Adams-Farwell Rotary 5 Engine
date: label: Date
content: 1907
name: label: Manufacturer
content: Adams-Farwell Company (Dubuque, Iowa)
label: Manufactured for
content: Emile Berliner
notes: label: Physical Description
content: Type: Rotary, 5 cylinders, air-cooled
label: Physical Description
content: Power rating: 26.8 kW (36 hp) at 1,500 rpm
label: Physical Description
content: Displacement: 4.07 L (248.25 cu. in.)
label: Physical Description
content: Bore and Stroke: 114 mm (4.5 in.) x 89 mm (3.5 in.)
label: Physical Description
content: Weight: 44.1 kg (97.2 lb)
label: Summary
content: The first successful rotary engine is generally attributed to F.O. Farwell in 1896, and was built by the Adams Company of Dubuque, Iowa. A three cylinder version likely powered the first rubber-tired automobile in 1899.
label: Summary
content: Because of its light weight, this five cylinder engine was selected by Emile Berliner, an inventor possibly better known in the acoustics field, to drive a helicopter's vertical shaft in a 1908 "test rig." It was reported by the New York Times on July 1, 1909 that a helicopter jointly designed by Berliner and J. Newton Williams, using two of these engines, successfully lifted a few feet off the ground in the last week of June 1909 with Williams aboard.
label: Summary
content: During this same period, Berliner formed the Gyro Motor Company to pursue development of the rotary engine in aviation, but the French Gnome engine was much more successful in bringing the rotary to a broad aviation market.
place: label: Country of Origin
content: United States of America
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Air and Space Museum Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of the Gyro Motor Company, Washington, DC
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Air and Space Museum
identifier: label: Inventory Number
content: A19130001000
objectType: label: Type
content: PROPULSION-Reciprocating & Rotary
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Materials
content: Metal
label: Dimensions
content: 3-D: 48.3 × 68.6cm, 44.1kg (19 × 27 in., 97 1/4lb.)
label: Dimensions
content: Support: 43.2 × 44.5 × 36.8cm (17 in. × 17 1/2 in. × 14 1/2 in.)