Avro Lancaster spark plugs How Many ?

Surely a Lanc has 98? 24 in each Merlin & 2 in the Triumph APU thingie?:D

Hence one of the better wind ups on here when we referred to the engine in my Rearwin as being either an 8-cylinder single row or twelve two row!

I thought we had reached some sort of a conclusion on that one. Your Beaver is powered by a single cylinder small bore engine that has an AD on it because of bad lubrication.

I would have thought 96 would be a nice number for a Lanc. (Merlin)

At todays prices that is getting on for £2500 plus a days wages for a fitter, or Moocher if you can`t get a fitter!

Sorry mate, couldn`t resist it 🙂

Pete

Certainly it used Anzani cylinders but I couldn’t find out much more ‘Googling’. The fact it was recorded as a single-row doesn’t mean that it was, as you suggest very easy to confuse this with a two-row as the cylinders don’t overlap.

Anybody out there know for sure.

It all boils down to whether the crank has one or two connections. I spent part of last night (I must need help) trying to work out how a firing order woud work for a 6 cylinder radial and I could not get there. It might work if it was a two stroke but . . .

Listed in a book here are a “modernized Anzani” so a two-row three.

Certainly it used Anzani cylinders but I couldn’t find out much more ‘Googling’. The fact it was recorded as a single-row doesn’t mean that it was, as you suggest very easy to confuse this with a two-row as the cylinders don’t overlap.

Anybody out there know for sure.

1928 Potez 6-cylinder single-row radial?

Listed in a book here are a “modernized Anzani” so a two-row three. There was the Curtiss Challenger, another two-row three that gave 180hp but vibrated badly.

There is one that was a true single-row six but I can’t remember which one.

1928 Potez 6-cylinder single-row radial?

I think it might have been a French manfacturer that made a 6 cylinder.

Anzani made a 6 but that was a two row 3 in effect and so not a true six. There is one that was a true single-row six but I can’t remember which one. The Caudron in the RAF museum has an Anzani two-row six as I remember.

For the uninitiated the problem is firing order. A seven (such as the one I am quite fond of) fires 1,3,5,7,2,4,6 and is very smooth as a result since one fires, the next is missed, the next fires and so on. This is possible with a simple crank with one master rod that has the others slaved to it and just one big end. Getting a six to run smoothly would be a nightmare, getting a five or a seven to run smooth is easy.

Hence one of the better wind ups on here when we referred to the engine in my Rearwin as being either an 8-cylinder single row or twelve two row! There apparently was a six done by someone but it was not successful (No? really???). I know of single, two and four row but are there any three row?

In France last week there was a lovely two row radial on show that may have been a BMW. It was only about 3ft in diameter and would have fitted into the cowl on the Rearwin (and totally screwed the c of g) but it looked great. Mind you, having pulled fourteen plugs myself yesterday and having fourteen valves to check tappet clearances on today I can see the allure of a sleeve valve! Sleeve valve diesel would be even better.

On the other hand how about the B-36. Six p & w R-4360 with 28 cylinders, 56 spark plugs and 56 manually adjustable valves per engine and it had six, that is 336 spark plugs!

So a squadron of B-36s would almost keep a spark plug manufacturer in buisiness for the service life of the aircraft then?:D

Hence one of the better wind ups on here when we referred to the engine in my Rearwin as being either an 8-cylinder single row or twelve two row! There apparently was a six done by someone but it was not successful (No? really???). I know of single, two and four row but are there any three row?

I think it might have been a French manfacturer that made a 6 cylinder. I have actually seen a photo in my dim and distant past. Yes, I had to count ém twice just to be sure. I have not come across a 3 bank radial, but I have seen a straight 8 (Rolls Royce block in a Leyland recovery vehicle), it was very smooth.

How many spark plugs were there on the Dornier Do X?

Bear in mind it flew 2 different types of engine during its career.

Hello

“Thankyou for your answers
The picture appears in a work mates book.
He asked me to guess how many spark plugs a lancaster has.
I guessed 48 or 96 to be told the book said the lady is holding one of
64 spark plugs, for a Lancaster.
Hopefully i should get to see the book on wednesday to see if my work
mates memory or the books faulty.”

The book this Raf Bomber Command in the second world war .
The hardest Victory

By Denis Richards
By Penguin books classic military history 2001.

Doh its my work mates memory( he his getting on ).The caption says its 96 !

Thank you again

Surely that has to be a record…unless anybody knows different.

That’s easy: Hughes HK-1 ‘Spruce Goose’.

Eight R-4360s making up a total of 448 spark plugs for one aircraft.

V1?

We have a winner!

I thought I might catch a few people out with that as it’s a bit of a trick question.

The spark plug on the V1 fitted in the Argus pulse-jet was only used for starting.

V1?

How about the B-36. Six p & w R-4360 with 28 cylinders, 56 spark plugs and 56 manually adjustable valves per engine and it had six, that is 336 spark plugs!

Surely that has to be a record…unless anybody knows different.

At the other end of the scale I can think of an aircraft (built in the thousands) that had only one spark plug…

…any guesses?

In general a radial engine has an odd number of cylinders per bank. If it doesn’t, you’ll feel when it’s running.

Hence one of the better wind ups on here when we referred to the engine in my Rearwin as being either an 8-cylinder single row or twelve two row! There apparently was a six done by someone but it was not successful (No? really???). I know of single, two and four row but are there any three row?

In France last week there was a lovely two row radial on show that may have been a BMW. It was only about 3ft in diameter and would have fitted into the cowl on the Rearwin (and totally screwed the c of g) but it looked great. Mind you, having pulled fourteen plugs myself yesterday and having fourteen valves to check tappet clearances on today I can see the allure of a sleeve valve! Sleeve valve diesel would be even better.

On the other hand how about the B-36. Six p & w R-4360 with 28 cylinders, 56 spark plugs and 56 manually adjustable valves per engine and it had six, that is 336 spark plugs!

I was kinda vaguely aware the Hercules was an odd number of cylinders, but would have to have lucked in to get the right number. And as for Wikipedia, I fully support your point, but (so far) I’m finding it not too bad on simple factual stuff (I know, I know, someone will point out …) it’s the curly why’s and wherefore’s that are a magnet for the opinionated.

So are we saying 2 plugs per cylinder for the Herc? 112 in total?

cheers D

In general a radial engine has an odd number of cylinders per bank. If it doesn’t, you’ll feel when it’s running.

Yep, Hercules definitely two plugs per cylinder so 112 in total…

…and no valve-clearances to adjust! 🙂

I was kinda vaguely aware the Hercules was an odd number of cylinders, but would have to have lucked in to get the right number. And as for Wikipedia, I fully support your point, but (so far) I’m finding it not too bad on simple factual stuff (I know, I know, someone will point out …) it’s the curly why’s and wherefore’s that are a magnet for the opinionated.

So are we saying 2 plugs per cylinder for the Herc? 112 in total?

cheers D