{"id":7558,"date":"2023-08-07T09:39:22","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T09:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=7558"},"modified":"2023-08-07T09:39:22","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T09:39:22","slug":"the-men-who-built-the-largest-piston-engine-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=7558","title":{"rendered":"The men who built the largest piston engine in the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aviation news international – Question for Paul McBride, the General Aviation News<\/em>\u00a0engines expert:<\/strong>\u00a0My grandfather, Russell Leuck, worked at Avco Lycoming Engines in 1943. I found a picture of him with a group of men with the XR-7755-3 (that\u2019s how it\u2019s labeled). My grandfather is pictured bottom row, third from right.<\/p>\n

He was a self-taught mechanic and I never heard the full story of his role at Avco.<\/p>\n

I was wondering if you would possibly have any thoughts in regards to how he would have been helping with this project?<\/p>\n

Joy Hobbs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Answer from Paul, who retired after almost 40 years with\u00a0Lycoming<\/a>:<\/strong>\u00a0Joy, thank you so much for your letter and picture from the past at Lycoming.<\/p>\n

From looking at the photograph you sent, my best guess is that those in the picture are the engineers and the mechanics who actually ran the XR-7755 engine in the test stands.<\/p>\n

I recognize some of the faces of those in this picture and, as a matter of fact, I had the privilege of actually working with some of these men during my years at Lycoming.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/center>Again, it was so nice of you to write and send this information to me \u2014 this is what makes our lives so interesting.<\/p>\n

A bit of history<\/h2>\n

The Lycoming XR-7755-3 is the largest, most powerful reciprocating aircraft engine in the world, with 36 cylinders and a power output of 5,000 horsepower.<\/p>\n

During World War II, the U.S. Army Air Forces requested an engine with high takeoff power and low fuel consumption for a yet-to-be designed long-range bomber and transport. Lycoming began designing the engine in early 1944 and it was ready for testing by mid-1946. It featured nine dual-lobe overhead camshafts, which shifted axially for takeoff and cruising efficiency, and a two-speed, geared, dual-rotation propeller drive.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
The Lycoming XR-7755-3 on display at the National Air and Space Museum\u2019s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. (Photo by Sanjay Acharya via Wikipedia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Lycoming built two XR-7755-3 prototypes. The company and the Army successfully tested them, but neither engine ever flew in an airframe.<\/p>\n

The reliability of new gas turbine engines introduced after World War II made the XR-7755-3 obsolete before it could be fully developed.<\/p>\n

The sole surviving engine is on display at the\u00a0National Air and Space Museum\u2019s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center<\/a>\u00a0in Chantilly, Virginia.<\/p>\n

source: https:\/\/generalaviationnews.com\/2023\/08\/06\/the-men-who-built-the-largest-piston-engine-in-the-world<\/a>\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aviation news international – Question for Paul McBride, the General Aviation News\u00a0engines expert:\u00a0My grandfather, Russell Leuck, worked at Avco Lycoming Engines in 1943. I found a picture of him with a group of men with the XR-7755-3 (that\u2019s how it\u2019s labeled). My grandfather is pictured bottom row, third from right. He was a self-taught mechanic …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[92,102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-airports","category-featured-en"],"yoast_head":"\nThe men who built the largest piston engine in the world - aviation news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=7558\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The men who built the largest piston engine in the world\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Aviation news international – Question for Paul McBride, the General Aviation News\u00a0engines expert:\u00a0My grandfather, Russell Leuck, worked at Avco Lycoming Engines in 1943. 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