The ABC Wasp was an experimental 170 hp (127 kW) seven-cylinder

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

designed by the noted British engineer Granville Bradshaw, and primarily built by ABC Motors Limited. An order for twelve experimental ABC Wasp engines was placed with

Guy Motors Guy Motors was a Wolverhampton-based vehicle manufacturer that produced cars, lorries, buses and trolleybuses. The company was founded by Sydney S. Guy (1885–1971) who was born in Kings Heath, Birmingham. Guy Motors operated out of its Falli ...

on 19 April 1918. Eight ABC Wasp engines were made by Crossley Motors Ltd of Manchester, England.

Design and development

The ABC Wasp was one of the first large non-rotary air-cooled radials. At a weight of 290 pounds (131 kg), it had a reasonable

power-to-weight ratio Power-to-weight ratio (PWR, also called specific power, or power-to-mass ratio) is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measuremen ...

at 0.6 horsepower per pound. This

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

–era engine is noteworthy because it was one of the first in which the cylinders were coated with

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

in an attempt to dissipate heat. The ABC Wasp never evolved beyond the experimental stage, but it was the predecessor of the unsuccessful

Dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat thre ...

engine.

Variants

;Wasp I :1918, 160 hp (119 kW) ;Wasp II :1919, 200 hp (149 kW)

Applications

;Wasp I *

Avro 504K The Avro 504 was a First World War biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the war totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind tha ...

* BAT Bantam * BAT Baboon * Sopwith Snail *

Westland Wagtail The Westland Wagtail was a prototype British fighter aircraft of the First World War. A single-engined tractor biplane, the Wagtail was a failure owing to the unreliability of its engine, only five being built. Development and design The West ...

;Wasp II *

* BAT Bantam * Saunders Kittiwake * Sopwith Snail *

Specifications (Wasp I)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * Lumsden, Alec. ''British Piston Engines and their Aircraft''. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Abc Wasp 1910s aircraft piston engines

Wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

Aircraft air-cooled radial piston engines