Bristol Hercules Sleeve Valve Radial Engine Run
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- Опубликовано: 26 авг 2024
- Firing up a massive Bristol Hercules double row, fourteen cylinder, sleeve valve radial engine to the delight of the gathered crowd. This model of the Hercules displaced 2,360 cubic inches (38.7 L) with a cylinder bore of 5 3/4 inches and a piston stroke of 6 1/2 inches. Horsepower is stated as 1650hp at takeoff settings. Weighing in at just under a ton dry, it presents an impressive power to weight ratio for it's era. Despite the relative complexity of the sleeve valve design compared to conventional two valve pushrod radials of the day, the Hercules engines enjoyed a reputation for reliability and longevity. Filmed at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada, Nanton, Alberta.
Song: Brave Willing
Artist: Dolce Triade
Album: ラストエグザイル O.S.T.1
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Great engines, my father used to service these, and fit from brand new to aircraft in WW2, they used to come in huge crates and covered in lots of greased paper wrapping. To think of all those parts spinning round at high revs is amazing, so many finely machined parts and castings , a marvel of design and production that has little comparison even in modern days..
Truly a work of art!!!
Check out Ardema and Braun
Great respect for the guys that keep these things running, cant beat the sound of those large aero engines.
I admire these guys passion and dedication to restoring these magnificent pieces of history
Thank you
Thanks so much for the recognition.
As do I , but isnt it a pity that all these engines on a demo rig are not used in an airframe, surely they cannot all be time expired. I believe the Duxford based Beaufighter resto is stalled for want of engines
Like this one
They truly do an amazing job on these aircraft I cant wait to see the halifax when shes flying I was lucky as a child to see the UK's last flying mosquito sadly due to pilot error they didnt realise it was flying on early Merlin engines with no float in the carburettor went into a dive and stalled when pulling out rip to all never thought I would be one of the last to see her before hr fateful flight
The typhoon fighter bomber is coming along well though with a running and air worthy saber engine cant wait to see it!!
The Hercules was also the engine used on the Bristol Beaufighter, a twin-engine aircraft used both as a night fighter and as a torpedo bomber. My dad was an RCAF officer who flew with RAF Squadrons made up of Commonwealth crews, and he and his navigator spent many hundreds of hours flying at night, often in bad weather, armed with four 20mm cannon and ten .303 machine guns, as well as the early Marks of A.I. (Airborne Intercept, later to be called RADAR). The pilot's position in the nose of the Beau put the pilot almost literally between the propeller tips on either side, and the noise level at full throttle must have been pretty high. The Beau was, according to various accounts, not a very forgiving aircraft. As "Moose" Fumerton, who was Canada's most senior night fighter officer once put it, the Beau was a difficult aircraft to fly well. It's relatively slow top speed put it at a disadvantage in some cases, but its ruggedness and reliability, combined with the awesome amount of gun-power carried, earned it the respect of many night fighter pilots. As soon as a version of the DeHavilland Mosquito armed with 20mm cammon (4 under the nose, typically) and much improved AI/Radar became avaliable, both RAF and RCAF night fighter squadrons converted to the Mossie, which was "nippier" and also more than 100 mph faster. The "TorBeau" torpedo bomber version was used to good effect in the Med, and also by the RAAF. Beaufighters were also used as ground-attack aircraft in the Desert War against the Axis, and flew in both India and Burma in the same role, shooting up Japanese Army troop trains and formations. The Hercules engine, when throttled back, was very quiet, and the Japanese nicknamed the Beaufighter "Whispering Death."
My dad's younger brother was originally trained as a Halifax pilot, but was remustered ostensibly as a navigator, but in practice acted as wireless op, assistant engineer as well as navigator. His Halifax was shot down over Nuremburg in early August 1943. there were no survivors and the crew are buried in a Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery near Munich. He was 5 days short of his 21st birthday, and was halfway through his second "tour" in Bomber Command. So, plenty of family history associated with the Hercules engine, and with the Handley-Page Halifax. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks so much for watching and thanks for the history.
