The Lawrance J-1 was an engine developed by
Charles Lanier Lawrance and used in American aircraft in the early 1920s. It was a nine-cylinder, air-cooled radial design.
Development
During World War I the
Lawrance Aero Engine Company
Lawrance Aero Engine Company was an American aircraft engine manufacturer. Founded by engine pioneer Charles Lawrance, it designed one of the first successful air-cooled radial engines. It existed for only 5 years, being acquired by Wright Aeronau ...
of New York City produced the crude opposed twins that powered the Penguin trainers, and the
Lawrance L-1 Lawrance may refer to
* Lawrance Aero Engine Company
*Lawrance Garden, former name of Bagh-e-Jinnah, a garden in Lahore, Pakistan
People with the given name
*Lawrance Collingwood CBE (1887–1982), English conductor, composer and record producer
...
60 hp Y-type radial.
[Janes Fighting Aircraft of World War I by Michael John Haddrick Taylor (Random House Group Ltd. 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA, 2001, ), p. 290]
After the end of World War I, the Lawrance engineers worked with both the Army and the Navy in developing their L-1 onto a nine-cylinder radial engine, which became the 200 hp Model J-1. It was the best American air-cooled engine at the time and passed its 50-hour test in 1922.
The U.S. Navy badly needed light, reliable engines for its carrierborne aircraft. As a means of pressuring Wright and other companies into developing radial engines, it gave a contract to Lawrance for 200
["A History of Aircraft Piston Engines" by Herschel Smith, (Sunflower University Press Manhattan, Kansas, 1981, ), 255pp.] of the J-1 radial and ceased buying the liquid-cooled
Wright-Hispano engines.
At the urging of the Army and Navy the
Wright Aeronautical Corporation
Wright Aeronautical (1919–1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Paterson, New Jersey. It was the successor corporation to Wright-Martin. It built aircraft and was a supplier of aircraft engines to other builders in the ...
bought the Lawrance Company, and subsequent engines were known as Wright radials. The
Wright Whirlwind
The Wright Whirlwind was a family of air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical (originally an independent company, later a division of Curtiss-Wright). The family began with nine-cylinder engines, and later expanded to incl ...
had essentially the same lower end (crankcase, cam, and crankshaft) as the J-1.
Applications
*
Dayton-Wright XPS-1
*
Naval Aircraft Factory N2N
*
Naval Aircraft Factory TS-1
*
Huff-Daland TA-2
The Huff-Daland TA-2 was an American biplane trainer designed by the Huff-Daland Aero Corporation in the early 1920s for the United States Army Air Service.
Design and development
The TA-2 was a development of the Huff-Daland HD.4 Bridget with ...
trainer prototype - one example only re-engined
*
Huff-Daland TA-5 trainer prototype
*
Huff-Daland TA-6 trainer prototype
*
Huff-Daland HN-2 naval trainer
Engines on display
The
New England Air Museum
The New England Air Museum (NEAM) is an American aerospace museum located adjacent to Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. The museum consists of three display hangars with additional storage and restoration hangars. Its co ...
in
Windsor Locks
Windsor Locks is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 12,613. It is the site of Bradley International Airport, which serves the Greater Hartford-Springfield region and occupies approxim ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, has a Lawrance J-1 on display.
[. The section "Images from Kimble D. McCutcheon" has photos of the museum's J-1.]
Specifications (J-1)
See also
*
ABC Dragonfly
The ABC Dragonfly was a British radial engine developed towards the end of the First World War. It was expected to deliver excellent performance for the time and was ordered in very large numbers. It proved, however, to be extremely unreliable ...
, contemporary production British air-cooled nine-cylinder aviation radial, unsuccessful in service.
References
External links
Wright J-5 "Whirlwind"(PDF), by Kimble D. McCutcheon, from the Aircraft Engine Historical Society (AEHS).
of "Air-Cooled Aircraft Engine Cylinders", by George Genevro, also from AEHS.
* A detailed contemporary discussion of the Lawrance engine from ''Flight'' magazine.
*
{{Wright/Lawrance aeroengines
1920s aircraft piston engines
Aircraft air-cooled radial piston engines
J-1