Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone. The Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone is an American twin-row, supercharged, air-cooled, radial aircraft engine with 18 cylinders displacing nearly . Power ranged from , depending on model. Developed before World War II, the R-3350's design required a long time to mature, and was still experiencing problems with reliability when used to power the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. 

After the war, the engine had matured sufficiently to be used in many civilian airliners, notably in its turbo-compound forms, and was used in the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation airliners into the 1950s. Its main rival was the ,  Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major, which first ran some seven years after the Duplex-Cyclone. The engine is commonly used on Hawker Sea Fury and Grumman F8F Bearcat Unlimited Class Racers at the Reno Air Races.

Design and development

In 1927, Wright Aeronautical introduced its "Cyclone" engine, which powered a number of designs in the 1930s. After merging with Curtiss to become Curtiss-Wright in 1929, an effort was started to design an engine in the  class. The new Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 first ran in 1935, and became one of the most used aircraft engines in the late 1930s and early 1940's, powering the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber, General Motors FM-2 Wildcat fighter and Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber, among many others.

By 1931 Pratt & Whitney had started a development of their single-row Wasp nine-cylinder engine into the larger and much more powerful fourteen-cylinder, twin-row R-1830 Twin Wasp with a similar  displacement that would easily compete with the single-row Cyclone. In 1935 Wright followed P&W's lead, and developed larger engines based on the Cyclone. The result was two designs, a 14-cylinder short stroke design of nearly  displacement that would evolve into the Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone, and a much larger 18-cylinder design that became the R-3350. A larger twin-row 22-cylinder version, the Wright R-4090 Cyclone 22, was experimented with as a competitor to the  displacement four-row, 28-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major, but was not produced.

With Pratt & Whitney starting development of their own  displacement 18-cylinder, twin-row radial as the R-2800 Double Wasp in 1937, Wright's first R-3350 prototype engines with a  displacement were run in May of the same year. Development was slow, due to the complexity, and the R-2600 receiving development priority. The R-3350 did not fly until 1941, after the Douglas XB-19 had been redesigned to use R-3350s instead of Allison V-3420 inlines.

Things changed dramatically in 1940 with the introduction of a new contract by the USAAC to develop a long-range bomber capable of flying from the US to Germany with  of bombs. Although smaller than the Bomber D designs that led to the Douglas XB-19, the new designs required just as much power. When four preliminary designs were presented in mid-1940, three of them used the R-3350. Suddenly development was a priority, and serious efforts to get it into production began. In 1942 Chrysler started building the Dodge Chicago Plant, which was ready by early 1944.

By 1943 the new Boeing B-29 Superfortress was flying with R-3350s. The engines remained temperamental, and the rear cylinders tended to overheat, partially due to inadequate clearance between the cylinder baffles and the cowl. A number of changes were introduced to improve cooling, and the aircraft was rushed into service in the Pacific in 1944. This proved unwise, as the early B-29s taking off at maximum weights, in the high temperature conditions of the B-29s tropical airfields, caused overheating that was not completely solved, and the engines also had a tendency to swallow valves. Because of a high magnesium content in the crankcase, engine fires could burn with a core temperature approaching  which could burn through the main spar in seconds, causing a catastrophic failure.

Early R-3350s used carburetors, though the poorly designed elbow entrance to the supercharger led to serious problems with fuel/air mixtures. Near the end of WWII, the system was changed to use gasoline direct injection which improved reliability. After the war the engine was redesigned and became popular for large aircraft, notably the Lockheed Constellation and Douglas DC-7.

Following the war, the Turbo-Compound system was developed to deliver better fuel efficiency. In these versions, three power-recovery turbines (PRT) were inserted into the exhaust of each group of six cylinders, and geared to the crankshaft by fluid couplings to deliver more power. The PRTs recovered about 20% of the exhaust energy (around ) that would have otherwise been lost, but reduced engine reliability. Mechanics nicknamed them Parts Recovery Turbines, since the increased exhaust heat meant a return to the engine destroying exhaust valves. The fuel burn for the PRT-equipped aircraft was nearly the same as the older Pratt and Whitney R-2800, while producing more useful power. Effective 15 October 1957 a DA-3/DA-4 engine cost $88,200.

By this point reliability had improved with the mean time between overhauls at 3,500 hours and specific fuel consumption in the order of 0.4 lb/hp/hour (243 g/kWh, giving a 34% fuel efficiency). Engines in use as of the 2020s are limited to  manifold pressure, giving  with 100/130 octane fuel (or 100LL) instead of the  and  possible with 115/145, a higher octane fuel, which is no longer available.

Several racers at the Reno Air Races use R-3350s. Modifications on one, Rare Bear, include a nose case designed for a slow-turning prop, taken from an R-3350 used on the Lockheed L-1649 Starliner, mated to the power section (crankcase, crank, pistons, and cylinders) taken from an R-3350 used on the Douglas DC-7. The supercharger is taken from an R-3350 used on the Lockheed EC-121 and the engine is fitted with nitrous oxide injection. Normal rated power of the original stock R-3350 was  at 2,600 rpm and  of manifold pressure. With these modifications, Rare Bears engine produces  at 3,200 rpm and  of manifold pressure, and  with nitrous oxide injection.

Variants

R-3350-13 
R-3350-23 
R-3350-24W 
R-3350-26W 
R-3350-30W
R-3350-30WA
R-3350-32W 
R-3350-34 
R-3350-35A 
R-3350-41 Fuel injected Silverplate variant
R-3350-42WA 
R-3350-53 
R-3350-57 
R-3350-85 
R-3350-89A 
R-3350-93W 
972TC18DA1Commercial equivalent to the -30W without water injection
956C18CA1Commercial, similar to the -26W
975C18CB1Commercial, similar to the 956C18CA1

Applications

Engines on display

 Wright R-3350-89 is on public display at the Aerospace Museum of California
 Wright R-3350 is on public display at Flyhistorisk Museum, Sola, near Stavanger, Norway
 Wright R-3350-35A is on public display at Texas Air Museum - Stinson Chapter, San Antonio, Texas
 Wright R-3350 is on public display in the Mackenzie Engineering Building at Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Specifications (R-3350-C18-BA)

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography
Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines: From the Pioneers to the Present Day. 5th edition, Stroud, UK: Sutton, 2006. 
White, Graham. Allied Aircraft Piston Engines of World War II: History and Development of Frontline Aircraft Piston Engines Produced by Great Britain and the United States During World War II. Warrendale, Pennsylvania: SAE International, 1995. 
 Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London. Studio Editions, 1998. .
Doyle, David.  "B-29 Superfortress Vol. 1" Schiffer Publishing Ltd. 2020

External links

 Wright R-3350-57 Cyclone Fact Sheets from the National Museum of the USAF website
 1940s film on Chrysler production of Wright's Duplex-Cyclone radials for the Superfortress
 150 hour test of Wright 3350-19 with Bendix fuel injection 1943

R-3350
1930s aircraft piston engines
Aircraft air-cooled radial piston engines
Turbo-compound engines