World War Two Era U.S. Radial Engines (Curtiss and Pratt&Whitney)

In message , Peter Stickney
writes
In article ,
"M. J. Powell" writes:
In message , Peter Stickney
writes
In article ,
"Lincoln Brown" writes:
Okay, online flightsim question time.

Did the Curtiss or P&W Radial engines rotate on a mount and spin the
propellor like their WWI predecessors or were they fixed and drove a
propellor shaft?

I've seen WWI Era fighters with the engine exposed and the cylinders spin,
but
all the WWII aircraft the engine is mostly enclosed in a cowl and not
clearly visible if the cylinders are rotating as well.

Additionally, what effect if any would flying inverted for an extended
period have on a radial engine.

Radials, as opposed to the WW I Rotaries, are fixed, and the
crankshaft turns. Rotaries were already passing out of favor by the
end of the First World War. Improvements in construction techniques,
and in coolig fin design meant the Rotaries lost any advantage that
they had.

As for inverted flight, that would depend on the oil system of a
particular type of airplane. Radials, like their inline brethren, are
dry-sump engines - the lubricating oil is stored in a separated tank
and pumped through everything that needs it under pressure.

Is that the same as a 'total-loss system'?

Not quite. If the oil was being dumped overboard, it would be. Whar
usually happens is that the oil is returned to its sorage tank, &
pumped though again.

Right. Thanks.

Mike
-
M.J.Powell