The Mathis Vega 42 was a 42-cylinder 6-bank in-line radial piston engine, designed and built in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, by ''
Société Mathis Aviation'' in the late 1930s, with development continuing during and after
WWII
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Design and development
Émile E. C. Mathis had begun designing and producing motor-cars from 1910. ''Société Mathis Aviation'', formed in 1937, began designing aircraft engines, initially with the large and complex Vega.
The Vega (and the similar Vesta) had a 2-piece
Aluminium-alloy
An aluminium alloy (or aluminum alloy; see spelling differences) is an alloy in which aluminium (Al) is the predominant metal. The typical alloying elements are copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon, tin, nickel and zinc. There are two principal ...
crankcase, 7 Aluminium-alloy cylinder blocks, with one-piece Aluminium-alloy heads and steel cylinder liners. A 6-throw crankshaft ran in 7 plain bearings.
Development continued after the war, culminating in the Vesta 42, which did not reach the hardware stage before Mathis closed its doors.
Operational history
The Vega engines were run on test-beds, and some sources indicate the engine was flown 100 hours in a test bed aircraft during 1939, but no details of flight testing survive.
Variants
;Vega 42A:Initial version of the engine first run in 1938, rated at 3,000 rpm. Two examples and a full-scale mock-up are reported to have been built.
;Vega 42B:An improved variant, under development in 1940. Completed and unfinished engines were hidden from invading German forces, in the
Pyrenees.
;Vega 42D: An enlarged capacity version which became the Vesta 42.
;Vega 42E: Post
WWII
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
development rated at for take-off.
;Vesta 42: An enlarged Vega, developed from 1942, with similar configuration, but bore, stroke and displacement, rated at .
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]
Specifications (42E-00)
See also
* Armstrong Siddeley Deerhound
References
Further reading
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*{{cite journal , title=Here and There: Mathis Multi , journal=Flight , date=3 May 1945 , volume=XLVII , issue=1897 , url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1945/1945%20-%200849.html , accessdate=5 December 2018
External links
LES MOTEURS MATHISWW2 AIRCRAFT.NET :MATHIS 'Vega' 42-Cylinder French Aero-Engine
Inline radial engines
1930s aircraft piston engines
Water-cooled radial engines