Deltic engine origins surprised me
Discussion
Going back to the OP, the Junkers 204 was eventually developed into the Junkers 223. Which is like a 4 sided Deltic:
https://oldmachinepress.com/2015/09/26/junkers-jum...
Loads of other cool stuff on that website, worth a dig around!
https://oldmachinepress.com/2015/09/26/junkers-jum...
Loads of other cool stuff on that website, worth a dig around!
lufbramatt said:
Going back to the OP, the Junkers 204 was eventually developed into the Junkers 223. Which is like a 4 sided Deltic:
https://oldmachinepress.com/2015/09/26/junkers-jum...
Loads of other cool stuff on that website, worth a dig around!
Interesting that the Deltic had one crank rotating in the opposite direction to the other 2...........https://oldmachinepress.com/2015/09/26/junkers-jum...
Loads of other cool stuff on that website, worth a dig around!
ianrb said:
Tony1963 said:
aeropilot said:
Interesting that the Deltic had one crank rotating in the opposite direction to the other 2...........
For balance
ianrb said:
Tony1963 said:
aeropilot said:
Interesting that the Deltic had one crank rotating in the opposite direction to the other 2...........
For balance
lufbramatt said:
During the development of the R100, Ricardo were trying to develop an internal combustion engine that could run on Hydrogen, so that later in the flight when they wanted to reduce the buoyancy of the airship (due to using the fuel up) they could start using the hydrogen as fuel rather than just venting it to the atmosphere.
Apparently it sort of worked but needed much more development, they stopped work on it when the R101 crashed and they realised that Airships were a bit of a dead end.
The much simpler solution would have been to fuel the engines with Blaugas, which was essentially propane (a technology which was entirely mature and understood in the 1920s). It's what the Graf Zeppelin used for her long-range flights. It has the advantage that as well as being the most energy-dense gas fuel, it also weighs (volume-for-volume) virtually the same as air, so the trim and buoyancy of the airship doesn't change as it's burnt. Apparently it sort of worked but needed much more development, they stopped work on it when the R101 crashed and they realised that Airships were a bit of a dead end.
The USN's two rigid airships had a condensing system to recover water from the exhaust gas, so water ballast could be taken on board at the rate of roughly 3/4-lb water for every lb of fuel (petrol) burnt.
It's interesting that both the British Empire Airships and the USN ships didn't use Blaugas when it's such an obvious solution. I can only guess that it was either under patent in Germany, that its supply was restricted/limited by German production or there were political reasons against its use.
Eric Mc said:
That's what I read in a book on airships. It must have been wrong.
No, I don’t think so, I think what you said is what was generally believed at the time. Also that the economy was better for long distances, and that diesel fuel was less flammable. These were reasons why Diesel engines were used on R101, despite the diesels being much heavier which in turn was probably one of the contributory factors in the R101 crash.R100 used petrol engines, which were much lighter. But it was considered dangerous to send an airship with petrol tank to a hot climate, which is why R100 was sent to wave the flag in Canada, and R101 was sent to India, crashing at Beauvais en route.
All this is superbly described in Nevil Shute’s book Slide Rule, which also gives a pretty good idea of how Britain got into the state it is now in. Sorry Eric.
I have carried out a few breech changes on marine Deltics............cartridge start weirdness.......beautufully balanced engines that rev like a motorbike....dirty though....used to cause a few problems if left at low power for too long with the exhaust drains closed...when the engine loaded up after a while at low speed there would be sparks and flames coming out of the stack.....happy days. 
Anorak's alert !
Did you know that Napier, who built UK Deltics, were eventually taken over by Vickers. Years later, in a drastic fire, much of the stock of Deltic engines, parts and expertise, was consumed.
Vickers were desperate, but used their existing commercial links with Cosworth to ask if that company could reverse-engineer the entire project ? Cosworth naturally said they could, did a magnificent job, and apparently the stock of Deltic engines and all related stuff have now been replenished.
Who needs F1 when you are as versatile as that ?
Did you know that Napier, who built UK Deltics, were eventually taken over by Vickers. Years later, in a drastic fire, much of the stock of Deltic engines, parts and expertise, was consumed.
Vickers were desperate, but used their existing commercial links with Cosworth to ask if that company could reverse-engineer the entire project ? Cosworth naturally said they could, did a magnificent job, and apparently the stock of Deltic engines and all related stuff have now been replenished.
Who needs F1 when you are as versatile as that ?
skirk said:
I have carried out a few breech changes on marine Deltics............cartridge start weirdness.......beautufully balanced engines that rev like a motorbike....dirty though....used to cause a few problems if left at low power for too long with the exhaust drains closed...when the engine loaded up after a while at low speed there would be sparks and flames coming out of the stack.....happy days.
Same happened if a Deltic locomotive was left idling for too long!
shed driver said:
Sums up the first few years of my railway career, looking across the cab through a haze of smoke from a Woodbine(his not mine) .. Teamug blanced on the desk and a discussion about where we could get a pint! Sadly closest I came to a Deltic was at my first depots open days(Coalville for those interested). Back to Deltics, a well know millionaire from Huddesfield owned one of the preserved Deltics and a rumour I heard hinted that a spare engine came from the New York fire department , nice if true. I pity the poor secondman when working in steam heat as the boiler is situated in the centre , no ear defenders then.Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff