Wolseley W.4A Python
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The Wolseley Viper is a British-built, high-compression derivative of the Hispano Suiza HS-8 liquid-cooled V-8 engine, built under licence by
Wolseley Motors Wolseley Motors Limited was a British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in early 1901 by the Vickers Armaments in conjunction with Herbert Austin. It initially made a full range, topped by large luxury cars, and dominated the market in the E ...
during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. It powered later models of the
S.E.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 ...
,
SPAD VII The SPAD S.VII C.1 was the first in a series of single-seat biplane fighter aircraft produced by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and rugge ...
and other British or British-built aircraft designed for the Hispano-Suiza.


Variants

* Wolseley W.4A Python I (1917) : – licence produced version of the Hispano-Suiza 8Aa with minor structural changes and the weight increased to , retained the original's low compression pistons and compression ratio of 4.7:1. Only 100 built. * Wolseley W.4A Python II : – high compression version of the Python I with high compression pistons and compression ratio increased to 5.3:1. * Wolseley W.4A* Viper (1918) : – broadly the equivalent of the Hispano-Suiza 8Ab, compression ratio of 5.3:1 (19 early production engines had a higher compression ratio of 5.6:1), with 200 hp English Hispano propeller hubs. * Wolseley W.4B Adder I (1918) : – modified version of the Hispano-Suiza 8B. * Wolseley W.4B* Adder II : – modified and improved version of the Adder I. * Wolseley W.4B* Adder III : – modified and improved version of the Adder II with balanced crankshaft.


Applications

* Airco DH.9 * Avro 552 * Bristol M.R.1 * Bristol Tourer * Cierva C.8 * Martinsyde F.6 * Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a * Sopwith Antelope *
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 ...


Surviving engines

A Wolseley Viper powered Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a is owned by, and on display at
The Shuttleworth Collection The Shuttleworth Collection is a working aviation, automotive and agricultural collection located at Old Warden Aerodrome in Bedfordshire, England. History The collection was founded in 1928 by aviator Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth. While fl ...
,
Old Warden Aerodrome Old Warden Aerodrome is located east southeast of Bedford, in Bedfordshire, England. The privately owned aerodrome serves The Shuttleworth Collection, which contains a large working collection of vintage aircraft, cars, motor cycles and agricu ...
in the UK.The Shuttleworth Collection - SE5a
www.shuttleworth.org Retrieved: 09 March 2017.


Engines on display

*A preserved Wolseley Viper is on public display at the
Science Museum, London The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded ...
. *A preserved Wolseley Viper is on public display at the
Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica de Argentina The National Aeronautics Museum "Brigadier Edmundo Civati Bernasconi" () is an Argentine museum located in the city of Morón, Buenos Aires. Established in 1960, the museum is dedicated to the history of aviation, in particular the Argentine Air ...


Specifications (W.4A Viper)


See also


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * {{Wolseley aeroengines
Viper Vipers are snakes in the family Viperidae, found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, New Zealand, Ireland, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipe ...
1910s aircraft piston engines