Warbird Information Exchange

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

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 ????

Doh! Twin Hornet A

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

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

_________________
rreis

If you want pictures, see rreis@flickr

Don't you love Wikipedia:

Hornets are the largest eusocial wasps

_________________
..defeat is never an option!

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.

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

_________________
..defeat is never an option!

"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...

_________________
rreis

If you want pictures, see rreis@flickr

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.

_________________
Kevin Kearney
Vice President
Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation


C-54D "Spirit of Freedom" 43-17228
C-97 "Angel of Deliverance" 52-2718 (painted as YC-97A 45-59595)
C-54E/R5D-4 "Spirit of Freedom" 44-9144 BuNo 90414 (wfu April/2020)
http://www.spiritoffreedom.org

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

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

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.