Anyone can copypasted from wiki
I can’t help but have a huge respect for these gents that, not only dedicate their time to keep these alive, but also show them to the world for all to see. Thank you 👏👏
Well said👍
Radial engines sound bad ass for sure!
Nice to see and hear; thanks for keeping the Bristol Hercules alive. Our Mk216 is a regular on the display circuit in the UK along with Merlins and others.
Fantastic, good to hear, stay tuned for future updates because eventually we hope to have this engine and three others mounted up on the Halifax currently being restored at this museum.
I was there....and took my own video......but mine is not even close to being as good as this one is.
Kudos to you Rainhill1829 for keeping that day alive for EVERYONE.
Thanks so much, I just got lucky with the angles I suppose. That sure was a fun day.
Love this - glad you put the handbrake on the trailer even with the stubby prop! My grandfather was ground crew onn RAF Halifax B IIIs so your did me a lovely bit of remembrance in hearing this, and sure hope to see one flying again in my lifetime!
Vickers Varsity had two of these. Can remember operating them at Oakington during 5FTS training in 1973.
Half power so I fixed it up with 2x
As much as i like the engine ,im well impressed by the starter motor!!
Made me remember my service in the RAF back in the early fifties, working on these engines on 48 Sqn Hastings and 52Sqn Valetas, Transport Command, DSS section Changi. all with Herculese engines (maybe thats why my hearing is stuffed) but loved these engines and the aircraft. After demob' I worked on Merlins on Yorks with Dan Air engineering base, Lasham airfield, near Alton Hants. Thanks you for the memories.
So happy you enjoyed! Thanks.
Having stumbled upon this museum while driving south from Calgary a few years ago, I can say it's well worth a visit, if for no other reason than to see their mighty Lancaster!
Its a great place.
i love listening to these old engines coming back to life
Its a real treat to hear them in real life.
yes it is a serious thrill ,, i have heard a few in person , in particular my favorite is the Merlin V12
but i have a serious affinity for airplane engines of all types particularly piston engines
I have a very large collection of gasoline and diesel truck and tractor engines from the 1940s to today
I also have a couple of airplane engines , am currently rebuilding a 1st generation Allison V-1710 which my grandfather saved from the scrap yard 50 years ago , it's a slow job that has taken 15 years so far ,,and may not run for another 5 years
i have rebuilt a couple Lycoming Boxer engines and have several in various states
I have a 5000 square foot warehouse full of engines on pallets and parts on pallets stacked 18 feet high
since 1995 when detroit diesel quit making 2 strokes i have collected over 100 of them from tiny 2 cylinder engines to my biggest a monster 20V-149 which i have running now ,, it's a MONSTER with 6 turbochargers , 3 intercoolers and 3 roots blowers ,,it weighs a staggering 6 tons and produces 3200 horsepower at 2200 rpm
2980 cubic inches , 20 cylinders 2 stroke diesel,,my particular engine has 21,000 hours on the meter
It was in the Blenheim before the rest of the aircraft mentioned came into service
No poppet valves, no springs, no pushrods, no rocker arms all you need is mighty fine sleeves.
The internal workings are absolute art.
They have to be perfect, that's for sure.
Sounds just as good as the Merlin, British engineering at its best!
It is a fine machine.
Just imagining the sound of a squadron of these monsters going over head on take off makes my spine tingle will be a proud moment seeing the Halifax lift for the first time good luck lads...my uncle was a spit pilot who flew missions with the halifax as escort he also flew along side the Wellington and sterling now that would be a sight to see good luck from the UK
Its bigger sibling - the Centaurus - sounds way better than any Merlin.
I known well the last version from the Hercules, a improved type 739, 2040hp , built in France by SNECMA up to 1964, to fit the military transporter Nord 2501 Noratlas: this engine was very reliable, low consumption (30% better TBO as another type radial same power, excellent burn efficiency, with deep blue flames at exhausts visible in the night), and unlike what some ignorants think, on a good condition Bristol sleeve valve engine, was the oil consumption not significative higher as on a classic radial similar power, and this engine was not "overcomplicated" (looks only like): use less parts as a classic radial...
Cool, thanks for the info.
