Arizona republican., 1918-07-21
THE TRUE STORY OF
 THE LIBERTY MOTOR

housing for the cam shaft acted as a truss to hold the upper ends of the cylinders rigid.
 The third model was begun in April, 1917, immediately after war was de- clared, and the first engine was com pleted in May, This contained certain improvements over the previous mod els, aimed particularly at reduction of weight and simplificatien Of manu fracture,
 One of the first demands upon this country when it entered the war, was to start the manufacture of airplanes in large quantities. We had a reputa- tion for manufacturing on a quantity basis. and it was felt that if we turned our great industrial organizing ability upon this problem we could turn out fleet of airplanes that would simply overwhelm the enemy. Our engineers had studied the foreign airplane mo- tors and a number of them were being made in this country. It was realized. however, that they were not adapted for quantity production on an Ameri- can basis. and it was very necessary for US to develop a motor of our own which would become a standard and which could be produced in enormous quantities. As soon as the United States was drawn into the war. the Packard Motor Car company offered it's models and experience to the gov ernment and being actuated by patri- otic motives were perfectly willing to abandon. for the time being, all claim to the origination of this motor, all though it had expended S400,000 in its development. However, there were some changes that the government called for and it was felt that repre- sentative of some other motor manu- featuring concern should be called in to advise with the Packard engineers in the notifications which would eventually be adopted by the govern ment. Accordingly. Major Hall of the Hall Scott Motor company was called to Washington to confer with MT. (now Lieutenant Colonel Vincent, chief en- gineer of the Packard company. MT. | Vincent had with him the blue prints of the complete plans of his motor and these were studied by Major Hall, who suggested a number of changes
 | When the war first broke out, air planes were fitted with 100 horse-po | CT engines Very soon they were found | to be insufficient and engines of 125 | horse power were made. The engine
 power then gradually increased to 150 | 175. 200, 250; and it was about in that ] neighborhood when Major Hall and MT Vincent were called upon to furnish | the United States standard motor. lt
 was felt that a motor should be de- signed so far ahead in power of any thing else that had been produced that 1 by the time it could be turned out ir quantity, it would still be well in the ! lead. Accordingly, a horse power ot | between $50 and 400 was sought and
 the size of the cylinders was changed
 from 4x6 to 5x7. Because of the larger
 cylinders required in the new motor | the angle of the V was changed from | 40 to 45 degrees. The larger pistons
 and cylinders required slightly greater ! clearances. In place of the forced lu- | bricatiOn of the crank shaft which wa! | provided in the Packard engine thu
 scupper system was introduced by Ma jor Hall, because it had been found | very efficient on the Hall Scott motor This is also a feature of the Mercede: | motor. The scuper consists of a Smal | cup-like flange on the crank arm whicl
 catches the oil and throws it up on tn
 bearing of the crank shaft. These ant
 other slight notifications were thor
 oughly discussed and decided upon b,
 the two motor experts who worked un
 ceasingly and arrived at the finishe,
 design in conference lasting five days
 They had a herculean task before then
 and deserve the highest praise for tn
 successful outcome of their efforts
 As soon as the conference was over
 telegraphic instructions were sent t
 the Packard plant and work wa
 started immediately upon the new mo
 tor Even before blue prints arrive
 the wood model was prepared in tn
 general form and essential features O
 the new motor. Work on the new en zine was pushed at the highest spec
 possible, and on the third day of Jul
 it was completed and shipped to Wash
 ington. The next day it arrived there on the Nations birthday, and wa christened the Liberty Motor.'
 , After the first experimental moto
 had been completed it was subjected t
 great many trying tests. and wa
 found to be exceedingly efficient an , very light. It developed a horse powe of considerably over 400 and it's weigh
 was but little over S40 pounds. It weight per horse power was about tw pounds, which is much lighter than tn } majority of airplane motors. On endur } ance tests it stood up wonderfully. was tested at the summit of Pike's Pea } in order to determine it's action unde conditions of rarified atmosphere-an proved very satisfactory At the bur } eau of standards in Washington spe cial room was set aside in which par