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Re: Meaning of the term "Double Wasp"

Tue Jan 05, 2010 1:37 pm

The single row R-1640 was called the "Hornet"

Re: Meaning of the term "Double Wasp"

Tue Jan 05, 2010 2:49 pm

Somehow I always had the feeling that there was some inheritant issue with the R-2000's. Apart from the Douglas C-54 the only other aircraft to utilize this engine (to my knowledge, that is) was the Chase C-122 Avitruc, deHavilland C-7 Caribou and the civil version of the Douglas Super DC-3.

BTW, the protype DC-4E utilized a P&W R-2180. What was that ????

Re: Meaning of the term "Double Wasp"

Tue Jan 05, 2010 3:00 pm

jdvoss wrote:BTW, the protype DC-4E utilized a P&W R-2180. What was that ????

Doh! Twin Hornet A
Last edited by airnutz on Tue Jan 05, 2010 3:19 pm, edited 3 times in total.

i heard that it was...

Tue Jan 05, 2010 3:05 pm

CAPFlyer wrote:And they were all called "Wasp" because the first engine so named reportedly sounded like a "swarm of angry Wasps" (at least that's what I was told many moons ago).


named for the initials Wright Aeronautical and the other 2 I forgot.... :?

Re: i heard that it was...

Tue Jan 05, 2010 3:42 pm

jet1 wrote:
CAPFlyer wrote:And they were all called "Wasp" because the first engine so named reportedly sounded like a "swarm of angry Wasps" (at least that's what I was told many moons ago).


named for the initials Wright Aeronautical and the other 2 I forgot.... :?


It would be truly weird has the Wasp family is from P&W :)

Re: Meaning of the term "Double Wasp"

Tue Jan 05, 2010 7:29 pm

Don't you love Wikipedia:

Hornets are the largest eusocial wasps

:finga:

Re: Meaning of the term "Double Wasp"

Tue Jan 05, 2010 7:32 pm

The R-2000 was an enlarged version of the Pratt & Whitney R-1830, with focus on reducing the manufacturing costs and fuel requirements. The bore was increased to 5.75 inch, while it still retained the 5.5 inch stroke. This brought displacement up to 2,000 in³. There were a number of detail changes from the R-1830, such as front mounted instead of the rear mounted magnetos, plain bearings for the crankshaft rather than roller bearings, and 87-octane fuel. 87 octane was specified because there were fears wartime supplies of 100 octane might fall short, but those fears were groundless. The R-2000 produced 1,300 hp @ 2,700 rpm with 87 octane, 1,350 hp with 100 octane and 1,450 hp @ 2,800 rpm with 100/130-grade fuel.

:rolleyes: The RAAF operated the Caribou for 40 years - I wouldn't think that made the R-2000 a failure.

heres a little history lesson for you...

Tue Jan 05, 2010 7:51 pm

rreis wrote:
jet1 wrote:
CAPFlyer wrote:And they were all called "Wasp" because the first engine so named reportedly sounded like a "swarm of angry Wasps" (at least that's what I was told many moons ago).


named for the initials Wright Aeronautical and the other 2 I forgot.... :?


It would be truly weird has the Wasp family is from P&W :)


"The Pratt & Whitney Wasp was the civilian name of a family of air-cooled radial piston engines developed in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.[1]
The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company (P&W) was founded in 1925 by Frederick B. Rentschler, who had previously been the President of Wright Aeronautical. He brought with him some of Wright’s best designers and the new team quickly came up with their first design, the R-1340 Wasp."

Re: heres a little history lesson for you...

Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:00 pm

jet1 wrote:"The Pratt & Whitney Wasp was the civilian name of a family of air-cooled radial piston engines developed in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.[1]
The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company (P&W) was founded in 1925 by Frederick B. Rentschler, who had previously been the President of Wright Aeronautical. He brought with him some of Wright’s best designers and the new team quickly came up with their first design, the R-1340 Wasp."


ok, but then it would be an inside joke (and, off course, many of these things end to be so), wasn't Wright a direct competitor? funny world...

Re: Meaning of the term "Double Wasp"

Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:14 pm

One of the main reasons some did not like the R-2000 is because they enlarged the cylinders but did not enlarge the crankcase of the 1830. This left access to things like pushrod tubes, and cylinder hold down nuts, etc nearly impossible to get without some real slick maneuvering of the Pratt and Whitney "tools"....Resulting in what some refer to as the "Messiest engine Pratt and Whitney ever made" due to the constant oil leaks and the like....

It was and is still reliable, We like it. It is forgiving, and pretty dependable. I believe the first one we ever changed on our C-54 had 1700 hours on it.

Re: Meaning of the term "Double Wasp"

Wed Jan 06, 2010 11:32 am

The J-42 and J-48 were called the "Turbo Wasp"

don't know ...just sayin...

Wed Jan 06, 2010 11:47 pm

rreis wrote:
jet1 wrote:"The Pratt & Whitney Wasp was the civilian name of a family of air-cooled radial piston engines developed in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.[1]
The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company (P&W) was founded in 1925 by Frederick B. Rentschler, who had previously been the President of Wright Aeronautical. He brought with him some of Wright’s best designers and the new team quickly came up with their first design, the R-1340 Wasp."


ok, but then it would be an inside joke (and, off course, many of these things end to be so), wasn't Wright a direct competitor? funny world...

maybe the inside joke was WRIGHT AERONAUTICAL STOLEN PROPERTY! ( that would be good!)

Re: Meaning of the term "Double Wasp"

Thu Jan 14, 2010 12:19 pm

Here is a direct quote from "The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Story" published in 1950 by PWA.

It was still unnamed, but everyone in the little organization was offering suggestions. Finally a general concurrence arose that it had to be something in the "bee" line. The men's wives began speculating, too, and Mrs. Rentschler suggested the name "Wasp" for the first model. It was quickly adopted.
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