Tag Archives: Liberty V-12

6 April 1924

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One of the four Douglas World Cruisers taxis on Lake Washington prior to departure, 6 April 1924. (National Archives)

6 April 1924: Four United States Army Air Service Douglas DWC single-engine biplanes departed Sand Point, near Seattle, Washington, on the first aerial circumnavigation of the world. The airplanes were named Boston, Chicago, New Orleans and Seattle.

Pilots for the operation had been personally selected by Chief of the Air Service, General Mason Patrick. Pilot of Seattle, (A.S. 23-1229) and in command of the flight, was Major Frederick Leroy Martin. His mechanic was Staff Sergeant Alva L. Harvey. The second airplane, Chicago, (A.S. 23-1230) was piloted by 1st Lieutenant Lowell Herbert Smith, with 1st Lieutenant Leslie P. Arnold. 1st Lieutenant Leigh Wade flew Boston (A.S. 23-1231) with Staff Sergeant Henry Herbert Ogden. The final DWC, New Orleans, (A.S. 23-1232) was flown by 1st Lieutenant Erik Hemming Nelson, with 2nd Lieutenant John Harding, Jr.

Two of the pilots, Martin and Wade, would rise to the rank of major general, and a third, Nelson, to brigadier general. One of the mechanics, Hank Ogden, would become a colonel. Another mechanic, Harding, became a vice president of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation.

The prototype Douglas World Cruiser, A.S. 23-1210, McCook Field project number P318. (Library of Congress)

The five Douglas World Cruisers, a prototype and four production airplanes, were modified from current production U.S. Navy  DT-2 torpedo bombers. The DWC was a single-engine, two-place, single-bay biplane. The landing gear could be switched from wheels to pontoons for water landings. Fuel capacity was increased to 644 gallons (2,438 liters).

The DWC was 35 feet, 9 inches (10.90 meters) long with a wingspan of 50 feet, 6 inches (15.39 meters) and height of 13 feet, 9 inches (4.19 meters). With pontoons installed, the length increased to 39 feet (11.89 meters), and height to 15 feet, 1 inch (15.08 meters). The airplane had an empty weight of 4,380 pounds (1,987 kilograms) with wheels, and 5,180 pounds (2,350 kilograms) with pontoons.

The DWC was powered by a water-cooled, normally-aspirated, 1,649.336-cubic-inch-displacement (27.028 liter) Liberty L-12 single overhead cam (SOHC) 45° V-12 engine with a compression ratio of 5.4:1. The Liberty produced 408 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m. The L-12 as a right-hand tractor, direct-drive engine and it turned turned a two-bladed fixed-pitch wooden propeller. The Liberty 12 was 5 feet, 7.375 inches (1.711 meters) long, 2 feet, 3.0 inches (0.686 meters) wide, and 3 feet, 5.5 inches (1.054 meters) high. It weighed 844 pounds (383 kilograms).

The Douglas World Cruiser had a maximum speed of 103 miles per hour (166 kilometers per hour) and ceiling of 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). Its range was 2,000 miles (3,219 kilometers).

Seattle was delayed at Sand Point after being damaged during takeoff. Once repaired, Martin and Harvey followed the others, but on 30 April, they crashed in Alaska. The two men were lost in the wilderness for ten days, but only slightly injured. On 2 May, Lieutenant Smith was ordered to assume command of the flight.

The planned route of the first aerial circumnavigation of the world. (National Archives)

175 days later, after flying 27,553 miles (44,342.3 kilometers) in 371 hours, 11 minutes, two of the World Cruisers, Chicago and New Orleans, complete the flight and return to Seattle.

Chicago is on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and New Orleans is in the collection of the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum.

Douglas DWC A.S. 23-1230, Chicago, at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. (NASM)

© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes

5–6 October 1922

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Lieutenants John A. Macready and Oakley G. Kelly with their Fokker T-2. (NASM)

5–6 October 1922: Lieutenants John Arthur Macready and Oakley George Kelly, Air Service, United States Army, set an unofficial world endurance record for an unrefueled airplane when they flew a Fokker T-2, Air Service serial number A.S. 64233, for 35 hours, 18 minutes, 30 seconds at San Diego, California.

