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DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED POWER UNIT.

The power unit consists of three "vee" type air-cooled 8-cylinder engines. Each engine is complete in itself except that it has no bottom half crankcase. The crankshaft is carried completely from the top half of each engine. The three engines are mounted on a single aluminum casting divided up into three compartments; each compartment forming the oil sump for one of the engines. In the front end of this casting is mounted a short propeller shaft driven by a single spur gear. Each engine drives on this spur gear by a pinion mounted loosely on its own crankshaft. This pinion is driven through a free-wheel clutch keyed to the crankshaft. Any engine can be started up from the propeller by means of a friction clutch combined with the free-wheel clutch. The whole unit is carried in front of the fuselage of the aeroplane from the back of the main supporting casting.

This installation could be made for a large range of horse power. Each unit is now of 650 horsepower. The cylinders are similar to those used on the Jaguar engine, 5 inch bore by 5 1/2 inch stroke. Each engine runs at 1,850 revolutions per minute, while the propeller runs at 750 revolutions per minute. All

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