DePalma, V-4 Engine
Object Details
- Manufacturer
- DePalma Manufacturing Company (Detroit, Michigan)
- Physical Description
- Type: Reciprocating, 4 cylinders, V-type, air cooled
- Power rating: 28-37 kW (38-50 hp)
- Displacement: Unknown
- Bore and Stroke: Unknown
- Weight: Unknown
- Summary
- C.H. Willis, Henry Ford’s Chief Engineer, who also led the DePalma Manufacturing Company, worked with famous inventor and General Motors executive Charles F. Kettering to develop this engine under an Army contract for the Kettering Bug, a flying bomb. This predecessor for later cruise missiles used a two-cycle engine because of its high power-to-weight ratio, simplicity of construction, and low cost. With twice the explosions, a two-cycle engine can produce higher power than a four-cycle engine, but does not throttle well, which was not important for this application.
- The Bug was to cost about $575 in large quantities, and have a range of fifty miles. Development of the aircraft was begun in 1918; but did not go into production because of largely unsuccessful flight tests in 1918 and 1919. The engine also powered Dayton-Wright aircraft such as the T-4 Messenger, another prototype aircraft that lost favor following World War I.
- Credit Line
- Transferred from the War Department, Air Corps, Materiel Division, Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio
- Circa 1918
- Inventory Number
- A19340009000
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- PROPULSION-Reciprocating & Rotary
- Materials
- Steel, Paint, Aluminum, Preservative coating
- Dimensions
- Depth 71.1 cm (28 in.), Length 87.6 cm (34.5 in.), Width 101.6 cm (40 in.)
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- National Air and Space Museum
- Record ID
- nasm_A19340009000
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv95c7b567f-4711-42d6-b41e-ede941c51e63
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