Bristol Centaurus

4000HP – that’s almost as much as the 28-cylinder radials used in the Globemasters!

Bri 😮

And that was just the start though from what i’ve read, by that time designers could more accurately predict what kind of power they would be able to eventually get.

4000HP – that’s almost as much as the 28-cylinder radials used in the Globemasters!

Bri 😮

Can anyone tell me what the most powerful version of this engine was? I’ve searched the internet but there seems to be much less information on it as there is for e.g. Rolls-Royce engines.

Also, does anyone know of any books etc. that might provide a good description of its development history?

From Bill Gunston’s ‘World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines’

Planned for heavy aircraft, the first Centaurus ran in July 1938 and was type-tested in 1939 at 2,000hp, but foolishly the importance of this engine was overlooked until 1943, despite the fact that the CE.45 prototype reached 421mph in a Hawker Tornado in October 1941. In late 1942 the 2-speed supercharged Centaurus was type-tested at 2,375hp, and cleared for production – in an underground quarry at Corsham – as the MkV and MkXI at 2,520hp. Many other versions followed for military and civilian aircraft, most having a Bendix or Hobson/RAE injection carburettor and being rated at up to 2,810hp with water/methanol injection. Post-war versions included the 2,625hp Mk661 for the Ambassador, 2,940hp Mk 173 for the Beverley and 3,220hp Mk 373 with direct injection into the Cylinders.

Before Feddon left the company in 1942 he had initiated constriction of the Orion, with 18 cylinders 6.25” x 7”, capacity 4,142 cu in, to give 4,000hp.

0903409070 By Jupiter, the Life of Sir Roy Fedden, by Bill Gunston.

Hi Doug, Alec Lumsden in his “British piston aero engines and their aircraft” quotes , 2625hp as the highest hp.

Andy