Quote from McGuire;
By the time the DeDion Bouton V8 automobile appeared in 1910, dozens of V8
engines had been successfully built all over the world.
After seeing this I got my old book to see if there was a count in the Old, “Airplane
Engine Encyclopedia “1921. In the back of the book is a list of various engine types.
Under Vee Eight-Cylinder it lists 115 engines. Even if one cuts this in half as
many of them are made by the same manufacturer
It is one big bunch of engines. But by going thru the book one can easily see just
why many of them never went to mass production.
Reasons:
#1, Not enough money available to manufacture them in any reasonable quantity.
# 2. A design flaw very apparent to us these days but not at the time of design at
that time.
#3. Designing an engine with a flaw that was very apparent to the people who had
their hands on the money.
#4. Designing an engine in a country that could not afford to build and test an
engine (Germany). Many engines designed after WW-1 just weren’t wanted or
needed.
In item #3a. One of the most apparent was designing an aircraft engine with no
thought about dirt getting into the lubrication system with dumping oil out of the
engine into the air, other parts of the engine and fuselage onto fabric. Rocker arms
push rods valve springs valve stems, etc. Hispano-Suiza showed them the way on
this in 1915. Many of the engines were built by people who had no idea of the
multiplicity of the problems of in-flight acrobatics! Unlubricated rocker arms and
valve stems.
Another thing was designing an engine with unneeded complexity such as the
Renault V-8 with enough gears to drive several engines when a chain drive would
have been sufficient. Bicycle chains would have been satisfactory as these engines
didn’t last very long in any case, piston rings and bearings being the big culprit.
Exhaust valves may have been a big culprit also!
Making engines without valve/cam covers.
Making crankshafts without any counterweights.
Making engines with what should have been very apparent out of
proportion bore to stroke ratios. One of these was a Peugeot
V-8 with b x s ratio of 1.8 and a gear train of 13 gears.
As with many things there were rays of hope in B x S dimension as
in the Benz V-8 of 5.310” x 5.310” = 943.4 cu. in. However it was one
of the engines that had lots of valve gear hanging out in the wind, push rods,
rocker arms, valve springs, valves etc.
Of all these engines the Sunbeam Arab V-8 has the last line by Glenn D. Angle
of quote:
“Considerable trouble has been experienced with designs and as a result
they have been completely abandoned”. These engines were so poor
that they have been called by some as the, “Worlds Worst V-8 Engine”.
This due to the use of articulated rods on one side of the engine which
were very short. The vibration of this type was not understood by very
many people at that time. The Sunbeam Co. at that time had been building
6, V-8, V-12 and 18 cyl. engines, too many engines with not enough resources.
M.L. Anderson
did change theirs on their later and miserable engines.
