The Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 is an American

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

developed by

Curtiss-Wright The Curtiss-Wright Corporation is a manufacturer and services provider headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina, with factories and operations in and outside the United States. Created in 1929 from the consolidation of Curtiss, Wright, and v ...

, 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 The Shvetsov M-25 was an aircraft radial engine produced in the Soviet Union (USSR) in the 1930s and 1940s, a licensed production variant of the Wright R-1820-F3. Design and development The first M-25s were produced from kits imported from the ...

Design and development

The R-1820 Cyclone 9 represented a further development of the

Wright P-2 Wright is an occupational surname originating in England. The term 'Wright' comes from the circa 700 AD Old English word 'wryhta' or 'wyrhta', meaning worker or shaper of wood. Later it became any occupational worker (for example, a shipwright i ...

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 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 ...

, by the

Studebaker Corporation Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Ma ...

. The

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

had purchased a license for the design, and the

Shvetsov UEC-Aviadvigatel JSC (Russian: АО "ОДК-Авиадвигатель", lit. Aeroengine) is a Russian developer and builder of aircraft engines, most notably jet engines for commercial aircraft. Based at the Perm Engine Plant, its products power ...

OKB OKB is a transliteration of the Russian initials of "" – , meaning 'experiment and design bureau'. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications. ...

'' was formed to metricate the American specification powerplant for Soviet government-factory production as the ''

M-25 M25 or M-25 may be: Aerospace * M-25 Dromader Mikro, a variant of the Polish PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader agricultural aircraft * Cors-Air M25Y Black Devil, an Italian aircraft engine * Shvetsov M-25, an aircraft radial engine produced in the Soviet ...

'', 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 , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

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 Douglas DC-1 was the first model of the famous American DC (Douglas Commercial) commercial transport aircraft series. Although only one example of the DC-1 was produced, the design was the basis for the DC-2 and DC-3, the latter of which bei ...

, the

DC-2 The Douglas DC-2 is a 14-passenger, twin-engined airliner that was produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Company starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935, Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3, which bec ...

, the first civil versions of the

DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

, 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 The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/div ...

bombers, the early versions of the

Polikarpov I-16 The Polikarpov I-16 (russian: Поликарпов И-16) is a Soviet single-engine single-seat fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world's first low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to attain ope ...

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. Caterpillar Inc. (stock symbol CAT) is an American ''Fortune'' 500 corporation and the world's largest construction-equipment manufacturer. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 65 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list and number 238 on the Global ''Fo ...

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 The American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum (CRSM) is located on the campus of the American Airlines Flight Academy, which is situated at the southern end of DFW Airport, in the city limits of Fort Worth, Texas, and in close proximity to the worl ...

Fleet Air Arm Museum The Fleet Air Arm Museum is devoted to the history of British naval aviation. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, aero engines, models of aircraft and Royal Navy ships (especially aircraft carriers), and paintin ...

Delta Flight Museum The Delta Flight Museum is an aviation and corporate museum located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, near the airline's main hub, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The museum is housed in two 1940s-era Delta Air Lines aircraft ...

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 The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the ...

File:Engine of Douglas DC-3.jpg, Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 engine of restored Douglas DC-3 "Flagship Knoxville" at

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 1930s aircraft piston engines