Wright Vertical 4
{{short description|1900s American piston aircraft engine}}
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
| name=Wright Vertical 4 | image=Wright Vertical Four 2.JPG | caption=Wright Vertical 4 aircraft engine on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. This particular engine was used on the Wright B-1 seaplane that crashed in 1912. A patch was bolted to the side of the crankcase in an attempt to repair the engine. }}{{Infobox Aircraft Engine |type=Liquid-cooled inline-4 piston aero engine |manufacturer=Wright Company |designer=Orville Wright |national origin=United States |first run= |major applications=Wright Model A |produced= |number built=around 100Hobbs, p. 63.Lippincott, p. 89. |program cost= |unit cost= |developed from= |variants with their own articles= }} |
The Wright Vertical 4 was an American aircraft engine built by the Wright brothers in the very early years of powered flight. It was a liquid-cooled piston engine with four inline cylinders, mounted vertically. (Earlier Wright engines were mounted horizontally.) It generated about {{convert|30-40|hp|lk=in}} from a displacement of {{convert|240|in3|L|abbr=off|sp=us}} and weighed about {{convert|160-180|lb}}. Developed by Orville Wright in 1906, the Vertical 4 was produced by the Wright Company until 1912 and was the most numerous engine they manufactured.Hobbs, p. 34.Lippincott, p. 87. Around a hundred Vertical 4 engines were built, according to a Wright test foreman.
The Vertical 4 powered most Wright aircraft during this period, including the Model A and Model B and variants built for the U.S. Army and Navy.
This engine was also built under license by Bariquand et Marre in France and by Neue Automobil-Gesellschaft in Germany.Hobbs, p. 43.
Applications
Engines on display
Wright Vertical 4 engines can be seen on display in the following museums, among others:
- National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.
- Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia
- Wright Brothers Aviation Center in Carillon Historical Park, Dayton, Ohio
- Hiller Aviation Museum, San Carlos, California
- New England Air Museum, Windsor Locks, Connecticut
- Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois
- National Museum of Flight, East Fortune, Scotland
Specifications
File:Wright Vertical Four-Cylinder Engine.jpg. This engine was originally a keepsake of Orville Wright's.]]
{{pistonspecs|
|ref={{cite web|url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/wright-vertical-4-line-4-engine-0|title=Wright Vertical 4, In-line 4 Engine (inventory A19620037000)|publisher=Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum|accessdate=12 June 2018}}
|type=4-cylinder, liquid-cooled inline piston aircraft engine
|bore={{cvt|4.375|in|0}}
|stroke={{cvt|4|in|0}}
|displacement={{cvt|240|in3|L}}
|length={{cvt|40.75|in}}
|diameter=
|width={{cvt|18|in|0}}
|height={{cvt|27|in|0}}
|weight={{cvt|160–180|lb|-1}}Hobbs, p. 62.
|valvetrain=overhead valve, two valves per cylinder, "automatic" intake valve (driven by suction), exhaust valve actuated by camshaft and pushrod
|supercharger=
|turbocharger=
|fuelsystem=
|fueltype=
|oilsystem=
|coolingsystem=liquid-cooled
|power=Initially {{cvt|28|hp}} at 1325 rpm, later up to {{cvt|42|hp}} at 1500 rpm.
|specpower=
|compression=
|fuelcon=
|specfuelcon=
|oilcon=
|power/weight=
|designer=Orville Wright
|reduction_gear=
|general_other=
|components_other=
|performance_other=
}}
{{aircontent
|see also=
|related=
|similar aircraft=
|lists=
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- This article contains material that originally came from the placard at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
Bibliography
{{cite book |last1=Hobbs |first1=Leonard S. |title=Smithsonian Annals of Flight, No. 5: The Wright Brothers' Engines and Their Design |date=1971 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |location=Washington, D.C. |url=http://www.sil.si.edu/smithsoniancontributions/AnnalsofFlight/pdf_hi/SAOF-0005.pdf}}
{{cite book |author-last=Lippincott |author-first=Harvey H. |editor-last=Wolko |editor-first=Howard S. |title=The Wright Flyer: An Engineering Perspective |chapter=Propulsion Systems of the Wright Brothers |date=1987 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=0-87474-979-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/wrightflyerengin00wolk/page/87 87]–89 |url=https://archive.org/details/wrightflyerengin00wolk}}
{{cite book |editor1-last=McFarland |editor1-first=Marvin W. |title=The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Including the Chanute-Wright Letters and Other Papers of Octave Chanute |volume=Two: 1906–1948 |date=1953 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=New York |pages=1215–1216}}
External links
{{Commons category|Wright Vertical 4}}
- {{cite web|url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/wright-vertical-4-line-4-engine-0|title=Wright Vertical 4, In-line 4 Engine|publisher=Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum|accessdate=8 June 2018}} (Former keepsake of Orville Wright, inventory A19620037000.)
- {{cite web|url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/wright-vertical-4-line-4-engine|title=Wright Vertical 4, In-line 4 Engine|publisher=Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum|accessdate=8 June 2018}} (U.S. Navy Wright Model B engine, inventory A19520108000.)
- {{cite web|url=http://www.wright-brothers.org/Information_Desk/Just_the_Facts/Engines_&_Props/440_Engine.htm|title=1906-1912 Wright 4-40 Engine|publisher=www.wright-brothers.org|accessdate=9 June 2018}} Further detail on the engine's construction and history, and pointers to references.