Old 4 banger I.D.?

[blue up]

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j279/foggythomas/Aeroengine1_zps5cf0308e.jpg (http://s82.photobucket.com/user/foggythomas/media/Aeroengine1_zps5cf0308e.jpg.html)

Very nice lady I know has asked if I could find out what engine this is. Any suggestions? Probably post-WW2 British but open to suggestions.

Thanks

[Tiger_mate]

If the exhausts are mounted correctly, it would suggest that it could be a 'pusher' engine. Horizontally opposed is a favourite of BMW whose origins lay in aero engines. There must be some clues cast within I would have expected.

[blue up]

When I saw the pic I thought the pulley might have a groove for a rope-pull start, suggesting an industrial application, but...
The fuel priming cups look very much like 1926 Austin Seven primers, suggesting British origins?

[bcgallacher]

Looks like a two stroke - must have made a hell of a noise!

[bcgallacher]

The only engine that I could find that seems fit the photograph is an American engine of the late 1940's named the Nelson H44 - I do not believe it was ever certified. Having only single ignition it was probably built as something like a target drone engine. Would be pleased if someone can come up with a more positive identification - this is just an educated guess.

[onetrack]

I reckon Tiger_mate and bcgallacher have nailed it very accurately. A Nelson H44 (or perhaps the slightly larger H49) pusher engine, that powered the Bowlus BB-1.
With 25HP (or 29HP in the H49), you'd need a set of pedals as well, to get any measurable ROC. :)

Bowlus (Nelson) BB-1 - (http://www.aviastar.org/air/usa/bowlus_bb-1.php)

[chevvron]

Possibly a McCulloch 2-stroke originally designed for drones but used by the great Ken Wallis in pusher configuration in his early gyrocopters.

[blue up]

Thanks guys.
I was sent another link last night that might be 'the clincher'. Seems the H-44 is the correct identity.

http://www.shu-aero.com/AeroPhotos_Shu_Aero/Aircraft_F/Goodyear/AO_3_02.jpg

Looks like the Pprune collektiv scores another goal.

Result! :ok:

[blue up]

http://www.shu-aero.com/AeroPhotos_Shu_Aero/Aircraft_F/Goodyear/AO_3_02.jpg

Inflatable aeroplane????

[onetrack]

Here's the original spec sheet, as produced by the FAA in April 1947 for the "Nelson Auxiliary Power Glider, BB-1" (AKA the Bowlus BB-1). It covers both the aircraft and engine specs for the H-44 and the H-49 engines.

http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgMakeModel.nsf/0/8db86e618c946c038525673c00665b17/$FILE/ATTRYH3Y/GTC19.pdf

Here's some background info on the manufacturer.

Nelson Specialty Welding Equipment Corp. was started during the Second World War by Ted Nelson, a welder working on U. S. Navy ships in California.
He noted the great amount of difficulty shipbuilders were having in securing the wood decking to steel decks on aircraft carriers.

In order to secure or fasten the wood to the decks, holes had to be drilled through both the wood and the decks, and then fasteners were inserted and tightened from the underside.
This method was both time consuming and costly. Ted Nelson designed a stud welding gun that could be used from the topside to weld studs through pre- drilled holes in the wood to the steel deck, thus eliminating drilling and thru-bolting.

As a result, the Nelson Specialty Welding Equipment Corp. was awarded two Army-Navy "E" citations which credited the Nelson® process for having saved 50 million man hours during the WW2.

At some stage (in the early 1950's I think), Nelson Specialty Welding Equipment Corp. became Nelson Stud Welding, and the company still operates today in the stud welding, robotic track welding, fixed or auto feed systems, mechanical fasteners and associated hardware fields.

It appears that Ted Nelson lashed out with an aeronautical dream, as the FAA sheet is titled "Nelson Aircraft Corporation". I would guess that this company folded quietly during the early 1950's, when it became obvious making power-assisted gliders wasn't going to be a huge money spinner.

I'm a little surprised that there isn't more information readily available on what was quite an enterprising post-WW2 aeronautical effort.
I can't even find a picture of a Nelson aero engine, nor any record of one in any air museum.

[blue up]

There seems to be one in the US "National Soaring Museum" plus this one. Not sure if it is of much more than of mere historic interest since there can't be many airframes that can be flown on just 25hp.

If anyone is interested I could put in a kindly word with the owner.

[bcgallacher]

Chevvron - the McCulloch engines had much finer cylinder fins closer spaced - I had a close look at the Wallis Autogyro engine - the man himself showed me over it after a display. It was also fitted with a downdraught carb on top of the crankcase. The carb in fact was a Claudel Hobson AI 48 HIM from a Gypsy Major.
Dont ask how the hell I remembered that as I could not tell you!