[tooseevee]

      Waddayoo call a radial engine (in a plane) where the whole engine spins around to spin the prop instead of the crankshaft spinning it? 

[Arschloch]

The Gnome...

...I think they called it just rotary engine.

[Richard230]

The Gnome...

...I think they called it just rotary engine.

That is right.  Not a favorite engine of pilots flying early powered aircraft.  Once the radial engine was designed and manufactured, the rotary engine went the way of the horse and buggy.

[Arschloch]

Cooling was very good and it didn't even need a flywheel. 

[Bilgemaster]

And if you were wondering what on earth Radial/Rotary Engines might possibly have to do with motorcycles, check out the Megola.

[heloego]

A very interesting WIKI about the Rotary Engines here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_engine

There was a Gnome on a stand at the school where I got my A&P license, but no parts available for a class rebuild, and it was seriously deteriorated anyway.

[Arschloch]

I am pretty sure the rotary engine powered planes such us the Sopwith Camel or the Focker Dr-1 have been some of the most exciting aeroplanes to command. How did the pilots in WW1 found the time to aim and shoot in the middle of all this excitement?..with the goggles covered  full with unburned castor oil and an engine that may give up on you any time...truly exciting. 

[mattsz]

My local transportation museum has a working static display of an original 1917 example:



Three guys operate it - one to spin it up, one to control the fuel, and one to operate the contact points. The noise level is shocking! Nearly all the spectators' fingers go straight to their ears when it begins to run.  I can't imagine sitting right behind it for any length of time while it drags your ass around the sky.

[mattsz]

Here's a short (2 minute) video:

https://youtu.be/pae7aVu_LgI

The spinning of the engine and propeller combined with the frame rate of the video creates some very interesting movement tricks - sometimes they look like they're moving fast, other times slow or even not at all. This effect isn't new to any of you, but it's cool here, because even though the engine and prop are turning exactly the same speed, there's only 2 prop blades but 9 cylinders, so they sync up with the camera differently and they appear to be turning at different speeds...

[mattsz]

Sorry for the multiple posts, but the forum is screwing with me again, I had to split it up after many tries...

[Guaire]

Now this is a radial engine motorcycle. This machine is in Virginia.

https://thekneeslider.com/the-story-behind-kevin-deshazers-3-cylinder-radial-engine/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aeFKeRTgj8

[tooseevee]

The Gnome...

...I think they called it just rotary engine.

            Radial, Otto. Not rotary 

[tooseevee]

      Waddayoo call a radial engine (in a plane) where the whole engine spins around to spin the prop instead of the crankshaft spinning it? 

        I did not make my question clear enough.

        What I really should have asked is simply WHY did the designers think the radial engine that spins the whole engine around would be better than the radial engine that was stationary and only the PROP turned as with an automotive cooling fan ?

   It would seem to me like trying to fly a Sperry gyroscope 

[Richard230]

I beg to disagree.  The type of engine that rotates with the propeller is a "rotary" engine. The engine that stays fixed to the firewall and rotates the propeller is called a "radial" engine:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_engine

[tooseevee]

If I understood my instructors correctly, the Radial (fixed) Engine would produce such torque that if uncorrected with the flight controls would force the aircraft to roll opposite the direction of the engine rotation.

        But aren't they both radial engines?; the cylinders being configured on the radii of a circle?

         Yes. One's fixed and one's rotating, but they're both radial.