Yep...
I know for sure the Camel had a gravity
feed emergency tank. And it makes sense
that they all did, at least after 1916 or so I
would think around the time the Nieuport
17's made their appearance with their
110HP LeRhones.
I read that on the Camel, very often the fuel
pressure gauges would break under the
loads of high speed dives and there went
the fuel pressure from the main tank.
I think the gravity-fed tank provided about
10 minutes or so of flying time (which was
usually enough to get the fighters to their
side of the lines in the event, I guess) but I can't seem to find a definitive
time period
on these.
I like the crack about a "total loss" oil system....very funny, Chuck! :):)
I read that while the rotaries
were basically "on/off" motors,
you could do a little fine tuning with the
fuel/air controls and vary power just a bit...course if you got it slightly
wrong in
this respect...it simply quit entirely.
I gotta do more reading on these...fascinating engine design. But they
produced a good deal of power for their
weight. At least the later ones did. 300lbs
or less and 130-150HP at all of about 1200
rpm. Not bad for the day! :)
Cap'n Bob
Basic Frog
|