Ranger V-770
V-770 | |
---|---|
Preserved Ranger V-770 | |
Type | Piston aero-engine |
Manufacturer | Ranger Aircraft Engine Division |
First run | 1931 |
Major applications | Curtiss SO3C Seamew |
Unit cost | $11,000 U.S. Dollars circa 1944[1] |
The Ranger V-770 was an American air-cooled inverted V-12 aero-engine developed by the Ranger Aircraft Engine Division of the Fairchild Engine & Aircraft Corporation in the early 1930s.[2]
Design and development
In 1931, the V-770 design was put to paper, based on the Ranger 6-440 series of inverted inline air-cooled engines, and test flown in the Vought XSO2U-1 Scout. In 1938 it was tested in the Curtiss SO3C Seamew and found to be unreliable with a tendency to overheat in low-speed flight.[3][4] By 1941 a more developed V-770 was installed in the Fairchild XAT-14 Gunner prototype and was used in the production Fairchild AT-21 Gunner gunnery school aircraft.[5]
Produced from 1941 to 1945, the V-770 featured a two-piece aluminum alloy crankcase, steel barreled cylinders with integral aluminum alloy fins and aluminum alloy heads. The V-770 was the only American inverted V12-type inline air-cooled engine to reach production. The engine was used in very few Army Air Forces aircraft, among them the short lived Fairchild AT-21 twin-engine bomber trainer,[1] and in the two Bell XP-77 light-weight fighter prototypes.
Variants
- V-770-4
- Installed in the Vought XSO2U-1 scout aircraft
- V-770-6
- Installed in the Fairchild XAT-14 Gunner prototype, intended for the Ryan SOR-1 Scout
- V-770-7
- Installed in the Bell XP-77 light-weight fighter prototype
- V-770-8
- Installed in the Curtiss SO3C Seamew Scout.[4]
- V-770-9
- Installed in the North American XAT-6E Texan prototype.[5]
- V-770-11
- Installed in the Fairchild AT-21 Gunner.[5]
- V-770-15
- Installed in the Fairchild AT-21 Gunner.[5]
- SGV-770C-1
- Tested in the Curtiss XF6C-7 Hawk Fighter-Bomber at 350 hp.[4]
- SGV-770C-B1
- Installed in the Ikarus 214 prototype
- SGV-770D-5
- Developed for post-war commercial use,[2] 700 hp (kW) at 3,600 RPM, weight 870 lb (395 kg), height 31.11 in (790 mm), length 74.92 in (1,900 mm), width 33.28 in (846 mm)
Applications
- Bell XP-77
- Curtiss SO3C
- Edo OSE
- Fairchild F-46 (Duramold)
- Fairchild AT-21
- Fairchild BQ-3
- Ikarus 212
- Ikarus 213 / Utva 213 Vihor / Government Factories Type 213 Vihor
- Ikarus 214 (prototype)
- Vought XSO2U
Specifications (SGV-770C-1)
Data from Janes Fighting Aircraft of World War II (1989) [2]
General characteristics
- Type: 12-cylinder inverted Vee piston engine
- Bore: 4 in (101.6 mm)
- Stroke: 5 1⁄8 in (130.2 mm)
- Displacement: 773 in3 (12.6 L)
- Length: 62 in (1,574.8 mm)
- Width: 28 in (711.2 mm)
- Height: 32.2 in (817.88 mm)
- Dry weight: 730 lb (331 kg)
Components
- Valvetrain: Single overhead camshaft (SOHC) (1 shaft per bank), gear driven
- Supercharger: Single-Speed, Single-Stage, produced 45 inches of mercury (1.5 bar, 7.5 psi) at take-off
- Fuel system: Holley non-icing carburetor
- Fuel type: 87 octane petrol
- Oil system: Full pressure type
- Cooling system: Air-cooled
Performance
- Power output: 520 hp at 3,150 rpm (387.7 kW)
- Specific power: 0.673 hp/in3
- Compression ratio: 6.5:1
- Power-to-weight ratio: 0.71 hp/lb
Survivors
- Carolinas Aviation Museum 1 restored engine in storage
- 2 engines in the Davis Aircraft private collection*
- One survives at Cincinnati State Aviation school
- One V770-7 is at the Museum of Flight restoration center.
See also
- Comparable engines
- Related lists
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ranger V-770. |
- 1 2 Ranger V-770 Inverted, National Museum of the USAF, retrieved 2008-11-07 Includes photo
- 1 2 3 Jane, Frederick Thomas; Bridgman, Leonard; Gunston, Bill (1989), 0-517-67964-7 Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II Check
|url=
value (help), London: Random House, ISBN 1-85170-493-0 - ↑ Smith, Herschel H. (1986), Aircraft Piston Engines: From the Manly Balzer to the Continental Tiara, Sunflower University Press, ISBN 978-0-89745-079-9
- 1 2 3 Eden, Paul; Moeng, Soph (2002), The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, London: Amber Books, ISBN 978-0-7607-3432-2
- 1 2 3 4 Swanborough, F. G.; Bowers, Peter M. (1964), United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, New York: Putnam, ISBN 0-85177-816-X