The Wright R-790 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical Corporation , with a total displacement of about 790 cubic inches (12.9 L) and around 200 horsepower (150 kW). These engines were the earliest members of the Wright Whirlwind engine family.
16-585: The R-790 Whirlwind began as the Lawrance J-1 , a nine-cylinder air-cooled radial developed in 1921 by the Lawrance Aero Engine Company for the U.S. Navy. The Navy was very enthusiastic about air-cooled engines, which it considered better suited for naval use than liquid-cooled ones. Lawrance was a small company, though, and the Navy doubted it could produce enough engines for its needs. Despite urgings from
32-539: A displacement of 788 in (12.91 L). In a 1928 report on transcontinental aviation, the author disclosed the cost of a typical five-seat commercial aircraft as $ 12,500, of which $ 5,000 was for one of the 350 200 hp Whirlwind Engines available that year. The J-5 was the last of the original nine-cylinder Whirlwinds. In 1928, it was replaced by the seven-cylinder Whirlwind J-6 . Many Whirlwind engines were used in U.S. Navy aircraft, mostly in trainers, but also in some ship-based observation and fighter aircraft. As
48-527: A further 300 engines from 1935 to 1938. Polish-built J-5s were used in numerous Polish aircraft, mostly in military training, observation, and liaison aircraft. Some museums which have J-5 Whirlwinds (or the military R-790 equivalents) on display: Also on display at the San Francisco International Airport, International Terminal. Older Whirlwinds on display are harder to find. The National Museum of Naval Aviation has two J-4s, one of which
64-471: A new curator and collections manager. In early 2024, the museum announced plans for a new 35,000 sq ft (3,300 m ) hangar that will include a Challenger Learning Center and a digital dome to be used as a planetarium. Exhibits include the history of Sikorsky Aircraft , computer-based flight simulators, and the 58th Bombardment Wing Memorial with the centerpiece being a restored B-29A. Additionally, there are exhibits on early French aviation,
80-470: A storage hangar in 2010. The museum was renovated in 2017 with the addition of a mezzanine in two of the hangars to provide views of the aircraft from above. At the same time, a new heating and air conditioning system and LED lighting were installed. In June 2023, the museum opened a new exhibit about the Tuskegee Airmen and received a grant to build a recording studio. The following month it hired
96-678: Is a cutaway. The New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks , Connecticut , has a Lawrance J-1 , the Whirlwind's direct predecessor. Data from Type certificate data sheet for the Whirlwind J-5 ; dimensions from "Model Designations of U.S.A.F. Aircraft Engines" Related development Related lists Lawrance J-1 Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include
112-524: The Spirit of St. Louis , powered by a single Whirlwind J-5C. During Lindbergh's flight, the engine ran continuously for 33.5 hours. Lindbergh's achievement greatly boosted the Whirlwind's already good reputation. Some other historic long-duration flights made in aircraft powered by the J-5 Whirlwind: Charles L. Lawrance , who developed the original Whirlwind series and became president of Wright, won
128-547: The 1927 Collier Trophy for his work on air-cooled radial aircraft engines. The J-5 Whirlwind was built by Hispano-Suiza in France . The Whirlwind J-5 was also produced under license in Poland by several makers. Among these were Polskie Zakłady Skody , the Polish branch of Škoda Works , which built about 350 to 400 engines from 1929 to 1931, and the Polish firm Avia , which manufactured
144-598: The J-1 engine, introducing the J-3, J-4, J-4A, and J-4B. The changes improved the engine's reliability, cooling, and fuel consumption, but the basic design, dimensions, and performance were unaltered. The J-4 was the first engine to bear the Whirlwind name; previous engines used only the alphanumeric code. The J-5 Whirlwind, introduced in 1925, was a complete redesign of the engine with greatly improved cooling and breathing, further increasing its reliability and reducing fuel consumption. Among
160-576: The Navy's business, Wright complied in 1923 and the Lawrance J-1 became the Wright J-1. By the time Lawrance merged with Wright, it had already developed the more powerful J-2, a version of the J-1 with slightly enlarged bore and displacement. However, Lawrance decided the J-1 was large enough, and the J-2 never went into production; only two examples were built. Over the next two years, Wright gradually refined
176-415: The Navy, the major U.S. aircraft engine makers, Wright and Curtiss , were satisfied with their liquid-cooled engines and showed no interest in building air-cooled engines. Since the Navy was already a major buyer of Wright engines, it pressured Wright into purchasing Lawrance and building the J-1 itself, by informing the company that the Navy would buy no more of its existing engines or spare parts. To retain
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#1732869643426192-553: The New England Air Museum is to present the story of aviation, the human genius that made it possible and the profound effects that it has had on the way in which we live. The museum began when a group of Pratt & Whitney employees formed the Connecticut Aeronautical Historical Association to save a biplane built by Louis Bancroft. While the airplane would later be destroyed in a fire,
208-967: The details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 828381610 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 08:40:43 GMT New England Air Museum The New England Air Museum (NEAM) is an American aerospace museum located adjacent to Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks , Connecticut . The museum consists of three display hangars with additional storage and restoration hangars. Its collections include aircraft ranging from early flying machines to supersonic jets, as well as engines, and other pieces of flight-related equipment. Significant aircraft include The museum library has approximately 6,000 aviation books, approximately 20,000 periodicals, approximately 10,000 technical manuals, approximately 21,000 photographs, nearly 8,000 slides, over 200 pieces of artwork, over 1,200 prints, and approximately 500 engineering drawing and blueprints. The mission of
224-561: The engines were refined and their reputation for reliability grew, their use expanded to U.S. Army trainers and a wide range of U.S. civil aircraft, including the earliest versions of the Fokker Trimotor and Ford Trimotor airliners. The reliability of J-5 Whirlwind engines also led aviators to use them for a number of record-setting distance and endurance flights. The most famous of these is Charles Lindbergh 's solo transatlantic flight from New York City to Paris on May 20–21, 1927, in
240-400: The group continued. The first display building, an inflatable dome, was erected in 1967. In 1981, the first current building was built after a tornado destroyed the then Bradley Air Museum's previous outdoor location along Route 75 in 1979. The museum has since added a restoration hangar in 1989, a storage building in 1991, a military hangar in 1992, a 58th Bomb Wing Hangar in 2003, and
256-514: The visible changes was the much wider separation between the valves, for better cooling airflow, and completely enclosed, instead of exposed pushrods and rocker arms . The U.S. government later designated the J-5 Whirlwind as the R-790, but it did not apply this designation to the older engines. All these engines had a bore of 4.5 in (11.4 cm), a stroke of 5.5 in (14.0 cm), and
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