Wright R-1820 question

[Markus Becker]

The Buffaloes and some of the Hawks exported to Finnland, France and the UK had R-1820 G5, G105 and G205 engines. The ones for the French were new, the rest were reconditioned engines from airliners but all had trouble with the engine lubrication system. Trouble the R-1820-40 of the F2A-3 didn´t have, neither the R-1820-56 of the FM-2, nor the R-1820-60 of the SBD-5, nor the R-1820-97 of the B-17.

Thus I´m guessing that the "G" stands for a sub type of the R-1820 that was intended for civillian planes that flew straight and level, did no aerobatics, used full power only on T/O and rarely made sudden changes to the RPM.

More info greatly appreciated

-Markus

[bearoutwest]

Hi Markus,

Here's a couple of links to other forums where the discussion on the Wright Cyclone engine's lack of performance in RAF Buffalos was carried out:
http://www.warbirdforum.com/cyclone.htm

You can also download the RAF pilots notes for the Buffalo I there:
http://www.warbirdforum.com/buffman.htm

Regards,
...geoff

[Markus Becker]

Thanks Geoff for the links.