Autodidact
Well-Known Member
Four cylinder radial engine, single throw crank with 180, 270, 180, 90 firing sequence, or a 90, 90, 90, 450 firing sequence.
The firing order is definitely odd, but the rotating assembly - I think - would be nicely balanced. Like two Briggs V-twins stuck together in a radial configuration. I know that radials based on B&S cylinders and heads have been done - this thread is not about that. Also, this would not have much resemblance to the Fairchild-Caminez engine other than appearance. It would be mechanically simple in comparison to the Fairchild-Caminez (forked rods being the worst of it) which also had an uneven firing order but also suffered from high side loading on the pistons. This one would not have any more side loading on the pistons that any modern engine. Does anyone think the strange firing sequence could be dealt with (there have been some successful odd-fire engines), and does anyone know of a similar engine that has been built and what were its problems? The Fairchild-Caminez was light for its displacement at 340 lb for 447.3 ci, and I assume that this one could be similar in that respect.
The vidsnippets below are the two firing sequences for the radial plus an even fire for comparison @ 800 rpm; I did these with an online drum machine. I think the 180, 270, 180, 90 would be the best - but that is pure conjecture, I really have no idea:
[video=youtube_share;gM3D44tyfsU]http://youtu.be/gM3D44tyfsU[/video]
[video=youtube_share;N-JYjjztTp8]http://youtu.be/N-JYjjztTp8[/video]
[video=youtube_share;SunA_yHqT-k]http://youtu.be/SunA_yHqT-k[/video]
The firing order is definitely odd, but the rotating assembly - I think - would be nicely balanced. Like two Briggs V-twins stuck together in a radial configuration. I know that radials based on B&S cylinders and heads have been done - this thread is not about that. Also, this would not have much resemblance to the Fairchild-Caminez engine other than appearance. It would be mechanically simple in comparison to the Fairchild-Caminez (forked rods being the worst of it) which also had an uneven firing order but also suffered from high side loading on the pistons. This one would not have any more side loading on the pistons that any modern engine. Does anyone think the strange firing sequence could be dealt with (there have been some successful odd-fire engines), and does anyone know of a similar engine that has been built and what were its problems? The Fairchild-Caminez was light for its displacement at 340 lb for 447.3 ci, and I assume that this one could be similar in that respect.
The vidsnippets below are the two firing sequences for the radial plus an even fire for comparison @ 800 rpm; I did these with an online drum machine. I think the 180, 270, 180, 90 would be the best - but that is pure conjecture, I really have no idea:
[video=youtube_share;gM3D44tyfsU]http://youtu.be/gM3D44tyfsU[/video]
[video=youtube_share;N-JYjjztTp8]http://youtu.be/N-JYjjztTp8[/video]
[video=youtube_share;SunA_yHqT-k]http://youtu.be/SunA_yHqT-k[/video]
