Recently we put up a couple of photos of Keven DeShazer's three cylinder radial, a fascinating mix of motorcycle and aero engines combined into his own unique design. There was no way I was going to let this go without finding out more about it and I asked Kevin if he would tell us some details of the background and include photos of the earlier stages of the project. He was … [Read more...]

After many years, which included some unfortunate mechanical setbacks, Russell Sutton has his nine cylinder radial running with a 300 horsepower Sensenich propeller mounted, generating 800 pounds of thrust. For those of you who have come in late, this is an engine, designed from scratch, cases milled from aluminum with nine cylinders from Honda XR600 motorcycle engines. And if … [Read more...]

Just got a note from Kevin DeShazer about a little project he's working on in his basement. It's a three cylinder radial engine made from the cylinders of a Continental 0-360 aero engine. The crankshaft comes from a Moto Guzzi. Three geared cams with Harley lobes operate the valves. It uses an aviation electric oil pump and that orange can on the front is an aviation … [Read more...]

Quite a few years ago, we wrote about a free piston engine design being tested in research labs. It's a pretty interesting concept where a piston is used to generate electricity by moving a magnet past a coil. The piston isn't attached to a crankshaft, it just connects to a magnet and the linear motion does all the work. Now it looks like Toyota is working to make this engine a … [Read more...]

Some enthusiasts of the latest high technology, especially the younger ones among us, have never developed an appreciation for engines of the past, perhaps because they've never been exposed to them. Some of us, though, have long loved exposed rocker arms and flywheels and smile at the simplicity of stirling engines and vacuum motors and if you look around a bit, you'll find … [Read more...]