The Fokker F.IV was built by Anthony Fokker’s Nederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek at Veere, Netherlands, in 1921. The Air Service purchased two and designated the type T-2, with serial numbers A.S. 64233 and A.S. 64234.

The Fokker F.IV was a single-engine, high-wing monoplane with fixed landing gear. It was flown by a single pilot in an open cockpit which was offset to the left of the airplane’s centerline. The airplane was designed to carry 8–10 passengers in an enclosed cabin. The F.IV was a scaled-up version of the preceding F.III. It was built of a welded tubular steel fuselage, covered with three-ply plywood. The wing structure had plywood box spars and ribs, and was also covered with three-ply plywood.

For its time, the Fokker was a large airplane. Measurements from the Fokker T-2 at the Smithsonian Institution are: 49 feet, 10 inches (15.189 meters) long, with a wing span of 80 feet, 5 inches (24.511 meters), and height 12 feet, 2 inches (3.708 meters). On this flight, it carried 735 gallons (2,782 liters) of gasoline in three fuel tanks.

The Fokker F.IV was offered with a choice of engines: A Rolls-Royce Eagle IX V-12, Napier Lion II “broad arrow” W-12, or Liberty L-12 V-12. The T-2 was powered by a water-cooled, normally-aspirated, 1,649.336-cubic-inch-displacement (27.028 liter) Ford-built Liberty L-12 single overhead cam (SOHC) 45° V-12 engine with a compression ratio of 5.4:1. (Serial number A.S. No. 5142) The Liberty produced 408 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m. The L-12 as a right-hand tractor, direct-drive engine. Installed on A.S. 64233, the engine turned turned a two-bladed Curtiss fixed-pitch walnut propeller with a diameter of 10 feet, 5 inches (3.175 meters). The Liberty 12 was 5 feet, 7.375 inches (1.711 meters) long, 2 feet, 3.0 inches (0.686 meters) wide, and 3 feet, 5.5 inches (1.054 meters) high. It weighed 844 pounds (383 kilograms).

The airplane had a maximum speed of 93 miles per hour (150 kilometers per hour), a range of 2,550 miles (4,104 kilometers) and a service ceiling of 10,500 feet (3,200 meters).

Several modifications were made to prepare the T-2 for a transcontinental flight. Normally flown by a single pilot in an open cockpit, a second set of controls was installed so that the airplane could be controlled from inside while the two pilots changed positions. The standard airplane had a 130 gallon (492 liter) fuel tank in the wing. The Army added a 410 gallon (1,552 liter) tank to the wing center section, and a 185 gallon (700 liter) tank in the passenger cabin.

Lieutenants John Macready and Oakley Kelly with Fokker T-2, A.S. 64233. The fuel barrels and containers represent the fuel required for the airplane to cross the content non-stop. (San Diego Air and Space Museum)
Lieutenants John Macready and Oakley Kelly with Fokker T-2, A.S. 64233. The fuel barrels and containers represent the fuel required for the airplane to cross the continent non-stop. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive)

Macready and Oakley planned to fly the T-2 across the North American continent, non-stop, from San Diego, California to New York. The starting point at Rockwell Field was chosen to take advantage of favorable westerly winds, and to use the higher-octane gasoline which was available in California.

Fokker T-2 A.S. 64223 in flight over Rockwell Field, San Diego, California. (This is now NAS North Island.) (San Diego Air and Space Museum)
Fokker T-2 A.S. 64233 in flight over Rockwell Field, San Diego, California. (San Diego Air and Space Museum)

When they encountered fog in the mountains east of San Diego, the two fliers were forced to turn back. They remained airborne over San Diego to measure the airplane’s performance and fuel consumption for another attempt. Because the airplane was not equipped with a barograph to record air pressure on a paper chart, the record endurance flight could not be officially recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). They were awarded the Mackay Trophy for the most meritorious flight of the year. This was Macready’s second Mackay. He and Kelly would win it again the following year.

Macready and Oakley made a second unsuccessful attempt to cross the continent from west-to-east, and were finally successful on an east-to-west flight in 1923.

Fokker T-2 A.S. 64233 is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum.

Fokker T-2, A.S. 64233, in flight, from above, left front quarter view, circa 1922–23. (Dutch Aviation)
Fokker T-2, A.S. 64233, in flight, from above, left front quarter view, circa 1922–23. (Dutch Aviation)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes