Give Me Liberty!

Today (November 2nd) saw the first public start of the rebuilt Liberty V12 engine for the Seattle World Cruiser project. Here's a video showing the start, and a closeup of the valve action once it gets started.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TavzFAzSMOw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TavzF...ature=youtu.be

No ladders were harmed in the making of this video.

Seattle Chapter 26 member Bob Dempster is the leader of the World Cruiser project...he and his team are building a*full scale* replica of the biplanes the US Army Air Corps used to fly around the world in 1924. After a considerable search for a good engine, he finally decided that the original Liberty would be the best pick.

The engine itself was rebuilt by Seattle EAA Chapter 26 and Chapter 441 member Steve Crider. The engine is somewhat modified, both with the changes made in the '20s and '30s as well as some later better ideas (such as a spin-on oil filter). One change is the addition of an oil ring to the pistons, with the hope of reducing the 1 gallon/hour use of oil. It IS loud... V12 engine, 1600 cubic inches, straight pipes. Steve says you can hear it in nine area codes.

One thing I found interesting is that the engine uses conventional ignition (e.g., non-magneto, powered by a battery). Steve said the engine developers did extensive testing, and found little difference in performance between a magneto and a battery-powered ignition. The BIG difference was that "any farm boy knew how to work on a conventional ignition system," and thus it was felt the field mechanics would have an easier time keeping it running.

You can view the World Cruiser project at:

http://seattleworldcruiser.org/


Ron Wanttaja