Omaha daily bee., 1918-07-21

When Secretary Baker made the
dramatic announcement last summer
that a new motor, christened the
Liberty" had been developed by two
American engineers in a five-day con-
ference behind locked doors, men
who were experienced in machine de-
sign shrugged their shoulders. They
knew the impossibility> of designing
so highly refined a machine as an air
plane motor in such brief time.
They assumed, therefore, that the So
called new motor was probably a
standard motor in which few mod
ifcations had been introduced; and
speculation was rife as to what partic-
ular standard motor had been adopt
ed. 1t was at first claimed that the
German motor, known as the Mer-
cedes, formed the basis of the Liberty
motor; then other claimants came
forward
An air of mystery has surrounded
the Liberty motor from its inception,
and it is high time that this was dis
pelled. Recent announcements from
the War department, disclosing de-
tails OF the motor and their similar
ity. to other motors of American and
foreign design, give US the liberty to
tell here for the first time the real
story of the development Of our
standard aviation motor.
Shortly after the outbreak OF the
great European war Mr.. Henry Joy,
then president Of the Packard Motor
Car company, became impressed with
the importance of the airplane in
modern warfare.
Started in 1915.
In the spring OF 1915 work was
started on such a motor, and the de-
sign was completed in November OF
that year. The engine was ready for
block test in February of 1916. AS
there were no facilities for testing
airplane engines by actual flights in
this country, the new motor was
placed in a racing chassis OF special
construction and was subjected to Sc
we're tests at the Sheepshead Bay
Speedway. The engine was of -39
cubic inches displacement, or just un-
der the 300-inch racing limit estab-
lished by the A. A. A. 1t was of the
l2-cylinder "V" type, with cast iron
cylinders. After it had been thor
oughly tested out second model was
designed, based on the principles that
had been proved out on the first
model.
In April, 1917, a second engine of
this model was completed and placed
in racing chassis. 1t established
the official world record of l30 miles
per hour--or a mile in 1916 seconds.
In this second model steel forged
cylinders were used, fitted with
pressed steel jackets welded on. Con-
siderable difficulty was at first ex-
perienced in attempting to weld the
jacket to the cylinder without burning
the metal, or introducing strains in
it. After a considerable experiment
it was found that the meeting edges,
which were to be welded, must be of
the same thickness, otherwise the
heavier section would carry off the
greater proportion of heat and the
two surfaces could not be heated to
the same temperature. By reducing
the surfaces to exactly the same Sec
ton, welding. with the oxy-acetylene
torch was readily accomplished.
Angle is Changed.
In the first model the cylinders
were set at an angle of 90 degrees,
following the practice used in auto
mobile engines; but in the second
model an angle of 40 degrees was
adopted so as to cut down head re-
sistance.
The third model was begun in
April, 1917, Immediately after war
was declared, and the first engine was
completed in May. This contained
certain improvements over the previ-
GUS models, aimed particularly at re-
duction OF weight and simplifcation
Of manufacture.
One of the first demands upon this
country when it entered the war was
to start the manufacture of airpianes
in large quantities. We had repu
tation for manufacturing on a guam
tity basis, and it was felt that il we
turned our great industrial organiz
ing ability upon this problem W.
could turn out a fleet Of airplane.
that would simply overwhelm the en-
emy. Our engineers had studied tn,
foreign airplane motors and mum.
Der of them were being made in thi
country.
| However, there were some change'
that the government called for and i
was felt that representative of som,
other motor manufacturing concerr
should be called in to advise with tn,
| Packard engineers in the modifca
tions which would eventually b,
adopted by the government. Accord