Quote:
Originally Posted by Crumpp
The designers from the 1940's knew more about high powered piston engine aircraft design and engines than we do today.
Nobody is building 2000 hp (+) piston engine powered aircraft today.
Computer controls, chemical engineering, and materials science have allowed us to build to better engines in some respects today. As far as engine knowledge and engineering, a mechanical engineer from the 1940's would just have to learn today's design tools but there is not any new knowledge we could teach him. We could learn from his experience however!!
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Back around 1970 my father took me to see a co-worker who had built a VW-engine powered airplane in his barn. I was told that they ran lower revs with extra-heavy pistons (he showed a regular VW piston and a special 2x as heavy piston) because as he put it, you don't want the engine to seize up there. The extra weight was for extra inertia -- I was told -- to help keep the piston moving.
Was that just something special to VW engines used in small GA AC?
Perhaps 40 years ago is just ancient history. What differences do more modern regular AC IC engines have from ground car engines?