So, according to you experts, the winners are: the P&W 1830 and 2800?
What a fascinating thread. LeadSled, that triggered my best laugh today!
Have only handled the 1830, serviced in the UK by Fields in the late 'Sixties. "Lost" only one in 500 hours. Not everyone was that fortunate. But will never forget sitting next to a 2800 (in the No.3 nacelle of a 6B) for 13 hours as a boy, mainly at night, en-route from Brazzaville to Nice. An occasional sight of the white-hot exhaust stack, as the gills opened, and the steady throb... Watching the often protracted procedure of firing up 4 big radials in the dusk in Africa is what first got me hooked.
BTW, no one has specifically mentioned the (sleeve-valved?) Hercules yet?