The Sunbeam Arab was a British First World War era

aero 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 ...

Design and development

By 1916 the demand for aero-engines was placing huge demands on manufacturing. To help ease the pressure the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

standardised on engines of about ; one of these was a V-8

water-cooled Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and n ...

engine from Sunbeam known as the Arab. Using cast aluminium alloy cylinder blocks and heads with die-cast aluminium alloy pistons, the Arab had a bore of and stroke of for a capacity of , developing at 2,000 rpm. First bench-run in 1916, the Arab was obviously inspired by the Hispano-Suiza V-8 engines but with very little in common when examined in detail. After submission to the Internal Combustion Engine Committee of the National Advisory Committee Sunbeam received an order for 1,000 in March 1917, increased to 2,000 in June 1917 as well as another 2,160 to be built by

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(1,000),

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(300),

Napier & Son D. Napier & Son Limited was a British engineering company best known for its luxury motor cars in the Edwardian era and for its aero engines throughout the early to mid-20th century. Napier was founded as a precision engineering company in 1 ...

(300), and

Willys Overland Willys (pronounced , "Willis" ) was a brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II era and later military jeeps (MB ...

(560) in the

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. Bench testing revealed defects which required rectification, delaying completion of production drawings. Despite the delays one of the first flight-ready Arabs flew in a Martinsyde F.2 two-seat fighter/reconnaissance aircraft in mid 1917. Service use of the Arab was limited because of poor reliability and persistent vibration problems, causing some 2,350 orders to be cancelled and remaining orders 'settled', compensating manufacturers for costs incurred. Developed from the Arab were the inverted V-8 ''Sunbeam Bedouin'', straight six ''Sunbeam Dyak'', W-12 ''Sunbeam Kaffir'', and 20 cylinder radial ''Sunbeam Malay''.

Variants

;Arab :The production engine loosely based on the

Hispano-Suiza 8 The Hispano-Suiza 8 was a water-cooled V8 SOHC aero engine introduced by Hispano-Suiza in 1914, and was the most commonly used liquid-cooled engine in the aircraft of the Entente Powers during the First World War. The original Hispano-Suiza ...

V-8 engines. ;Bedouin :In common with many other contemporary engine manufacturers the Arab was re-designed to run inverted and given the name Sunbeam Bedouin. Intended to provide better forward visibility for single-engined aircraft there is no evidence that the Bedouoin was fitted to an aircraft or flew. ;Kaffir :A W-12 broad arrow engine using blocks, heads and valve-gear from the Arab, giving . Bore remained the same at , but with a stroke of . ; Dyak :A straight six extrapolation of the Arab retaining the stroke and bore of the Arab, but with only two valves per cylinder as opposed to the three valves on the Arab. ;

Pathan Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

:Coatalen expressed his interest in diesel engines by designing a diesel derivative of the Dyak with the same attributes, developing at 1,500 rpm. Only prototypes of the Pathan were built. ;Malay :The ''Sunbeam Malay'' was a 20-cylinder radial aircraft engine of capacity manufactured by Sunbeam using five four-cylinder blocks from the Arab arranged around a central crankshaft. The Malay retained the × bore and stroke of the Arab, as well as the three valves per cylinder and overhead cam shafts. Nominally rated at , the Malay was not put into production.

Applications

''Data from Brew''. * Armstrong-Whitworth F.K.10 *

Avro 530 The Avro 530 was a British two-seat fighter biplane designed in 1916 to compete with the Bristol F.2A. The plane itself was designed in 1916, but not flown until July 1917. It was of fabric-covered wooden construction, powered by a 200 hp ...

* Bristol F.2b Fighter *

Bristol Scout F The Bristol Scout E and F were a British single-seat biplane fighters built in 1916 to use newer and more powerful engines. It was initially powered by the Sunbeam Arab, but the third prototype was used as a testbed for the Cosmos Mercury, mark ...

* Fairey F.2a * Fairey N.2a *

Grain Griffin The Grain Griffin was a British carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft developed and built by the RNAS Marine Experimental Depot, Port Victoria, during the First World War. A development of the unsuccessful Sopwith B.1 bomber, the Grain Griffin ...

* Martinsyde F.2 * Norman Thompson N.2c * Norman Thompson NT.2b * Royal Aircraft Factory AE.3 Ram *

Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 is a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the fas ...

Sage 4B Seaplane Trainer Frederick Sage & Company was a British shop fitting company based in London with an extensive practice in Europe, South Africa, and South America. During both world wars it built and designed aircraft, and after the Second World War it executed m ...

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Sopwith Cuckoo The Sopwith T.1 Cuckoo was a British biplane torpedo bomber used by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), and its successor organization, the Royal Air Force (RAF). The T.1 was the first landplane specifically designed for carrier operations, but ...

* Sunbeam 1917 Bomber *

Supermarine Baby The Supermarine Baby (also called the Supermarine N.1B Baby) was a First World War fighter aircraft that was the earliest example of a single-seat flying boat fighter to be built in the United Kingdom. It was designed by Supermarine to meet a ...

Specifications (Arab I)

References

Bibliography

* Lumsden, Alec. ''British Piston Engines and their Aircraft''. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. . * Brew, Alec. ''Sunbeam Aero-Engines''. Airlife Publishing. Shrewsbury.

External links

* * {{Sunbeam aeroengines

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

1910s aircraft piston engines