The Righter/Kiekhaefer O-45 was an air-cooled,
two-stroke
A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...
aircraft engine of
flat-twin
A flat-twin engine is a two-cylinder internal combustion engine with the cylinders on opposite sides of the crankshaft. The most common type of flat-twin engine is the boxer-twin engine, where both pistons move inwards and outwards at the same ti ...
configuration, used extensively for powering
target drone
A target drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, generally remote controlled, usually used in the training of anti-aircraft crews.
One of the earliest drones was the British DH.82 Queen Bee, a variant of the Tiger Moth trainer aircraft operational ...
s in the late 1940s.
Kiekhaefer O-45-1
New England Air Museum. Accessed 2013-02-12.
Designed by the Righter Manufacturing Company, the O-45 was also built by the Kiekhaefer Corporation and the Menasco Motors Company
The Menasco Motors Company was an American aircraft engine and component manufacturer.
History
The company was organized by Albert S. Menasco in 1926 to convert World War I surplus Salmson Z-9 water-cooled nine-cylinder radials into air-coole ...
.
Model Designations of USAF Aircraft Engines
'. Air Force-WPAFB-O-6. USAF Air Materiel Command, 1950. Section I., Page 1.
Variants
;O-45-1
: version
;O-45-3
: version
;O-45-35
: Navy version of O-45-3
Applications
* Beecraft Wee Bee __NOTOC__
The Beecraft Wee Bee was an American ultralight monoplane designed and built by Beecraft. It was described as the world's smallest plane. Later the Starr Bumble Bee II would claim that title.
Development
The Wee Bee was designed by Wi ...
* Frankfort OQ-16/ TD3D
* Globe KD3G Snipe
The Globe KDG Snipe was an American target drone, built by the Globe Aircraft Corporation for use by the United States Navy. The KDG, and its modified version, the KD3G Snipe, served between 1946 and the early 1950s.
Design and development
The KD ...
* Globe KD4G Quail
The Globe KD4G Quail was an American target drone, built by the Globe Aircraft Corporation for use by the United States Navy.
Design and development
A catapult-launched, high-wing monoplane, the KD4G was of all-metal construction.Grossnick and Arm ...
* OQ-15
* Radioplane OQ-6
The Radioplane OQ-6 was a target drone developed by the Radioplane Company under the designation RP-14 and evaluated by the United States Army Air Forces for service use. A small number were procured, but major production contracts were cancelled ...
* Radioplane OQ-14
The OQ-2 Radioplane was the first mass-produced UAV or drone in the United States, manufactured by the Radioplane Company. A follow-on version, the OQ-3, became the most widely used target drone in US service, with over 9,400 being built during ...
* Radioplane OQ-17/ KDR
* Radioplane TDD
* ULM 811 Ultra Cruiser Ultavia
Specifications (O-45-1)
See also
References
{{US military piston aeroengines
Boxer engines
1940s aircraft piston engines
Two-stroke aircraft piston engines