NEW ENGINE.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18923, 11 February 1927, Page 6

NEW ENGINE.

AUSTRALIAN INVENTION. CKKAT CAI'ABII.ITIER CLAIMED. I.C.N DUN". J:uinary -. A :••••- 1 \ persons wit ne;».«e«l ;i prr. at'- demonstration of what experts dr-i-rili. as :i remarkable motor-cycle '.■limine, i" ii-:■» oj:-• cylinder, is doubleshaMru. .-Ihas t>vn pistons. It '".-is designed i>y Hi" Australian engineer Worry. Though the engine is rated liHMiina'lv- as of 2 j-horse power, it is I-!.; iiijcil iliat il develops IMiorse power. In a bcii. ii t.-st il did l-U.'On revolutions a :«iimite- with a roar like an aeroplane. The engine was \irtually without vibrali.ui, tln-nuh it. was not even fastened f Is is predicted that the engine, .vhiri: wili b,- mi the market within a l'ew out lis. will, on the road, develop four limes the power ot an ordinary similarly powered motor-engine at: half (lie running cost. Wcrrv is applying the principle to a s,x cvliiidcr aeroplane engine, and the Air Ministry i- showing keen interest in tile expel i'neilt. [Mr Werry has r..r many years been endea\ler.'ing to make a commercial success of his ingenious opposed-piston engine. The Admiralty sonic years ago hail a steam launch equipped with the engine, and recently, it is said, a large loi-,omotive was similarly equipped. In Melbourne engineering circles it is not disputed that the Werry engine is wonderfully compact. It is agreed also that iii mechanical efficiency it is not inferior to tho ordinary type of reciprocating engine, but the claim implied in the cable message, that it is therinodvuaniieallv more efficient than other engines—tliat is, that for a given amount of fuel consumed it will develop a greater amount of power—is not admitted. In its original form the Worry engine was steam-driven, but it would seem from the cable message that, as adapted to motor-cars and aeroplanes, it is of the internal combustion class. The revolutions (14,000 a minute) which the engine described in the mcssago is said to make are regarded as extraordinarily high. Special racing motorcar engines have been designed for a sneed of 5000 revolutions a minute, and this is generally regarded as about the limit at -which a reciprocating engine can normally function, as at a higher rate of revolution the piHton would be unable, within the time available, to draw into the cylinder a fresh charge of "mixture." But by a supercharging device, which vouhl force into the cylinder under pressure air and petrol vapour (the "mixture"), a higher rate of revolution would be possible. The principle of supercharging, however, is not confined to the Werry engine.]