As an apprentice at Bristol Sidley Engines Bristol UK I helped put the last new engine built there.
came here for sleeve valve sounds, wasn't disappointed!
Superb👌
I can only imagine what 4 of those running at full tilt would sound like
Hopingforthebest expectingtheworst In a few years that will be a reality, they are building a Halifax bomber that will rig up four of these engines. I will definitely get some footage of that day.
@@Rainhill1829 that'll be well worth the wait
This is amazing an engine that’s almost purely exhaust note
Yeah, those sleeve valve engines sound like hot rods
Amazing engine probably have materials and engineering precision to make these a very reliable lump the sleive valve always seemed like answer for plane engine saving a good 9 inches of power sapping drag by not having valves at top of head . Always thought side valves might be good solution with good supercharger
That engine is beautiful!!!! Thanks for sharing this!!!!
No problem, glad you enjoyed.
I hope to see the Halifax flying again. Bristol Hercules also powered the Beaufighter.
It would be magnificent to see one fly again. I know they plan on making this one taxi.
Awesome project. I wish you the best and thank you for posting
Thanks so much, I will keep in touch with their progress.
This is what we relied on for thrust before jets. Sheer horse power from an extreme piston engine.
Oh yeah.
That bit of Last Exile soundtrack was a very nice touch
Good ear, very few folks know where that tune came from. One of my all time favorites.
@@Rainhill1829 Me too ! Cheers
I've seen an animation on how these engines work, very unique design to say the least. =)
Oh yes, intricate as a Swiss watch!
Wonderful to see another gearhead also be a fan of Last Exile. I recognized that opening tune immediately!
Good ear, only a few pick up on that tune. Great inspiration.
Officers: The fighters are coming! The fighters are coming! Pilots start the engines....
Pilots: companions has been a pleasure work with you
what a sweet sound to my ears!!
It was a beast to actually be there, I cant even imagine all four of them running.
In that kind of setting, I would have a cage around the propeller.
I'm surprised that other companies didn't try that Sleeve-Valve design! Maybe Bristol had a Patent!
I think it was due to the sheer complexity of the sleeve valves and the shorter TBO’s.
Ok let's hear it for the starter motor
Amazing thing they even run. They have more gears than a Rolex
Gears are rarely problematic if well lubed
Indeed they are, as well as flat tappet cams have more friction than the sleeve
Could run on much lower octane fuel than other designs. Also a smaller frontal profile for less drag.
It lacked the hot spots of poppet valve designs. Exhaust valves need high octane fuel to keep from pre igniting fuel air mixture.
It’s heads were easy but the gears to run sleeves were not.
Nova Scotia.
OMG!! So loud! So powerful!! So manly! Let's go bomb something!!!
There was a time...
Awesome sound, well done
Good to know that the Halifax along with the Sterling is remembered in Canada. Always overlooked by "Historians " who constantly praise the Lancaster and Spitfire with sparse mention of our other two heavy bombers and also the "humble" Hurricane that outnumbered the Spitfire .Best of luck with Your restoration.
Thanks so much, they will never be forgotten.
Because both airframes were poor because their wings were too short because of RAF penpushers - they had to fit in a standard size door.
Short wings = poor lift, service ceiling, maneuver and payload. Why'd you think they were relegated to spy dropping and grunt work?
All I can focus on is all those people right in the prop hazard area. If one of those blades lets loose, there will be a lot of casualties.
Its funny ive heard many times about the danger of standing inline with the prop disc… but have never once heard of anything happening ever😆
So you straight piped your 6.0?
Thats cute.. >.> hold by beer
Bloody Brilliant!
Napier really knew how to build engines.
Thats a nice demo setup.
They did a great job.
Skookum choocher!
I see 14 chopper engines . Lovely . Good old English engineering !
Yes indeed!
VERY GOOD ENGINE BRISTOL from Brasil congratulations
Oh yes, superb engine, good day from Canada.👋
5:01 holy smokes, look at all the smokes at idle!
Yeah it had not run in a while so it had some oil to burn off.
The starter motor sounds happy.
