El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-01-12
tor Of Popular Science.

ara alrplaQe engine prOQuceQ QN the
/ United States government to help in
the subjugation Of the unspeakable
Hun. The motor car owner OF today
may not see much connection between
his fsvorite sport and the above men,
I toned fact. but strangely enough the
enormous strides in airplane engine
construction that have been made
during the war, are going to have g
very direct bearing on the automo-
bile power plant Of tomorrow. In
other words, the lessons learned in
the exacting school Of military neces-
sity are going 10 dictate the develop
ment Of the automobile engine during
the next few years.
This is, in a way, poetic justice, for
the airplane would never have been
possible without the internal combus-
I ton engine. which reached relative
perfection through the development Of
the motor car. Now the airplane can
cells its original debt by developing
the internal combustion power plant
to a still higher degree OF perfection
than the motor car had reached. The
whole subject is of enough interest
to even the casual car owner to jus.
7
To begin with the designer OF the
aircraft engine has to keep always
before him three essentials, weight,
power and fuel economy. These he
must achieve or his design is worth
less.
In the beginning, the airplane en-
CINE designer started with what was
practically a motor car power plant.
To reach his three desiderata, he has
increased the power Of the engine,
reduced its weight, reduced its fuel
consumption, Increased its fabrication
efficiency, perfected its carbureting
system and its ignition. All these
improvements are certain TO be, in
fact, are already being, copied by de-
signers Of motor car engines, insofar
as they apply 20 the surface type Of
vehicle.
The airplane designer started with
the same materials that his confrere
Of the land had used, the same metals.
the same methods. Intensive expert
mentation, however, showed him many
things about heat treatment and al
Toys Of metal that had never been
dreamed OF before. He learned how
to make steels Of unimsgined tough
ness and iightness which enabled him
to produce what would have been a
miracle five years ago, an engine de-
veloping q horsepower for every two
pounds Of its weight. BY devising
methods OF getting and retaining
higher compression, the airplane de-
signer increased the power Of his en-
CINE. while he was reducing its
weight
One problem that gave the airplane
designer many anxious hours was that
Of increasing the fuel economy Of his
power plant Obviously, an airplane
engine might fulfill every require
ment as TO speed and power. but IL il
EOnEffr1nn Nnn TmrTrn gasoline IN
achieve those qualities, the plane
would be unable 10 carry enough fuel
TO give the vehicle the necessary
cruising radius. For this reason the
airplane engineers concentrated much
OF their attention on this problem OF
reducing gasoline consumption, with
out reducing either speed or power.
That they have succeeded in harmon
iZing all these varied and seemingly
almost mutually destructive require
ments, IS atested by the fact that they
have produced planes that can travel
at the rate OF $50 miles per hour and
having a cruising radius Of 500 o. 500
miles. II is impossible in the brief
space available here to 90 into details
OF how this end was achieved, suffice
1t that the motor car engine Of the
future Is going to show fuel economy
undreamed Of in the power plants OF
today, simply because OF the lessons
learned in plane design.
In the course Of their striving after
greater power. aircraft designers
have learned many things in regard
20 crankcase rigidity and gasketing-
The importance OF leak-proOf gasket-
ing to withstand the high compress
sion Of the airplane engine, had added
to our knowledge immensely and IN
questionably the lessons will be ap-
piled to assist in getting greater
power in proportion to engine size
from the post bellum power plants.
Another respect in which the air.
plane engineer has added to our
knowledge, is in increasing compact
ness Of design. Obviously the airplane
engine must take up just as little
room as possible, though its parts
must have a maximum degree OF ac-
feasibility Now our present automo-
bile engine types are creditable ex-
amples Of compact design, but the
airplane engineer has carried this
quality to far greater heights. When
the influence Of his design gets a
chance really to become disseminated
after the war. we are going to have
even more compact automobile en-
gines than those Of the present.
Now it must be remembered that
the airplane designers Of today can
eliminate one element that is the
largest OF all for the commercial au-
tomobiie producer and that is the fac
tor Of cost. Governments at war want
only the best for military purposes.
regardless OF expense. Not so the man
who is producing a car to sell at a
reasonable price for a moderate prof
It But the airplane designers and
their helpers have demonstrated that
certain improvements may be made |
in engine construction by the use of |
certain expensive steel alloys and |
types. 1t remains for the commercial |
producer to find a way OF getting |
those alloys and specially treated |
steels at prices making them avail |
able for his uses After the war |
when secrets come out. we venture |
to guess that all these improved 1
metals will be made available for the /
manufacturer
In summing up, we may say that /
after the lessons learned in military /
1irplane design and construction have /
been applied in the automobile field. /
we shall have power plants that are /
smaller, lighter, more powerful, more 1
scOnimical than those of today. We /
know too. that lighting generators
will be smaller, as will starting mot
)rs. that spark plugs will be more re-
liable and that ignition equipment /
will be much further advanced to-
ward perfection. In fact the sister
lrt viii very handsomely have re-
'aid its ancient debt to the automo-
'ile.
PRACTICAL PARAGRAPHS.
Emergency Valve Removal.
To tackle a valve replacement sin
slehanded when you have not
7alve lifting device is not anything
o look forward to. There is a way
4 getting around the difficulty. Sim
lly interpose a piece Of packing, al
most anything Will do. between the