History and Development of Reciprocating Engines

Question 1

What are the four forces of flight present on an aircraft?

Answer 1

• thrust
• lift
• drag
• weight

Question 2

What is the upward acting force?

Answer 2

lift

Question 3

What is the downward acting force due to gravity?

Answer 3

weight

Question 4

What is the forward acting force?

Answer 4

thrust

Question 5

What is the backward acting force?

Answer 5

drag

Question 6

Drag is also called ___________.

Answer 6

wind resistance

Question 7

________ is generated by the motion of the airplane through the air and considered as an aerodynamic
force.

Answer 7

lift

Question 8

___________ is a force that is always directed toward the center of the earth.

Answer 8

weight

Question 9

The magnitude of the
weight depends on what?

Answer 9

• mass of all the airplane parts
• amount of fuel
• any payload on board like people, baggage, freight, etc.

Question 10

_______ is directed along and opposed to the flight direction.

Answer 10

drag

Question 11

To overcome drag, airplanes use a ______________ to generate a force called __________.

Answer 11

propulsion system, thrust

Question 12

The direction of the thrust force depends on ____________________________.

Answer 12

how the engines are attached to the aircraft

Question 13

What produces thrust to propel an aircraft?

Answer 13

aircraft engine or powerplant

Question 14

Two main types of powerplant used in aircrafts.

Answer 14

• reciprocating engines
• gas turbine engines

Question 15

Reciprocating engines or _____________ work in combination with a ___________ to produce thrust.

Answer 15

piston engines, propeller

Question 16

Gas turbine engines produce thrust by ___________________ flowing through the engine.

Answer 16

increasing the velocity of air

Question 17

Where does the reciprocating engine derive its name from?

Answer 17

the back-and-forth or reciprocating movement of its pistons

Question 18

What are powered hops?

Answer 18

partially controlled glides

Question 19

____________ designed and built steam engines that were practical in their use to propel wheeled land vehicles.

Answer 19

James Watt

Question 20

Who is considered as the “Father of Aerial Navigation”?

Answer 20

Sir George Cayley

Question 21

Who designed and experimented with a calorific engine which burned gunpowder as the
fuel?

Answer 21

Sir George Cayley

Question 22

__________________________ successfully flew a clockwork (wound spring) powered model having the very modern characteristics of monowing construction, rear empennage, tricycle gear, and with the propeller located in the nose.

Answer 22

Felix du Temple of France

Question 23

_______________ search for the ideal powerplant caused him to reject the available steam engines (too heavy) and gasoline engines (unreliable).

Answer 23

Felix du Temple’s

Question 24

He used a “hot air engine” which was reported to operate in a manner similar to that of a steam engine; unfortunately, the underpowered engine was not able to propel the aircraft beyond a “powered hop”.

Answer 24

Felix du Temple

Question 25

____________________________ model experiments employed a miniature steam engine that includes two propellers and gearing.

Answer 25

William Samuel Henson and John Stringfellow’s

Question 26

____________________ attached a steam engine to a bicycle, creating their first powered motorcycle.

Answer 26

French Michaux brothers

Question 27

____________________ journeyed to America and then to England where he eventually found two suitable steam engines of 10 and 20 horsepower (HP) for his flight experiments.

Answer 27

Alexander F. Mozhaiski

Question 28

___________________ conducted flight experiments in his steam powered “Eole” aircraft, and even claimed to be the first man to have successfully flown a heavier-than-aircraft.

Answer 28

French inventor Clement Ader

Question 29

Clement Ader's later efforts that resulted in the October 1897 flight of the Avion ill, a bat-winged aircraft powered by two 20-HP steam engines was funded by?

Answer 29

French War Ministry

Question 30

________________________ model Aerodrome experiments used small steam engines. His highly successful flights of the model Aerodrome No.5 utilized a 1 HP steam engine.

Answer 30

Samuel Pierpoint Langley's

Question 31

A crude version of the two stroke engine was initially designed by _______________ and patented in 1804. In his design, fuel and air was to be ignited in the cylinder at atmospheric pressure, a design which most likely would have resulted in relatively low power output; unfortunately, he was assassinated before he could build his engine.

