A lot of airplanes in WWI were powered by rotary engines. No, not wankel engines, reciprocating rotary engines. The crankshaft holds still and the entire engine spins with the propeller. Something something you don’t need a flywheel because engine is flywheel.
These engines were lubricated with castor oil. It spewed everywhere including into the pilot’s face. Most of them had a chronic case of the squirts for that reason.
These engines didn’t have a throttle as such; the fuel had to get in via the crankshaft, after all. You’d reduce power by canceling ignition to some of the cylinders via a “blip switch.”
Having that much spinning mass in the nose did some unintuitive shit to the airplane’s handling. To this day we teach pilots about gyroscopic precession because even a modern propeller will do it somewhat: when you tilt the propeller disc, the propeller exerts a force 90 degrees around the disc. With a prop that turns clockwise when seen from the cockpit, pitching down will cause the propeller to exert a left yawing force. This killed a lot of early pilots on the runway; they’d lift the tail during takeoff and suddenly veer to the side because of the almighty gyroscope in the nose.
Oh, and for the British at least, they invented the concept of firing machine guns through the prop disc before they invented the interrupter gear, so they’d shoot their own propellers off.
Edit to add: That big spinning mass of engine often meant a plane could turn faster in one direction than the other. The Sopwith Camel had double the rate of turn in one direction than the other.
The Guns Above. Basically the Napoleonic Wars, except they have an unlimited supply of helium. The author builds the airships by hand, you can smell the wicker works and laquer. [novel]
Early airplanes were a hell of a thing, too.
A lot of airplanes in WWI were powered by rotary engines. No, not wankel engines, reciprocating rotary engines. The crankshaft holds still and the entire engine spins with the propeller. Something something you don’t need a flywheel because engine is flywheel.
These engines were lubricated with castor oil. It spewed everywhere including into the pilot’s face. Most of them had a chronic case of the squirts for that reason.
These engines didn’t have a throttle as such; the fuel had to get in via the crankshaft, after all. You’d reduce power by canceling ignition to some of the cylinders via a “blip switch.”
Having that much spinning mass in the nose did some unintuitive shit to the airplane’s handling. To this day we teach pilots about gyroscopic precession because even a modern propeller will do it somewhat: when you tilt the propeller disc, the propeller exerts a force 90 degrees around the disc. With a prop that turns clockwise when seen from the cockpit, pitching down will cause the propeller to exert a left yawing force. This killed a lot of early pilots on the runway; they’d lift the tail during takeoff and suddenly veer to the side because of the almighty gyroscope in the nose.
Oh, and for the British at least, they invented the concept of firing machine guns through the prop disc before they invented the interrupter gear, so they’d shoot their own propellers off.
Edit to add: That big spinning mass of engine often meant a plane could turn faster in one direction than the other. The Sopwith Camel had double the rate of turn in one direction than the other.
https://youtu.be/xMi3MtzS3Iw
Flight of the Phoenix. A crew is stranded in the desert and has to rebuild their plane or die. [full movie]
https://youtu.be/ssZ-fzs8F5E
This Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines. 1960s silliness about the early days fo flying [trailer]
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-guns-above-robyn-bennis/1131183611
The Guns Above. Basically the Napoleonic Wars, except they have an unlimited supply of helium. The author builds the airships by hand, you can smell the wicker works and laquer. [novel]