Originally Posted by
Jhieminga
Gary, I for one do not quite see where you are asking questions. You started out with a bold statement, continued to support this by further statements but to you it feels like you're asking questions. I think this thread could have gotten off to a very different start if you had opened with a question. "I get the impression that the Handley Page O/400 is quite an influential and important type... what do you think?" would have been an option.
Boldly stating that something is 'the most important' is always a bad idea, as you're measuring this against your own yardstick and unilaterally declaring a winner. I can think of several types, but also several different yardsticks, and discussing these would be interesting but no doubt we would not end up with the same result that you got. The history of aviation is a long one with several influential types in it, but also with many different paths that lead to where we are now. The O/400 played a part in this, many others have done their best to quantify this and evaluate this influence, discarding all that in one fell swoop is not really fair to those others. At least acknowledge these other views, it's better for the tone of the discussion.
Originally Posted by
Allan Lupton
The only thing in common between the RR Ghost engine and the Hawk is the number of cylinders. The Ghost is a cast iron side-valve engine and the Hawk is a fabricated separate-cylinder with overhead valves and camshaft. Doubling up for a V12 does not change that
As for Daimler (Mercedes) being the first OHC in 1914, Pomeroy's book "The Grand Prix Car" tells us that the 1912 Peugeot and the 1911 FIAT were OHC. The presumption that as RR did not race they would not have taken any interest in developments of racing engines is just as improbable
Edit to ask: what did the epicyclic control gear you are thinking of control?
Good afternoon
Many thanks for the reply. The 2 ghost engines were combined to produce the Eagle engine
As to the gearing I believe it was to reduce the crank revolutions for the propeller
Many thanks
Gary