Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major
R-28 piston aircraft engine family / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major is an American 28-cylinder four-row radial piston aircraft engine designed and built during World War II. First run in 1944, at 4,362.5 cu in (71.5 L), it is the largest-displacement aviation piston engine to be mass-produced in the United States, and at 4,300 hp (3,200 kW) the most powerful. It was the last of the Pratt & Whitney Wasp family, and the culmination of its maker's piston engine technology.
R-4360 Wasp Major | |
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Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major | |
Type | Four-row Radial engine |
National origin | United States |
Manufacturer | Pratt & Whitney |
First run | 1944 |
Major applications | Boeing 377 Boeing B-50 Superfortress Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter Convair B-36 Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar |
Number built | 18,697 |
Developed from | Pratt & Whitney R-2180-A Twin Hornet |
Developed into | Pratt & Whitney R-2180-E Twin Wasp E |
The war was over before it could power airplanes into combat. It powered many of the last generation of large piston-engined aircraft before turbojets, but was supplanted by equivalent (and superior) powered turboprops (such as the Allison T56).
Its main rival was the twin-row, 18-cylinder, nearly 3,350 cu in (54.9 L) displacement, up to 3,700 hp (2,800 kW) Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone, first run some seven years earlier (May 1937).