Another good question could have been, "Which engine simultaneously held the land, water and air speed records?"
The answer was one of the many interesting facts, explanations and pieces of trivia I noticed on Pedro's fascinating site.
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Well done! We had a small one at Griffith Uni . for open days. It was good fun to play with. But when it got too hot you had to let it cool down for a while.
As for the two pistons in one bore, there were several motorbikes which had a single (figure 8) bore with 2 pistons (and were connected at the cylinder head):
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...008/11/601.jpg
EDIT: this site has more info on the above engine:
http://home.sprynet.com/~inniss/sears.htm
I am sure there was an (prototype) engine with 2 crankshafts (like a reverse boxer) - where 2 pistons came together, so they acted as both piston and cylinder head. Anyone know what engine that was?
Without looking it up, I would say it was almost certainly the Napier Lion - from memory it was used in the early Schneider Trophy racers, one of which probably held the air speed record for a brief time, and it was definitely used in at least one land speed record car (Segrave?) and in the first Bluebird boat.
John
I am sure there was an (prototype) engine with 2 crankshafts (like a reverse boxer) - where 2 pistons came together, so they acted as both piston and cylinder head. Anyone know what engine that was?[/quote]
I have a feeling one went into production and was used in a patrol boat, Im not sure if it was English or American. I will have to quiz dad.
Blythe
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...008/11/596.jpg
An example of an opposed piston engine.
1 intake for the fuel-air mixture
2 supercharger (here: rotary vane pump; original: Centrix)
3 airbox to buffer and distribute the mixture
4 waste valve to limit the pressure level
5 outlet crank mechanism
6 inlet crank mechanism (runs app. 20° past the outlet to achieve an asymmetric control diagram)
7 cylinder with inlet and outlet slots
8 exhaust
9 water cooling jacket
10 sparkplug
moving picture (gif) of above
Hi, Do you know a bloke named "Thirsty" he used to live at Grafton and his dad actually built an apposed piston engine in a single barrell. This is a great little engine that has never really been recognised for what it is, Built in the late 50s it had it's crank along the top running off what are called swusher plates, and, this crank was also used as the impeller of the supercharger and a rotary exaust valve system. Being only a proto type it had no rings and I'm told it a a slight melting problem around 30,000 rpm. I never saw the engine going but I did play with it and it is a very cute little thing.
One of the big French veteran cars, Gobron-Brillie had an interesting engine that ran opposed piston in a common cylinder. The upper pistons were linked to the crankshaft by rods and crossheads. There was one in Melbourne, rerstored in the 50's?, but I have not seen or heard of it since then.
Mercedes Benz 260D, Germany, 1936.
They've had quite a few firsts:cool: YouTube - Mercedes-Benz World History Timeline promotional video
Not sure about the first in Australia though.