Answer 31

Frenchman Phillipe Lebon d'Humberstein

Question 32

_________________________ patented a somewhat more useful two stroke engine. In their design, the ignited fuel-air mixture pushed against a free piston within a cylinder which transferred motion to another piston, rotating a shaft.

Answer 32

Eugenio Barsanti and Felice Matteucci

Question 33

________________, fascinated by inventing useful devices, began work in 1850 on a new type of engine that electrically ignited lighting gas (typically used for street lamps) with atmospheric-pressure air, thereby producing the expanding gases that could be harnessed for the generation of power.

Answer 33

Etienne Lenoir

Question 34

_________________ designed variations of the two cycle Lenoir non-compressed (atmospheric pressure) gas engine.

Answer 34

Nicolaus August Otto and his brother Wilhelm

Question 35

_______________________, then made the critical technical advance of compressing the fuel-air charge before it entered the cylinder.

Answer 35

The Otto brothers, with Eugren Langren

Question 36

The engine used by Langley in the attempted flights of his full sized Aerodrome aircraft was developed by _______________, based on a substantial redesign of a _________ automobile engine.

Answer 36

Charles M. Manly, Balzer

Question 37

The early experiments of Orville and Wilbur Wright employed ___________________ designed by Wright employee and mechanic __________________.

Answer 37

a horizontally arranged inline 4-cylinder, four cycle engine; Charles Taylor

Question 38

Types of a reciprocating engine

Answer 38

- radial engine - in-line engine - v-type engine - horizontally-opposed engine

Question 39

______________ consists of one or more rows of odd-numbered cylinders arranged in a circle around a central crankshaft.

Answer 39

radial piston engine

Question 40

Due to the small size of the crankcase, this engine type had a better power-to-weight ratio than most other designs of their day.

Answer 40

radial piston engine

Question 41

It provides the greatest drag of all the types of engines. It is also considered as the most widely used engines ever built.

Answer 41

radial piston engine

Question 42

It is also considered as straight type engine because of its cylinder arrangement.

Answer 42

in-line engine

Question 43

If the in-line engine is designed to operate with the cylinders below the crankshaft, it is called an __________________.

Answer 43

inverted engine

Question 44

If the in-line engine is designed to operate with the cylinders above the crankshaft, it is called an ____________.

Answer 44

upright engine

Question 45

The cylinders of a _______________ are arranged around a single crankshaft in two in-line banks that are 45, 60, or 90 degrees apart.

Answer 45

V-type engine

Question 46

The cylinders on a V-type engine could be above the crankshaft or below it, in which case the engine is referred to as an _________________________.

Answer 46

inverted V-type engine

Question 47

____________________ are the most popular reciprocating engines used on light aircrafts.

Answer 47

Horizontally-opposed or opposed type engines

Question 48

It is also considered as boxer type or flat type engine. It always have an even number of cylinders, and a cylinder on one side of a crankcase "opposes" a cylinder on the other side.

Answer 48

Horizontally-opposed or opposed type engines

Question 49

The temperature of the burning gases in the engine cylinder reaches up to _________________, which is above the melting point of the material of the cylinder body and head of the engine.

Answer 49

1500 to 2000°C

Question 50

Cooling system serves two purposes in the working of an engine:

Answer 50

- It takes away the excessive heat generated in the engine and saves it from overheating. - It keeps the engine at working temperature for efficient and economical working.

Question 51

Several effects of excessive heat within the engine:

Answer 51

- Adversely affects the combustion of fuel and air charge. - Weakens and shortens life of engine parts. - Impairs lubrication.

Question 52

two main requirements of an efficient engine cooling system:

Answer 52

- must be capable of removing only about 30% of the heat generated in the combustion chamber. Too much removal of heat lowers the thermal efficiency of the engine. - should remove heat at a fast rate when the engine is hot. During the starting of the engine, the cooling should be very slow so that the different working parts reach their operating temperatures in a short time.

Question 53

types of engine cooling system

Answer 53

- air cooling system - liquid cooling system