The Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp is an

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years many ...

of the reciprocating type that was widely used in

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

from the 1920s onward. It was the

Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines) and military aviat ...

aircraft company's first engine, and the first of the famed Wasp series. It was a single-row, nine-

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

radial Radial is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Mathematics and Direction * Vector (geometric) In mathematics, physics, and engineering, a Euclidean vector or simply a vector (sometimes called a geometric vector or spatial vector) ...

design, and displaced 1,344 cubic inches (22 L); bore and stroke were both 5.75 in (146 mm). A total of 34,966 engines were produced. As well as numerous types of

fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the aircraft's forward airspeed and the shape of the wings. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinc ...

, it was used to power helicopters, the Agusta-Bell AB.102 and the

Sikorsky H-19 The Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw (company model number S-55) was a multi-purpose helicopter used by the United States Army and United States Air Force. It was also license-built by Westland Aircraft as the Westland Whirlwind in the United Kingdom ...

, and a class of airship, the

K-class blimp The ''K''-class blimp was a class of blimps (non-rigid airship) built by the Goodyear Aircraft Company of Akron, Ohio for the United States Navy. These blimps were powered by two Pratt & Whitney ''Wasp'' nine-cylinder radial air-cooled engine ...

. In 2016, it received designation as a Historic Engineering Landmark from the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

Variants

''Note:'' R for Radial and 1340 for 1340 cubic inch displacement. ;R-1340-7: , ;R-1340-8: ;R-1340-9: , ;R-1340-16: ;R-1340-17: ;R-1340-19: ;R-1340-19F: ;R-1340-21G: ;R-1340-22: ;R-1340-23: ;R-1340-30: ;R-1340-31: ;R-1340-33: ;R-1340-48: ;R-1340-49: ;R-1340-AN1: , ;R-1340-AN2: , 3:2 geared prop shaft ;R-1340-B: ;R-1340-D: ;R-1340-S1D1: ;R-1340-S1H1-G:, ;R-1340-S3H1: ;R-1340-T1D1:

Applications

Engines on display

* There are a Wasp A and three Wasp C's on display at 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 ...

Bradley International Airport Bradley International Airport is a public international airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, United States. Owned and operated by the Connecticut Airport Authority, it is the second-largest airport in New England. The airport is about halfw ...

, Windsor Locks, CT.http://neam.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&layout=edit&id=1122 "Pratt & Whitney Roscoe Turner R-1340 Wasp Engine"

Specifications (R-1340-S1H1-G)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Bridgman, Leonard. ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1945-46.'' Hammersmith, London: HarperCollinsPublishers (1994 reprint). *Gunston, Bill. ''World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines: From the Pioneers to the Present Day''. 5th edition, Stroud, UK: Sutton, 2006. *White, Graham. ''Allied Aircraft Piston Engines of World War II: History and Development of Frontline Aircraft Piston Engines Produced by Great Britain and the United States During World War II''. Warrendale, Pennsylvania: SAE International, 1995.

External links

"Index of Wasp & R-1340 Designated Engines"
a scanned Pratt & Whitney reference document from 1956 detailing the different Wasp versions, their specifications, and the aircraft they were installed in. * *There is
"Pratt & Whitney 1340N Radial Engine"
in use on a T-6 Texan at Pacific Warbirds, Oahu, HI {{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt and Whitney R-1340 Wasp Aircraft air-cooled radial piston engines

R-1340 The Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp is an aircraft engine of the reciprocating type that was widely used in American aircraft from the 1920s onward. It was the Pratt & Whitney aircraft company's first engine, and the first of the famed Wasp series ...

1920s aircraft piston engines