IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE.

Southland Times, Issue 21198, 26 September 1930, Page 8

IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE.

OLD METHODS AID FLYING. Not all progress is made by doing things in a radically new way. Frequently much ground can be gained by doing an old thing exceptionally well. Tills is well illustrated in the new flying Diesel engine. According to “Old Engine Power,” the problem of reducing Diesel engine weight to a figure compatible with aeronautic requirements has been solved not .by any radically new invention, but by applying Diesel engine design elements, which have been known for a number of years. The two most important of these design methods are seen to consist in the use of exceptionally high cylinder pressures and in the adoption of a single valve both for admitting air to the cylinders and discharging exhaust gases. High efficiency and power resulting from increasing the maximum Diesel engine pressure, heretofore commonly used, are seen by Mr Julius Kuttner, editor of Oil Engine Power, as the first great step in giving the aeronautic Diesel engine a high output a pound of engine weight and in reducing the weight a horsepower to the phenomenally low figure of 2.8 pounds. Reduction in the number of valves and stripping tho engine of intake and exhaust manifold are seen as the second step, while the abolition of the ignition system is the third great factor. This last eliminates more than 11,000 parts liable to failure and avoids radio interference as well. Apparently great advances can be made with familiar tools.