Why a radial engine ?
The motor, the engine, the gorilla… whatever you want to call it, it’s the life of your plane. I’ve thought about what type of power plant to hang on the front of the Skybolt for some time now. As with anything, there is more than one reason to push me towards one way of doing something as opposed to doing it another way. Everything is gray until the moment of decision then it’s a black and white issue.. There was a time that I wanted to hang an IO-540 on the front of the plane I was to build, but that was years ago. Getting back to the original question….. Why a radial engine ? To answer this question we may just need to see what the story is on this BIG OL’ ROUND ENGINE that I’ll be hanging on the front of my Skybolt ? The radial differs from an inline combustion engine by having the cylinders arranged around a common crankshaft pointing out like spokes on a wheel. The cylinders are connected to the crankshaft with a master-and-articulating-rod assembly. One of the cylinders has
