New Rotating Combustion Powerplant Development

As a means toward further improving the Curtiss-Wright rotary combustion (RC) engine series, test work during the past year has concentrated on the two-rotor 200 hp class liquid cooled engine, application testing of this engine in vehicles, boats, and engine generator sets, and evaluation of basic component and engine design studies covering aircooled, fuel injected, and spark ignited engines with heavy fuels for aircraft and other applications. Field tests have established acceptable automotive, marine, and power generation performance levels. In addition, operation on heavy fuels and aircooling at high-performance levels has been demonstrated, with attendant basic engine improvements. This paper reviews the recent development and test program at Curtiss-Wright aimed at bringing the RC engines closer toward production engine status.