What's your favourite engine?

[gbb]

View: https://youtu.be/YzdtYU7i_jY?si=mp8DaKKcWQyQZXma


4x Olympus engines, hard to beat in anyone's world

 

[Profpointy]

An engineer friend, fellow student at Reading, was doing research on the Humphrey pump. This has a liquid piston - the same water that it's pumping - with non-return valves either side at the base and conventional inlet and exhaust valves, and spark plug at the top of the cylinder.
He built a laboratory version with a glass cylinder, to demonstrate to his tutor and visiting professors. Partway through the visit it exploded, showering everyone with water and shards of glass. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_pump

That is a really clever idea. And once you've seen it is seemingly "obvious" yet I'd not have thought of it

 

[Profpointy]

Another vote for the Deltic engine

Another rather splendid Napier engine was the interwar W12 Lion. Originally an aero engine but found it's way into land speed record cars an fast naval boats

 

[Chromatic]

The engine on my old Honda Izy lawnmower. Never failed to start, went on and on without any maintenance apart from oil and was still perfectly alright when the rest of the mower finally fell apart after many years service.

 

[Yellow Fang]

Merlin?

I thought about the Merlin. It was definitely the most crucial British aircraft engine during WW2. It went through a great deal of development throughout the war. I have often which aircraft was most important to us in the war, Spitfire or Hurricane, but for engines it is easy. After the Merlin, I would count the various Bristol engines as the next most important, Mercury, Pegasus, Hercules. I would count the Napier Sabre as the third most important, British aircraft engine of WW2, and the Roll Royce Griffin as the fourth.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Merlin.
I was at Great Gransden in 2014 for the two Lancasters display. One Merlin sounds great, but eight was incredible.
RR Olympus.
Saw XH558 display at Shuttleworth a few times, including the last display flight.

I've been to East Kirby a couple of times, when they're running/taxying 'Just Jane', & you can get close, when they're firing up all 4 Merlins
The damn tailplane starts shimmying, with the slip-stream & vibration!!


View: https://youtu.be/bMu6363MWLc?si=bTRc0CEEfeVKk0Ni


If you want to pay, you can have a taxi-ride; https://www.lincsaviation.co.uk/

Seen XH558 take off/land a few times
Sadly only once similar to this, almost a Cold War Scramble

View: https://youtu.be/Og-HOG48o-Y?si=eB4O3R_cHX6hklR4

 

[Dogtrousers]

As I'm currently on the train returning home from a day out on the Bluebell Railway in Sussex it would be rude of me not to choose the locomotive that just propelled me from Sheffield Park to East Grinstead

Camelot
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BR_Standard_Class_5_73082_Camelot

 

[dan_bo]

CBX1000

 

[FishFright]

Small Block Chevy , it can do most things it's ask to do very well and did it for decades.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

A V twin Guzzi has the sort of deep rumble that wiuld make you want to never switch it off.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTCRF_m7eAk


Everything should sound like that, even your watch.

 

[raleighnut]

Too many to list all of them but the Deltic, the Lotus-Ford 'Twincam', the TZ Yamaha, and the T50 are close to the top

 

[Oldhippy]

Personally, my heart.

 

[fossyant]

Deltics, Merlins

Car... SR20DET

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

This is the correct answer.

Nah, give a Western any day! 🤣

 

[BigSid]

Yamaha TZ 350.

Agree! I used to race one. No power below 8000rpm, slowly increased up to 8500 when it hit real power and then dropped like a stone after 10500. Real fun in the wet ...... not.