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Rotary engine
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This article is about an obsolete type of piston engine with
a rotating crankcase. For the pistonless Wankel engine,
see Wankel engine. For other engines described as
"rotary", see rotary engine (disambiguation).

The rotary engine is an early type of internal

combustion engine, usually designed with an odd
number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration.
The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in
operation, while the entire crankcase and its attached
cylinders rotated around it as a unit. Its main application
was in aviation, although it also saw use in a few early
motorcycles and automobiles.

An 80 horsepower (60 kW) rated Le Rhône

9C, a typical rotary engine of WWI. The
copper pipes carry the fuel-air mixture from
the crankcase to the cylinder heads acting
collectively as an intake manifold.

This Le Rhône 9C installed on a Sopwith

Pup fighter aircraft at the Fleet Air Arm
Museum.
Note the narrowness of the mounting
pedestal to the fixed crankshaft (2013),
and the size of the engine

Megola motorcycle with rotary engine

mounted in the front wheel

This type of engine was widely used as an alternative to

conventional inline engines (straight or V) during World
War I and the years immediately preceding that conflict.
It has been described as "a very efficient solution to the
problems of power output, weight, and reliability".[1]

By the early 1920s, the inherent limitations of this type

of engine had rendered it obsolete.

Description

Rotary engine control

History

Use in cars and motorcycles

Other rotary engines

See also

Notes

External links

Last edited 3 days ago by Adakiko

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