INDIRECT or liquid-cooled aircraft engines fit into the picture of future aircraft types better than do the direct or air-cooled engines, the authors contend. As reasons for their belief they draw attention to the small frontal area of this type; the heat capacity of the liquid in equalizing temperatures; and greater freedom in cylinder design because large heat-transfer surfaces are unnecessary.
Rolls-Royce has been producing liquid-cooled aero engines for 23 yr, they announce, and has concentrated a large staff on installation problems. One of the results of this work, they report, has been the development of the interchangeable powerplant in which the engine-mounting auxiliaries and bulkhead form a complete detachable unit. These units, the authors explain, are interchangeable within 48 hr, and provide interchangeability between air-cooled and liquid-cooled engines.
In the remainder of their paper the authors discuss some aspects of the problem of increasing performance from a given power unit; deal with the detonation and mechanical limitations to increased specific output; and describe several recent developments