Stoned af and watching it at various playback speed, what a trip
😂
Met some ww2 A20 pilots in the US in 2008/9...they were very impressed with the RAAF Beaufighters and commented how quiet they were compared to their aircraft...
It was surprisingly pleasant to be near when running despite its massive power output.
@@Rainhill1829 A departed friend from the US was in the 3rd BG 5th AF and he often stated a ditty they learnt in PNG during WW2..The B 25's rattle and road, don't want to fly out of Port Moresby no more...he reckons they were a noisy aircraft.
Very cool running engine.
She is a beauty, cant wait to hear all four running together.
My caravan is a bit slow, people always beeping at me , do you do caravan conversions or only trailers . I feel bad holding up traffic.
Great British Engineering,, what happened to those companies who made these engines and its components,,,
Indeed, its too bad most have disappeared
Actually, I’m certain that Hercules weren’t used either in Sunderland’s or Wellingtons. The Latter were powered by Pegasus engines, as were the Sunderlands, bur some marks had Pratt & Whitney’s. However, the Hercules was used in Beaufighters, Hastings, Vikings and I think Varsities. Whereas Seafuries and Ambasadors had Centaurus 18-cylinders.
Napier Sabres were also Sleeve-Valve Motors, and possibly the most powerful engines of the lot. (Liquid-cooled, twin-crankshaft, flat-12 cylinder x 2.)
Robin Fryer Experimental testing perhaps?
My reference sources state that the Wellington had Hercules engines - and I recall watching a wartime publicity film showing a Wellington being assembled at Broughton in nder 24 hrs. The so-called 'power eggs' (the completely assembled engine nacelles) clearly had sleeve valve engines.
Good luck with your restoration !!
I live in the UK and this year will be hosting some American and Canadian families when they each visit their relatives graves in England. They served their country in WW2 RCAF Bomber Command. I would like to show them one of these engines running on a trailer - it was the failure of these engines that cost their lives over England in 1943 and 1944. One hit by lightning and the another shot up by the Luftwaffe while returning from France Mine Laying. Stirling Mk III and Halifax Mk III. In total 8 RCAF Families - Is there any way they could see this engine running either here in England or in Canada?
I have one of these, really
Thats crazy! How?
FANTASTIC!!!!!
Could run on lower octane suitable aromatic fuels. Lack of poppet exhaust valve hot spots allowing so. Junk head design allowed for reduced diameter for lower drag profiles.
AMS GTR 3000HP 4.0 V6
I that a liquid cooled radial?
It looks like it but the cylinders just have very thin tightly packed fins on them, seems to have been a Bristol thing.
This is such a great sounding (and running) engine. If I'm not mistaken, as they run, and carbon builds up around the ports, they compress more, correct? Also, what octane level of fuel is used, and is it ethanol free? I'd run it ethanol free if at all possible. Also, whoever you all have do the timing for these deserves a medal. That takes some serious skill and even more serious patience.
Good question, I actually do not know about the port carbon but I believe they try to keep the combustion chamber as clean as possible. The fuel they use is leaded aviation grade gasoline which is completely ethanol free, I believe it is 110 octane, they do not use the very high test formula that would be needed to run at full boost simply because it is extremely expensive and difficult to obtain.
@@Rainhill1829 Oh, I can imagine how pricey high test avgas would be. Even 110-Oct E0 is pretty expensive. While it would be nice to be able to run this thing full tilt once again, I suppose that shall wait until it once more takes to the air! After all, it'll be worth it at that point. I can't even find E0 pump gas where I am, much less the good stuff that can run in an aero engine without it knocking itself apart.
@@Rainhill1829 I did find a few things mentioning an increase in power as carbon builds up around the ports and sleeves, helping out with the sealing issues sleeve valves have by design. Unsure if this particular engine would benefit from that, though, as it was on a forum discussing the rebuilding of sleeve valve _car_ engines. It seems as if not many people want to tackle such a complex aircraft engine, which makes your video that much more unique. I do seriously hope that plane gets rebuilt within my lifetime, would be a sight to see, even on RUclips.
