The Rise & Fall of the Radial Airplane Engine - History & Technical

The Radial engine was once the pinnacle of internal combustion engine design, but has gone mostly extinct. What happened? The Radial first ousted the Rotary, then to a large extent the inline engines (V12's) before the Radial itself was ousted. In this video we briefly go through the history of the radial and we also take a bit of a deep dive into radial engine design and see what made it such a great engine. If you like this video you will love this one - WWII Aero V12 Engines Design Explained : https://youtu.be/Tz8vTnl-pAU Chapters 0:00 The "Magic" of the Radial 0:21 Humble Beginnings 0:49 The Rotary Engine (Pros) 1:34 The Rotary Engine (Cons) 2:01 The Rise of the Air-cooled Radial 3:02 Basic Radial Engine Design 3:40 Radial Firing Order 4:03 Radial Firing Interval 4:59 Radial Crankshaft 6:17 Radial Valve Operation 6:36 Radial Primary Balance 7:04 Radial Secondary Balance 10:46 Radial Disadvantages 12:13 The Fall of the Radial Airplane Engine 14:03 Post-War Radial Applications 14:19 Modern Radials Creative Commons attribution: "Radial engine timing" animation by Stoianovici (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Radial_engine_timing.gif) license (https://rb.gy/660n3a) zoom, cropped, arrows & text overlaid "Radial engine large" animation by Duk (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Radial_engine_large.gif) license (https://rb.gy/660n3a) arrows & text overlaid "4StrokeEngine Ortho 3D" by Zephyris (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:4StrokeEngine_Ortho_3D_Small.gif) license (https://rb.gy/660n3a) overlaid lines & arrows Secondary unbalance force in a 7 cylinder radial by Pasimi (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Engine_Balance7.gif) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) overlaid text Boeing-Stearman E75 N5729N by Julian Herzog (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Free_Documentation_License) no changes Salmson 9Z by Duch.seb (https://rb.gy/660n3a) overlaid text Rotary engine animation by MichaelFrey (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) overlaid text & arrow Rotary engine animation by MichaelFrey (https://rb.gy/660n3a) increased spinning speed Old Flywheel by Andrew Eaton (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/) overlaid cross Rolls-Royce Merlin by JAW (https://rb.gy/660n3a) overlaid text LeBlond 90-5F by Darkroom (https://rb.gy/660n3a) no changes BMW 132 (radial conrods) by Kogo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Free_Documentation_License) no changes XK engine camshafts by HReuter (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) overlaid cross Piston by S. Diddy (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en) no changes Crankshaft by Alex Kovach (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en) no changes Pleuel-Käfer (conrod) by Benutzer:Thomas Ihle (https://rb.gy/660n3a) no changes Crankshaft two stroke Engine by Werntec (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Free_Documentation_License) no changes Conrod4M5ms by Bryllig (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) stopped, paused Elsbett-3cyl by Dan Wesson (https://rb.gy/660n3a) no changes Republic P-47 Thunderbolt by Eric Friedebach (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) zoom F4U-5NL Corsair (NX43RW) by Alan Wilson (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en) zoomed in slightly F6F-5 Hellcat by David Merrett (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en) no changes Spitfire Mk XIV by David Merrett (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en) no changes BMW VI by W2k2 (https://rb.gy/660n3a) no changes "Biggest radial cutaway" by Phil Genera (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/) zoomed in Pratt & Whitney R-4360 at Kalamazoo Air Zoo by D. Miller (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) zoomed in, text overlaid CL215 43 Grupo by Javiramos43 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en) no changes Creative Commons video attribution: Sopwith Camel fires up its engine by scribex (https://youtu.be/vx8SgJTQh34), License CC-BY Sopwith Camel Run Old Warden 22 September 2012 by Oldwardenman (https://youtu.be/LzqswhHF12E), License CC-BY Sopwith Camel Run 2 Old Warden 22 September 2012 by Oldwardenman (https://youtu.be/knfADySOEL0), License CC-BY Gyroscopic precession demonstration by MITK12Videos (https://youtu.be/iaauRiRX4do), License CC-BY Bombing Missions, 1944 220451-07 by footagefarm (https://youtu.be/z9mh-sD-kzE), License CC-BY RAF Spitfires Taking Off by footagefarm (https://youtu.be/EsJgn1Me5I), License CC-BY B 17 b roll by Arizona Commemorative Air Force Museum (https://youtu.be/NJj8gXRVcW0), License CC-BY Radial at National Air & Space Museum, Dulles by iros532 (https://youtu.be/v704wzRp5pg), License CC-BY Cessna Aircraft Wings for Doubting Thomas (https://youtu.be/cpF8yDJNBYA), CC-BY Whiskey 7 First start 2017 (C-47) by David Andruczyk (https://youtu.be/6W9bvkos2jI), License CC-BY