Engineering Johnson posted a photo of a World War I biplane engine and a commenter called it a radial engine. It does look like a radial, but radial engines have a rotating crankshaft. The engines on early biplanes were often what is called a rotary engine. The crankshaft is stationary and the engine spins around it. They are a different sort of beast, and they packed a lot of power in a light package. Here are some videos that show a little bit about them. Pilots were subjected to castor oil that exhausted from the engine. The Germans used mineral oil, and that caused fouling problems with the sparkplugs, so they moved away from the rotary designs.
Cover them over with beautiful flowers, Deck them with garlands, those brothers of ours, Lying so silent by night and by day Sleeping the years of their manhood away. Give them the meed they have won in the past; Give them the honors their future forcast; Give them the chaplets they won in the strife; Give them the laurels they lost with their life.
Thank You, Merle! This is a good one to watch if you are thinking about a project like this. Shortcuts will bite you, and sooner than later.
We have been enjoying August Hunicke's videos. He is an arborist out west, and he has great skills, a great crew, and a full complement of equipment. He also sells his own line of arborist rigging at Monkey Beaver. Pour a cup of coffee and watch him take down this ash piece by piece.
We had a pair of barred owls denning in the dog yard, and they disappeared. We have visual confirmation, of the reason, and it is just as we suspected. The U.S. govt. was shooting barred owls out west, because they thought that barred owls were killing spotted owls. My money is on the trash pandas being the problem.
Tjos week's post was suggested by Zeke, who is a lifelong train enthusiast. He wrote, "General Motors filmed this in 37 and released in 38. It has some good shots of streamliners and early switch engines. I think most of the Burlington locos were shot around Chicago as I see the Western Ave coal tower appear in some of the footage. There’s even a cameo by 3007 on a turntable, presumably in Aurora. O.T. rode behind that at least once. It’s preserved at Union IL. Click to video 1. Thanks for the links, Zeke!
