Sunbeam Crusader
Early British V-8 airplane engine from 1912-1916
The Sunbeam Crusader, originally known as the Sunbeam 150 hp, Sunbeam 110 hp or Sunbeam 100 hp (variations on the engine may also have been referred to as Sunbeam 120 hp or Sunbeam 135 hp), was an early British, side-valve, water-cooled, V8 aero engine first marketed in 1913.
Design and development
The first aero-engine from Louis Coatalen was the 110 hp, a water-cooled V8 with side-valve cylinders of 80mm (3.15 in) bore and 150mm (5.9 in) stroke. The later versions of the engine, which had 90mm (3.5 in) bore cylinders, were known as the 150 hp until the Sunbeam naming system labelled it the Crusader in 1917. The 80mm bore versions were produced in limited numbers, mostly for civil use, but later 90mm bore engines had limited success in civil applications, with more than 226 built for military aircraft.
Production examples were rated at 150 hp (112 kW) at 2,000 rpm, had a bore of 90mm (3.5 in), stroke of 150mm (5.9 in), two valves per cylinder, and weighed 480 lb (220 kg) dry. The engine was used in a wide variety of British military aircraft during the first years of World War I, most notably the Short 827 seaplane for which six of the original versions were ordered followed by 107 of the more powerful type.
Further development of the Crusader resulted in the Sunbeam Zulu and V12 Sunbeam Mohawk and Sunbeam Gurkha. The Gurkha engine preserved at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, Somerset, England, is the only surviving Sunbeam side-valve engine in the UK. It is installed in the Short 184, aircraft number 8359, that played a minor role in the Battle of Jutland at the end of May 1916. The pilot on that occasion was Flight Lieutenant Frederick Rutland (who was ever after known as "Rutland of Jutland"),
Variants
110 hp
Early versions of the V8 side-valve engine with 80mm (3.15in) bore, variations were rated at 100 hp (75 kW), 110 hp (82 kW) and 120 hp (89 kW).
150 hp
Introduced late in 1914, the 90mm (3.5in) bore versions were referred to as the 150hp and could be rated at 135 hp (101 kW) or 150 hp (112 kW).
The public source identifies “Sunbeam Crusader” as early British V-8 airplane engine from 1912-1916. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Sunbeam, Crusader and Early.
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