AVIATION ENGINES
By JOHN C. CHADWICK
LIEUTENANT (J.G.) U.S.N.R.F.
PREFACE
In writing this book the author has endeavored to set forth the underlying principles of the Internal Combustion Engine as used in Aviation. The actual engines discussed are those that were used most widely by the United States Naval Aviation Corps during the recent war. They may be taken as very representative and highly efficient engines covering the field of American aviation in general at the present time. The Rotary Engine is not discussed, since its use was discontinued by our Navy, although it was widely used in light foreign planes, particularly those of French design.
The author has endeavored to set forth in non-technical language and without the use of mathematics, the main features of the principles employed in any internal combustion gasoline engine, and show their adaptation, in the three engines specifically discussed: the Liberty, Curtiss model OXX, and Hispano Suiza.
The purpose of this book is to give anyone desiring to operate an airplane, a fundamental understanding of engines as used. It is founded on the course of instructions as given at the U. S. Naval Aviation Detachment, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Training Pilots for service. It is not intended for purposes of design, criticism or recommendation, but simply for instruction of the average individual, assuming he knows nothing of a gas engine.