Specifications |
|
| Type: | 9-cylinder, air-cooled, radial, piston |
| Displacement: | 1,344 cu. in. |
| Weight: | 745 lbs. |
| Power Output: | 410 hp @ 1,900 rpm |
| Year: | |
| NEAM Id: | 27 |
| Location: | Civil Hangar |
Courtesy of the Henry Ford Museum
Completed on December 24, 1925, the R-1340 was Pratt & Whitney's first engine called the Wasp. It was the most advanced air-cooled radial engine of its time. The Wasp was designed to meet U.S. Navy requirements for powering carrier-based combat aircraft. It easily passed the Navy testing and an order was placed for 200 engines. As Pratt & Whitney states, “It exhibited speed, rate of climb, performance at altitude and reliability that revolutionized American aviation, shattering one record after another. Soon it dominated Navy and Army Air Force fighter planes.”
Wasp engines powered approximately 100 different experimental and production aircraft and it was produced fromn 1925 until 1960 with nearly 35,000 engines manufactured.
This engine, with serial number 12, was the last engine in a series of 12 hand-built prototypes and is in its original unrestored condition.
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