Bristol Orion engine

[Nick Sumner]

Does anyone have, or can they point me to, any info on the Bristol Orion radial engine. Apparently it was a 28 cylinder 4 row design (like the BMW 803) whose concept was made obsolete by jets.

[PMN1]

Bill Gunston says this 'Before Feddon left the company in 1942 he initiated construction of the Orion, with 18 cylinders 6.25" x 7.5", capacity 4,142 cu in to give 4,000hp.

I have heard mention of a 24 Cylinder Orion (though it now occurs to me that I'm not sure what combination you use to get that number and Friedman in his book British Carrier aviation mnentions a 28-cylinder Bristol engine that was cancelled in late 1944 but with no other information.

[Nick Sumner]

quote:Originally posted by PMN1

18 cylinders 6.25" x 7.5", capacity 4,142 cu in to give 4,000hp.

This sounds like a Centaurus with half an inch on both bore and stroke.

quote:Originally posted by PMN1
I have heard mention of a 24 Cylinder Orion (though it now occurs to me that I'm not sure what combination you use to get that number and Friedman in his book British Carrier aviation mentions a 28-cylinder Bristol engine that was cancelled in late 1944 but with no other information.


The only way to get a 24 cylinder radial configuration I can think of is something like the Bristol 'Hydra' Double Octagon engine which had two rows of 8 cylinders (It wasn't a success). A third row would give 24 - but god knows how you'd cool it!

[GregP]

Most 24-cylinder engines are two V-12s on a common crankshaft.