Bristol Centaurus The Centaurus was the final development of the Bristol Engine Company ' s series of sleeve valve radial aircraft engines , an 18 - cylinder , two - row design that eventually delivered over 3 , 000 hp ( 2 , 200 kW ) . It was one of the largest aircraft piston engines to enter production , and was introduced into service use towards the end of World War II . The Royal Navy Historic Flight currently operates a Hawker Sea Fury , powered by a Bristol Centaurus . Design and development . Like most Bristol Engines designs , the Centaurus was based on the mechanicals of an earlier design , in this case the " classic " 5 . 75 in ( 146 mm ) piston from their original 1918 Jupiter . The Jupiter piston was still in use in the contemporary 14 - cylinder Hercules , which was being brought into production during the design of the Centaurus . The Centaurus had a cylinder capacity of 3 , 270 in³ ( 53 . 6 l ) , making it one of the largest aircraft piston engines to enter production , while that of the Hercules was 2 , 364 cubic inches ( 38 . 7 l ) . The nearly 40 % higher capacity was achieved by increasing the stroke from , and by changing to two rows of nine cylinders instead of two rows of seven , but the overall diameter of the Centaurus was only just over 6 % greater . While Bristol maintained the Centaurus dated from 1938 ( the year it was originally type - tested ) , production could not start until 1942 owing to the need to get the Hercules into production and improve the reliability of the entire engine line . Nor was there any real need for the larger engine at this early point in the war , when most military aircraft designs were intended to mount engines of 1 , 000 hp or a little more . The Hercules ' approximately 1 , 500 hp was simply better suited to the existing airframes then in production . In fact , the Centaurus did not see any use until near the end of the war , first appearing on an upscaled version of the Vickers Wellington , the Warwick . Other wartime , or just - postwar , applications included the Bristol Brigand and Buckmaster , Hawker Tempest and Sea Fury , and the Blackburn Firebrand and Beverley . The engine also saw post - war use in civilian airliners , including the ill - fated Bristol Brabazon . By the end of the war in Europe , around 2 , 500 examples of the Centaurus had been produced by Bristol . A projected enlarged capacity version of the Centaurus was designed by Roy Fedden , cylinders were produced for this engine but it was never built . Known as the Bristol Orion ( a name used previously for a variant of the Jupiter engine , and later re - used for a turboprop one ) this development was also a two - row , 18 cylinder sleeve valve engine with the displacement increased to 4 , 142 cubic inches ( 67 . 9 l ) . Variants . The Centaurus was produced in 34 variants ranging from the 2 , 000 hp ( 1 , 490 kW ) Centaurus I to the 2 , 405 hp ( 1 , 793 kW ) Centaurus 663 for the Airspeed Ambassador airliner . The most powerful variants were the 2 , 625 hp ( 1 , 957 kW ) Centaurus 170 , 173 , 660 , 661 and 662 . Applications . " Note : " Survivors . The Royal Navy Historic Flight operates a Hawker Sea Fury powered by a Bristol Centaurus . Engines on display . Preserved Bristol Centaurus engines are on public display at the following museums :