The Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 is an American radial engine developed by Curtiss-Wright, widely used on aircraft in the 1930s through 1950s. It was produced under license in France as the Hispano-Suiza 9V or Hispano-Wright 9V, and in the Soviet Union as the Shvetsov M-25.

Design and development

The R-1820 Cyclone 9 represented a further development of the Wright P-2 engine dating back to 1925. Featuring a greater displacement and a host of improvements, the R-1820 entered production in 1931. The engine remained in production well into the 1950s. The R-1820 was built under license by Lycoming,

Pratt & Whitney Canada Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC or P&WC) is a Canada-based aircraft engine manufacturer. PWC's headquarters are in Longueuil, Quebec, just outside Montreal. It is a division of the larger US-based Pratt & Whitney (P&W), itself a business unit of ...

, and also, during World War II, by the Studebaker Corporation. The Soviet Union had purchased a license for the design, and the Shvetsov '' OKB'' was formed to

metricate Metrication or metrification is the act or process of converting to the metric system of measurement. All over the world, countries have transitioned from local and traditional units of measurement to the metric system. This process began in F ...

the American specification powerplant for Soviet government-factory production as the '' M-25'', with the R-1820's general design features used by the Shvetsov design bureau for many of their future radials for the Soviet air forces through the 1940s and onwards. In Spain the R-1820 was license-built as the ''Hispano-Suiza 9V'' or ''Hispano-Wright 9V''. The R-1820 was at the heart of many famous aircraft including early Douglas airliners (the prototype DC-1, the DC-2, the first civil versions of the DC-3, and the limited-production DC-5), every wartime example of the

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

and Douglas SBD Dauntless bombers, the early versions of the Polikarpov I-16 fighter (as the M-25), and the

Piasecki H-21 The Piasecki H-21 Workhorse/Shawnee is an American helicopter, the fourth of a line of tandem rotor helicopters designed and built by Piasecki Helicopter (later Boeing Vertol). Commonly called "the flying banana", it was a multi-mission helicop ...

helicopter. The R-1820 also found limited use in armoured vehicles. The G-200 variant developed at 2,300 rpm and powered the strictly experimental

M6 Heavy Tank The Heavy Tank M6 was an American heavy tank designed during World War II. The tank was produced in small numbers and never saw combat. Development Because of limited budgets for tank development in the interwar years, at the outbreak of Worl ...

D-200 Diesel

The Wright R-1820 was converted to a diesel during World War II by Caterpillar Inc. as the D-200 and produced at 2,000 rpm in the M4A6 Sherman.

Variants

Notes: Unit numbers ending with W indicate engine variants fitted with water-methanol emergency power boost systems.

Hispano-Suiza 9V

The Hispano-Suiza 9V is a licence-built version of the R-1820. ;Hispano-Suiza 9Vr:9V with reduction gear ;Hispano-Suiza 9Vb: ;Hispano-Suiza 9Vbr:variant of the 9Vb with reduction gear ;Hispano-Suiza 9Vbrs:variant of the 9Vb with reduction gear and supercharger ;Hispano-Suiza 9Vbs:variant of the 9Vb with supercharger ;Hispano-Suiza 9Vd:variant of the 9V ;Hispano-Suiza 9V-10: driving fixed-pitch propeller ;Hispano-Suiza 9V-11:as -10 but RH rotation ;Hispano-Suiza 9V-16: driving variable-pitch propeller, LH rotation ;Hispano-Suiza 9V-17:as -16 but RH rotation

Applications

Vehicles

* M4A6 tank *

M6 heavy tank The Heavy Tank M6 was an American heavy tank designed during World War II. The tank was produced in small numbers and never saw combat. Development Because of limited budgets for tank development in the interwar years, at the outbreak of Worl ...

Engines on display

Preserved Wright R-1820 engines are on display at the following museums: * American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum * Fleet Air Arm Museum * Delta Flight Museum *

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...

* National Museum of the U.S. Air Force File:Engine of Douglas DC-3.jpg, Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 engine of restored Douglas DC-3 "Flagship Knoxville" at American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum File:2020-09-038-R1820.jpg, Wright R-1820 cutaway at the Museum of Aviation File:20-09-117-R 1820.jpg, Wright R-1820 at the Museum of Aviation

Specifications (GR-1820-G2)

References

Bibliography

* Bridgman, L, (ed.) (1998) ''Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II.'' Crescent. . * Eden, Paul & Soph Moeng, ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft.'' Amber Books Ltd. Bradley's Close, 74-77 White Lion Street, London, NI 9PF, 2002, . *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. * * {{US military piston aeroengines Aircraft air-cooled radial piston engines

R-1820 The Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 is an American radial engine developed by Curtiss-Wright, widely used on aircraft in the 1930s through 1950s. It was produced under license in France as the Hispano-Suiza 9V or Hispano-Wright 9V, and in the Soviet Uni ...

1930s aircraft piston engines