In aviation, an in-line engine refers to an internal combustion engine with banks rather than rows of cylinders, including straight and V engines, but excluding radial and rotary engines
Usually found in 4- and 6-cylinder configurations, the straight engine has all cylinders aligned in one line, with no or only minimal offset. A straight engine is considerably easier to build than an otherwise equivalent V engine because the cylinder bank can be milled from a single metal casting and it requires fewer cylinder heads and camshafts. In-line engines are also much smaller in volume than designs like the radial, and can be mounted in any direction. Straight configurations are simpler than their V-shaped counterparts.
In a V engine, the cylinders and pistons are aligned, in two separate planes, so that they appear to be in a “V” when viewed along the axis of the crankshaft. The V configuration reduces the overall engine length, height and weight compared to an equivalent straight engine. It is common for V engines to be described with V# notation, where # is how many cylinders it has:
The year 1919 was memorable in the history of aviation for the first successful flight across the Atlantic, achieved by aviators of the United States Navy using NC flying boats, jointly developed by the United States Navy and the Curtiss Engineering Corporation, the N in the designation standing for navy and the C for Curtiss. [...]
In 1920, the Nieuport-Delage Ni-D 29 was the fastest airplane in the world. Designed by the Nieuport firm for the French Aviation Militaire in 1918, the Ni-D 29 appeared too late for combat in WWI. Following its record-breaking performance in the 1920 Gordon Bennett Trophy race, when it flew 168 miles per hour, it was [...]
The B.II, a two-seater reconnaissance plane, was the first airplane that established Albatros’ reputation, and was the forerunner of many successfaul craft from that manufacturer. Designed by Ernst Heinkel, it set an altitude record of 14,765 feet early in its career. It was produced in large numbers in the first half of the war.
The seating [...]
The A.E.G. B.II only saw service in the early months of the war, after which more modern types replaced it. It’s follow-on version, the A.E.G. C series was produced in larger numbers in 1915 and 1916, and served throughout the war.
Top Speed: n.a.
Manufacturer: A.E.G.
Year: 1914
Engine: 120 h.p.
Wingspan: 42 feet 7 inches
Weight: [...]
The Aviatik B. II was a reconnaissance aircraft widely used by the Germans and Austrians before 1916. Built by the Oesterreichische-Ungarische Flugzeugfabrik of Vienna, it developed from the Aviatik B.I produced by the German company Automobil Aviatik und Leipzig between 1914 and 1915.
The Austrian B.II (Series 32) produced in small numbers in 1915 was powered [...]
Fielded in 1916, the Hansa-Brandenburg D.I was a transitional aircraft of German design but Austrian manufacture. Its stability and visibility were so bad that the pilots called it ‘The Coffin.’ Altogether, about 200 were produced by Phönix and UFAG.
From its unusual appearance, Allied pilots called it the “Star Strutter.”
Top Speed: 116 m.p.h.
Manufacturer: [...]
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An effective response and a worthy adversary to the Fokker Eindekkers, the F.E.2b appeared in September, 1915. It was a two-seater, pusher biplane, that was quite speedy and allowed for two machine guns, one firing forward, and one (albeit awkwardly) firing rearward over the upper wing. The ‘pusher’ concept would soon be [...]
THE 1912 B. E. (BRITISH EXPERIMENTAL)
In 1912 the British Government, realizing the importance of the airplane as a war-machine for scouting purposes, established the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farmborough, with Geoffrey de Havilland, one of the early British experimenters, as designer. Machines of his invention have been called D. H.’s. His 1912 airplane, the [...]
In 1915, when the British Empire forces (mostly Indians and Australians) attacked the Turks in Mesopotamia, they needed aircraft. Or wanted them; perhaps it was a matter of national pride, that every modern army ought to have air support. At any rate, the Rajah of Gwalior underwrote the expense of the air contingent – a [...]
Some of the largest machines thus far built are of the Caproni Ca.4 type, fitted with three powerful motors, two of which drive tractor propellers while the third is a pusher and is located between the other two. Two cars are fitted and, on some of the trial flights made in this country, a large [...]