The good news is they are hard at work on it as we speak, I will be keeping close tabs on their progress and in time we will get to hear a symphony of four of these engines running together. It is going to be great.
@@Rainhill1829 Oh, I sure as hell want to see this, and I wish them the most luck. Question, were you just in the crowd, or are you affiliated with them? I was thinking you were affiliated with them at first, but now I'm unsure.
Nice!
VERY GOOD MACHINE , BRASIL.OK.
Thanks so much.
Could they run the sea fury with one of these?
Dimensionally and weight wise, yes. However swapping a Sea Fury’s Centaurus engine for a Hercules would be a definite downgrade. The Hercules is more of a bomber/ transport engine.
the Stirling bombers, of which NONE are left. not one. how sad is that. all we have are just bits of it here and there, but even then not enough to put one together by a long shot. how very sad.
That would be amazing to seen once again, they where quite the beasts on takeoff and landing but apparently flew fantastic once up to speed.
Who's lancaster was that in the back ground and was she a runner?
Steven Thornton It belongs to the Bomber Command Museum in Nanton, Alberta. She is fully running and able to taxi but she does not fly, although the engineers who surveyed her said her structure is able to handle flight loads.
@@Rainhill1829 hi thank you for the reply,that's wonderful news theres at least 4 running lancs and 2 flyers now that would be a sight to see a formation of more than 2 for the first time pretty much since ww2 or at least 50 or so years makes my spine tingle lol saw 2 lancs 1 of them was the Canadian lanc bravely flown across the Atlantic twice Anglo british engineering at it's best and truly amazing flight crews that took on the journey it was a misty day in southport hearing the Marlins then seeing the silhouette of those bombers was incredible (goosebumps) it will live with me for the rest of my life the spit and hurricane was there with the p51 for this historic flight so fi gets crossed just Jane the other 2 and the phantom of the ruhr at duxford do meet again within our lifetime
I am just wild about that nine eight time signature, jigs on steroids! Incidentally, how do these sleeves work in the engine?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeve_valve
Would you ever do a hundred percent power for a minute or two video.
They would have to do some more work to make sure it is in perfect condition to handle the stress, the major hurdle would be obtaining the high test leaded fuel needed for preventing detonation at the high levels of boost the superchargers run at.
That guy is probably addicted to the exhaust high at this point
Kaboooooooooom!
Sounds like a big cammed v8 lol
Picax8398 Yes thats what I thought too.
It chooches nice.
Indeed! Another AvE fan I assume?
Quite skookum
Confuser free!
Keep tour d__k in a vice.
Как всегда здорово, очень хорошие видео, успехов вам и вашему каналу. Привет из Беларуси.
Спасибо, Счастливый вам понравился.
Sure is cold blooded, but sounds great
Yeah it hadn't run in about three months so it had some cobwebs to cough out.
ESSE MOTOR é 2 TEMPOS 🤔
Four stroke but with sleeve valve uniflow.
The original Lancaster’s has Merlin engines not the Hercules. Some later versions
Lancaster B.II had sleeve valve motors, in case the supply of Merlins was interrupted. Same thinking behind the 801C radial powered bf109v-21.
Does it normally take that long to light a fire?
Theres a lot of friction trying to cold start a sleeve valve engine from cold. A hot start would be alot easier on the starter.
the lancaster used merlins :/
Thats right! The Halifax used the the Bristols.
❤️❤️❤️
That smoke is why road engines are not radials and don’t use sleeve valves.
Está ali um tuga com a Cruz de Cristo!!!
I love old world war planes even any vintage war planes just beautiful I thank you for hunting for the pieces of the Halifax bombers also 4:41 come on girl you can do it
Is this happening at Nanton Ab.?
Yes it is, you got it.
How many people said in their head, “what up gurl?” at .59 seconds?
Just saw a video if an abandoned house and one of these engines was in the basement
Really? Thats awesome!
@@Rainhill1829 yes it was crazy, it was a home of some kind of bristol collector of some sort. He had cars, engines, parts, all said bristol on them and the engine was on a stand in the back and partially torn down with a box of parts laying next to it and a big manual that said hercules sleeve valve radial on it.
