediately send the airplane to the Smithsonian. They would
run more experiments and when something broke, they would repair it. Imagine
trying to determine exactly what was original on a one-of race car that was
actively raced and so modified and repaired during its life.

Bob Farrell
82 GTV-6
87 Milano Gold
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