Pratt & Whitney's R-4360
The Piston Engine Revolution Pratt & Whitney’s R-4360 Graham White Pratt & Whitney’s 28-cylinder, four-row radial, the R-4360, was the largest and most complex aircraft piston engine to enter production in the West. After cancellation of P & W’s liquid cooled sleeve valve efforts, the R-4360 was rushed into development with an initial rating of over 3000 hp. Although too late for WWII, it played a significant part in postwar military aviation and to a lesser degree, in commercial aviation. Topics covered are: cooling, vibration, bearings, superchargers (including turbocharging and variable discharge turbines), etc. Questions such as how to mount such a behemoth, cowl designs, nacelle design, cooling flow, oil cooling, propellers (including dual rotation) etc., will be addressed. Finally, how many R-4360s are still in service? KEYWORDS: Large aero-engines. Introduction If big is good, then bigger is better, right? Wrong!! The Pratt & Whitney R-4360 was the only aircraft piston engine displacing over 4,000 cubic inches that entered into series production. However, the landscape is littered with attempts at producing a large displacement, high horsepower aircraft engine. This includes air- cooled radials, liquid-cooled in-lines and even liquid-cooled radials. History has indicated that doubling the displacement of an engine causes the development problems to go up exponentially. These problems are associated with cooling, mechanical design, lubrication and weight control. Of course, engines were developed that could produce in excess of 4,000 horsepower, but for how long would they stay together? There is little point in developing a hot-rod that lasts 200 hours between overhauls.
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