@@alanluscombe8a553 Thats crazy, really rare engine too.
Does anyone know if these were ever turbocharged and so in what application and how well did it work?
They where all centrifugally supercharged to some level depending on application, their most famous use would have been the Halifax four engine bomber. After the war they found a new use powering many military and civil transport and passenger planes. While their design was complex, if they where taken care of properly and not driven extremely hard, they gave exemplary service and where well liked by their crews.
bgm1958 NO British plane or engine used a turbocharger during WW II !!!! The Brits did NOT have the technology on the Turbo !!! That was all GE of the USA !!! And why the P38's delivered to the Brits did NOT have the turbos, they were not installed, only the mechanical supercharger that ALL Allison had was used !!!!
@@wilburfinnigan2142I think you will find the Allison normally aspirated was replaced by the SUPERcharged Merlin.... air compression was crankshaft driven. Exhaust driven TURBO chargers don't work too well at altitude, they can refuse to function after the throttle is closed !
@@jimlambert1398 BULLSHIT !!!! Another dumb ass Limey has opened his uninformed mouth and spewed BULLSHIT !!!! ALL Allisons V12 1710 engines were Mechanically SUPERCHARGED !!! DUUUUUHHHH !!!!!!!!! Just as all Merlins were and ONLY the LATER 60 series Merlins had the 2 stage high Altitude superchargers that all dumb ass Limeys drool over "THINKING" :ALL" Merlins were so equipted !! ! WRONG !!! ALL Merlins up through the 50 series used a SINGLE stage mechanical supercharger !!! 20 series and later added a second speed, faster gear !!! And dumb ass IF a throttle is "CLOSED" why would you need the TURBO working dumb ass ?????? Do some research dumb ass and inform yourself to the facts not the lies, hype and BULLSHIT you spew !!!!
@@wilburfinnigan2142 Oh dear, who is Mr Crosspatch today then?
I thought the beaufighter had them to
Quite right they did whenever the Short Stirling was not siphoning the supply of them off the assembly line.
How messed up when you consider the work and money spent on these machines meant to kill fellow humans. We are an intelligent but savage species.
I have the same thought from time to time.
Wild Bill this engine was not made to kill. It was made to go round an round. Was it used on a bomber? Yes. But its like a knife i can cut my bread with it or I can stab with it. But in the end an aircraft engine never killed anyone unless it fell on them or you walked into it.
Well not exactly, Bombers were designed to destroy infrastructure, vehicles and the like. Just unfortunately lives were caught up in the crossfire, but that's to be expected. Fighter aircraft were built to shoot down aircraft not the people. Bombs were to destroy objects. So on and so on. Your point fits more with guns, grenades and artillery.
AZZA Craft still wrong the engine is not a bomber. Might as well say aluminum is evel as they made bombers out of iy
@@massmike11 and the award for the "I'm trying to act smart" goes to you. We know an engine can't kill but that's not the point of these comments, we're talking about the aircraft as a whole not just one part of it.
She is simply Venus ,,,,,, Roman goddess of love and beauty!!!!!!! Holy Shit !!!!! Thank You Rainhill1829
Quite a machine, isn't it.
At 3 am
Oh yes.
@@Rainhill1829 haha stoned again dabs of crumble
And 1:15
if the prop comes off lots of dead canidan,s!
LOL yeah, good thing it's well secured.
Talk about lead poisoning bonanza
Tasty👌👌👌
Half Power??...with no prop...put something it can drive...you might have maybe opened half throttle...but no where near half Power...it's free spinning driving nothing
In a few short years it will have a full sized prop to turn, along with three of it's sisters on the wing of a Halifax bomber.
Mehr Schub!!!
Single rope barrier, spinning prop, and little kids maybe 20 feet away. Maybe an investment in a better solid barrier is a better choice for safety guys.
haha, i sure hope for their sake, that ain't leaded gas!
Oh... maybe.
Nice engine eh?
Oh heck ya bud.
Wenn die im ww2 auch so schlecht gestartet sind , frag ich mich wie die denn ww2 gewinnen konnten