Bentley BR2
| BR.2 | |
|---|---|
| File:Bentley BR.2 Shuttleworth.jpg B.R.2 engine on display at the Shuttleworth Collection | |
| Type | Rotary engine |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Humber, Crossley, Daimler, Gwynnes, Ruston and Proctor |
| First run | 1917 |
| Major applications | Sopwith Snipe |
| Number built | 2,567 |
| Developed from | Bentley BR.1 |
The Bentley B.R.2 was a nine-cylinder British rotary aircraft engine developed during the First World War by the motor car engine designer W. O. Bentley from his earlier Bentley BR.1. The BR.2 was built in small numbers during the war, its main use being by the Royal Air Force in the early 1920s.[1]
Design and development
[edit | edit source]The initial variant of the BR.2 developed 230 hp (170 kW), with nine cylinders measuring 5.5 in × 7.1 in (140 mm × 180 mm) for a total displacement of 1,522 cu in (24,940 cm3). It weighed 490 lb (220 kg), only 93 lb (42 kg) more than the Bentley BR.1. This was the last type of rotary engine to be adopted by the RAF – later air-cooled aircraft engines such as the Cosmos Jupiter and Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar being almost entirely of the fixed radial type. With the BR.2, the rotary engine had reached a point beyond which this type of engine could not be further developed, due to its inherent limitations.[2]
Applications
[edit | edit source]The type selected as the standard single-seat fighter of the post-war RAF, the Sopwith Snipe, had been designed around the BR.2, as had its ground attack version, the Sopwith TF.2 Salamander. A number of other experimental and minor production types were either designed for, or otherwise fitted with this power plant during the late "war" years and into the early 1920s.
- Armstrong Whitworth Armadillo
- Austin Osprey
- Boulton Paul Bobolink
- Brennan Helicopter
- Gloster Grouse
- Gloster Nightjar
- Gloster Sparrowhawk
- Grain Griffin
- Handley Page Type S
- Nieuport Nightjar
- Parnall Panther
- Sopwith Buffalo
- Sopwith Gnu
- Sopwith Salamander
- Sopwith Snipe
- Vickers Vampire
Variants
[edit | edit source]- BR.2 230
- 1918, 230 hp.
- BR.2 245
- 1918, 245 hp.
Engines on display
[edit | edit source]A Bentley BR.2 is on public display in the Science Museum (London), another forms part of the aero engine collection at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford. Another one (serial number 40543, manufactured by Gwynnes) is in the National Military Museum, Romania.
The sole operational BR.2 is mounted in Fantasy of Flight's replica of the Sopwith Snipe.[3]
A ¼ scale working replica of the Bentley BR.2 World War I rotary aero engine built by Lewis Kinleside Blackmore is currently on display at the Bentley Memorial Building in Oxfordshire, UK. This was the first model built of this engine and is the subject also of a book by L K Blackmore.
The Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada has a BR.2 installed in their Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe.
Specifications (BR.2)
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Data from Jane's [4]
General characteristics
- Type: 9-cylinder rotary
- Bore: 5.51 in (140 mm)
- Stroke: 7.09 in (180 mm)
- Displacement: 1521.8 in (24.94 L)
- Dry weight: 490 lb (220 kg)
Components
- Valvetrain: Overhead valve
- Cooling system: Air-cooled
Performance
- Power output: 250 hp
- Fuel consumption: 20 gallons per hour
- Oil consumption: 16 pints per hour
- Power-to-weight ratio: 0.5 hp/lb
See also
[edit | edit source]Related development
Comparable engines
Related lists
References
[edit | edit source]Notes
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lumsden 2003, p.88.
- ^ Gunston 1989, p.22.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Jane's 1993, p.274.
Bibliography
[edit | edit source]- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War I. London. Studio Editions Ltd, 1993. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- Lumsden, Alec. British Piston Engines and their Aircraft. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
