OT...Continental engine

[torker]

I just got back from a local junk yard. The guy just got an old Continental air cooled engine. I know they used these in airplanes but what else where they used for? This one is a two cylinder, 30 hp@2600rpm. It seems to have a series of heating ducts for the carb and the heads etc with different flaps to route heat where you need it. Pretty unique all aluminum engine. Any ideas? Thanks.
Russ

[wanderer]

A generator motor

[J Tiers]

I thought all their aero engines (and towmotor engines) were 4 cylinder, so generator engine sounds right.

In fact, I have seen a "ground power" generator with a 2 cylinder engine on it, that might well have been a Continental.

[torker]

Thanks wanderer...BTW, I should add, this engine has a gear driven case on the rear. It looks like it would increase the speed approx twice. Has a large gear driving a smaller one on the output side.

[darryl]

The rear drive is probably for a generator for it's own battery, or it could possibly be for a starter. Didn't some of these have a starter/generator combo?

[Evan]

Does it have a designation on the name plate? Something like O-200, O-300 or some such? Does it have a starter motor?

The Cessna 175 has a geared engine but the gearing is a gear-down to the prop. The prop drives off the camshaft. Ungeared aircraft engines are low rpm engines designed to run at around 2600 rpm max. They are high compression large bore engines and usually have a geared starter.

There were several aircraft produced early on with two cylinder engines including the Aeronca Chief but there is no record of Continental making a two cylinder aircraft engine. The first opposed engine they made was the A-40, a four cylinder engine with 27ci in 1931.

[Jason J]

The Chief had a pair of 2 cylider engines??!!

I guess that explains the old saw about "proceeding directly to the crash site" if you lose an engine on a Chief.

[Evan]

The early Chief had a two cylinder engine made by Aeronca, I think about 36hp. After that they went to 4 cylinder.

When I did my aircraft sheetmetal training at Fort Eustis There was an L-3 hanging from the ceiling in the classroom.

[wierdscience]

Continentals went in lots of things besides aircraft,generators,starters,gsu's,apu's,lite-plants etc,etc.Also the heater flaps and duct suggest it might be a gsu(ground support unit)for starting jet engines.Generator to supply dc and heater flaps to provide hot air into the intake.

[This message has been edited by wierdscience (edited 09-14-2004).]

[BillH]

Does each cylinder have 2 spark plugs?

[Kansas_Farmer]

Evan, you might want to take an O-200 apart sometime.

As a former A&P, I can assure you an O-200 does not drive the prop from the camshaft.

[Evan]

It most certainly doesn't and I didn't say it did. The engine in the Cessna 175 Skylark does though. It's a GO-300 in the early models. The G stands for geared.

If you read my post I said "The Cessna 175 has a geared engine but the gearing is a gear-down to the prop. The prop drives off the camshaft."

[This message has been edited by Evan (edited 09-14-2004).]

[Kansas_Farmer]

I have yet to see the camshaft attached to the prop hub in any engine. It might turn at a 2:1 ratio, just like the cam, but it ain't the camshaft turning the gearset to get it done.

I am aware of the designators for aircraft engines. Just a test, what's 'R' stand for, specifically.

[BillH]

Well, the camshaft is geared to the crankshaft, so the prop is actually a direct drive , it just happens to use the camshafts 2:1 gearing? Hmm, that is pretty ingenious. Simplicity is the highest form of refinement.

[Evan]

"A totally new development endeavor by Continental alone began in 1965 and led to the Tiara series of engines with high rotational speeds. All engines in this family were geared down from the angular velocity of the crankshaft to 0.5 by driving the propeller from an extension of the camshaft."

http://home.adelphia.net/~aeroengine/Continental1.html