Original Rotary Engine

[maverickmk]

http://www.youtube.com/embed/Y0XbqHUAI-0?feature=player_detailpage

 

[kkadams123]

Very interesting! Thanks.

 

[Tripper]

Wow... that is KRAZY!!!

BoB

 

[Snake Farm]

[S So Wankel gets a patent in 1929, completes a prototype in 1957 and becomes the inventor of the Rotary Engine and this guy was driving around in one in 1906

That's a wild looking thing when it's running........watch your fingers!

 

[Country Misfit]

Thats kool,thax 4 posting

 

[junker39]

They used a boatload of engines like that, in aircraft, before and during WW1. The planes weren't real maneuverable because the engines acted like gyroscopes, not wanting to let the plane turn. The pilots that flew those type of engines had a hard time learning to fly a plane with a "conventional" engine. Totally different handling. Later.

 

[junker39]

Snake Farm, two different types of rotary engines. There's rotary and theres a Wankle.

 

[Sam_Fear]

From Dubuque Iowa....

 

[zzrodder]

That engine is fascinating to watch!
The Sopwith Camel flown by the RAF in WWI was probably one of the most well and widely known rotary engine powered planes, pilots had to keep a constant left rudder position to keep it straight. Come to think of it, the Fokker Triplane may have also had a rotary engine.....
Snoopy and the Red Baron

 

[05snopro440]

Come to think of it, the Fokker Triplane may have also had a rotary engine.....
Snoopy and the Red Baron

I just checked and it seems it did use various different rotary engines.

That engine is wild to watch. I can't imagine the amount of guards, shields, warning labels, lights and sirens you would need to equip a vehicle with if you manufactured one with that style of engine today. Talk about rotating mass! Really cool though, I never knew that existed.

 

[maverickmk]

They used a boatload of engines like that, in aircraft, before and during WW1. The planes weren't real maneuverable because the engines acted like gyroscopes, not wanting to let the plane turn. The pilots that flew those type of engines had a hard time learning to fly a plane with a "conventional" engine. Totally different handling. Later.

I bet that would be a handful trying to keep a plane straight, let alone trying to fight off some of the bad guys.

 

[MACKAZ]

I'd call that a radial engine, not a rotary. Mr Felix Wankel invented what I call a rotary ie NSU Ro80 and Mazda rotary. They've been put into everything from motorcycles to chainsaws. Yes I have owned quite a few.....

 

[zzrodder]

I'd call that a radial engine, not a rotary. Mr Felix Wankel invented what I call a rotary ie NSU Ro80 and Mazda rotary. They've been put into everything from motorcycles to chainsaws. Yes I have owned quite a few.....

Radial engine is something different again, cylinders are stationary, the crank spins. This is an 18 cyl Pratt & Whitney. Many radial engines are still made and in use today. Ever hear a DC3 fly over ? Distinctive sound of radial engines.

 

[BlueNorther]

the Wankel is a "rotary piston" engine, the engine referred to by the OP is "rotary cylinder/block" engine.

neither should be confused with a "rotary" valve engine.